Hardware
Aleph One LART development kit
Many users of this chapter will have bought the Aleph One LART development kit. If you haven't, the information here will still be useful but references to the supplied connectors and cables will need to be adjusted to whatever equipment you are using. The Aleph One kit comprises:
LART main board with blob bootloader installed;
This Guide to ARMLinux for Developers book on paper and CD ROM;
Aleph ARMLinux distribution for LART including suitable kernels, RAMdisks and tools for the LART, as well as all the Debian 2.2release2 packages in binary and source form on 5 CDs;
JTAG adaptor board;
Parallel extension cable;
Twin-headed serial cable;
Power cable.
This is everything you need to get going (apart from a host machine); we hope you enjoy developing on it.
Up to date information is also available from http://www.aleph1.co.uk/armlinux/LART/
Mainboard
LART mainboard (showing top side)
The specifications for the LART mainboard are as follows:
220 MHz Digital SA-1100 StrongARM CPU;
32 MB EDO RAM;
4 MB Intel Fast boot block Flash memory;
power usage of less than 1W;
performance in excess of 200 MIPS.
The board can run standalone, booting an OS from Flash.
The 4MB Flash is sufficient for a:
bootloader;
compressed kernel;
compressed RAMdisk.
The LART accepts an input voltage of between 3.5 and 10 Volts, although it can be modified to accept up to 16V. The on-board DC-DC converters have an efficiency of between 90 and 95%.
Connectors
Signal
Almost all signals from the SA-1100 are available on the external connectors.
The High-speed Connector is an SMD with 0.8mm pitch and offers:
access to the 32-bit data bus;
access to all 26 address lines;
high-speed peripherals with a data rate in excess of 400 MB/second.
The Low-speed Connector is actually three separate through-hole connectors with a 2mm pitch which:
export General Purpose (GP) I/O pins and most of the data/address buses to implement ISA or PCMCIA-based peripherals;
are ideal for connecting to low-speed devices.
Other
Additional connectors include a:
reset connector;
voltage/current measurement point;
power connector;
JTAG connector.
Kitchen Sink Board
The Kitchen Sink Board (KSB) provides the LART with a:
stereo 16-bit 44k1 audio output at line and headphone levels;
44-pin 2mm IDE/ATA interface;
connector for a single or quad Ethernet board;
two PS/2 connectors for keyboard and mouse;
mono audio I/O from an UCB1200;
connectors for POTS, IrDA, USB clients, video and touchscreens.
Ethernet Boards
The Ethernet is a 10Base-T adaptor that connects through the Kitchen Sink Board.
The core of the board is a Crystal CS8900A Ethernet chip with :
facilities for a bootROM;
an 8-bit parallel output port.