Embedded Design with the MZ104

What is an embedded solution and why
would you build your ``better mouse trap'' using x86 technology to
run your application on a Linux platform?Embedded computer solutions are many things, but they all
seem to have one thing in common: they are not desktop computers.
They tend to be small, low power and able to operate in hostile
environments. Embedded devices operate in both fixed and mobile
locations; often facing extremes of temperature, vibration or other
environmentally challenging conditions.In the not too distant past, embedded devices were designed
around the least expensive microprocessor that would be reasonable,
reliable and able to accomplish the task at hand. Commonly, these
solutions where known as ``black boxes''. Black box devices did and
still do provide effective solutions to meet the needs of various
real-world problems. But, in essence, all embedded solutions have a
number of things in common: the handling of repetitious tasks based
on monitoring and/or collection of data, the storage of this data
for future analysis, and simple to very complex control functions
based on software algorithms which compare the data stream to
pre-defined set-points.
Figure 1. Segmentation of Embedded
Market
It is estimated that the world-wide market for embedded
solutions will top 20 to 30 times the total dollars spent to date
on the desktop computer market (see Figure 2). It is not a
coincidence that this pending explosion of an estimated three
billion dollar per year industry directly coincides with higher
yields from the chip manufacturers, much higher gate densities on
silicon wafers, and more and more functionality being placed into
single chips. The result is an incredible reduction in the cost of
CPU horsepower. Add inexpensive x86 processing horsepower to the
now ubiquitous deployment of the world-wide data communication
pipeline called the Internet, factor in the foreseeable convergence
in the near future of affordable high-bandwidth wireless data
networks, and you have all the makings for endless opportunities
for those with vision, technical skills and entrepreneurial
desire.
Figure 2. Total Computer Systems
High numbers of these embedded solutions will use an Intel
x86-based core as the foundation hardware layer. Many of you may
ask why use the x86 with all it's inherent limitations. The answer
is simple: with the introduction of devices such as the MachZ 586
133MHz CPU/FPU, which integrates almost all the needed
functionality of a complete computer system in a single chip
package, yesterday's ``project stopper'', the cost delta between
MPU and CPU, is no longer relevant. Add to this a fantastic
reservoir of x86 development tools. Add an equally amazing Linux
operating system which is stable, reliable, supportable and cost
effective. Add again a very wide and deep river of skilled,
knowledgeable people, and you have the recipe and ingredients to
bring new solutions successfully and quickly to market (see Figure
3).
Figure 3. Embedded Software Market
This is the first of a series of three articles in
Linux Journal which illustrate how the MachZ
(see Figure 4) chip used on the MZ104 board may be used to design
embedded Linux applications. In this first article, we discuss the
hardware aspects, introducing you to the MachZ Chip, the Tri-M
MZ104 PC/104 MachZ board(s), and the PC/104 family of
solutions.
Figure 4. The MachZ Chip
In the second article we will look at issues surrounding the
creation and debugging of a small Linux kernel using a standard
desktop host computer. The kernel will be targeted to run on the
MZ104 single board computer. The second article will detail how to
install and debug (via the host) an embedded version of a bootable
Blue Cat Linux kernel and associated applications. The kernel may
load off the MZ104's IDE hard drive port, an M-Systems DiskOnChip
solid state flash disk, or directly off the Flash ROM.In the third article, we look at the benefits and illustrate
how to use many features of the MachZ. These include ZF Logic and
FailSafe, a patented concept included in every MachZ chip which
allows the solution provider to recover BIOS, O/S and application
software and reestablish full operation after an un-imagined
catastrophic failure occurs.In conjunction with these articles, Linux
Journal is running a design contest based on the MachZ
chip, the PC/104 MZ104 board, the M-systems DiskOnChip and the
BlueCat Linux operating system. One hundred complete kits of these
products will be awarded to the ideas judged best. Out of these
winners, additional prizes will be given to those who can
successfully develop a working proof of concept for each category
entered. The free kits will include:

• BlueCat Linux Development Kit
• Tri-M Systems MZ104 PC/104 Board
• On Board ZF Linux Devices' MachZ Chip and Phoenix
  BIOS in Flash
• M-Systems 4 Megabyte DiskOnChip Millennium (Flash
  Disk)
• MZ104 Cable Kit for connecting to
  peripherals
• 32MB SO DIMM (DRAM)

In June of this year, ZF Linux Devices Inc., released their
single device PC-on-a-chip, the MachZ. This device heralds a new
era in ultra-low power consumption utilizing standard x86
technology. Designed for embedded applications, the MachZ comes
bundled with a Phoenix BIOS license and lists for $60.00 (US). In
larger volumes, the price drops significantly to the mid-$30s.
The MachZ chip uses 0.25-micron technology and is packaged in
a 388 pin Ball Grid Array (BGA) measuring 35mm x 35mm. Operating at
133MHz it consumes less than 0.5 Watts. The objective of this
device is to shatter the price barrier, allowing developers to
create very low cost Internet appliances and other embedded
devices.The MachZ chip combines full x86 PC functionality with its
patented fail-safe technology into a single chip. MachZ is the only
chip with a built-in FailSafe mechanism for restoring operation
after a system failure. The MachZ chip runs all PC software without
modification and it boots by simply applying power.The MachZ is essentially an enhanced 586 CPU which will run
at speeds of 33 to 133 MHz. It has a full 32-bit processor core
including a math co-processor (FPU), and an 8kB L1 write back
cache. It incorporates power management to further lower power
consumption and allows the CPU be put to sleep and then awakened as
needed.In addition to the CPU, the MachZ incorporates many
additional logic systems (see Figure 5). The North and South Bridge
cores inside the MachZ generate full ISA bus and full PCI bus
signals which allow standard devices to talk to the MachZ 586 CPU.
The North Bridge controls and manages a fast (bursting) SDRAM
interface. Not only is SDRAM the modern
interface, but the MachZ has a significant cost advantage over the
competition as it can use either 16-bit or 32-bit wide SDRAM
chips.
Figure 5. MachZ Block Diagram
In addition to implementing the PCI bus, the South Bridge
core also provides DMA and IRQ services, together with I/O
controllers for the floppy, parallel, two serial, IrDA, AT
Keyboard, PS2 mouse and I2C bus ports. As a bonus, memory chip
selects, I/O chip selects, and general purpose I/O pins are brought
out to further reduce the need for off chip glue logic.The South Bridge core provides PCI Bus arbitration, allowing
many devices to assume control of the bus. The chip supports up to
three external bus masters.The ZF Linux engineers designed many other useful features.
The FailSafe Boot Up ROM (BUR) contains Z-Tag logic which uses a ZF
proprietary 1.5MB 2-wire serial input. When the chip powers up,
depending on the bootstrap jumpers, it will either start in the
Flash or start in the on-chip BUR. The BUR will read and execute
commands through the Z-Tag interface or the first serial port. A
significant set of commands is understood by the BUR, allowing
reprogramming of the Flash or FailSafe Recovery of a downed
system.The BUR has an interesting debug capability. Even with no
external DRAM or SRAM connected to the MachZ, you can boot up the
BUR and then download small test programs into the MachZ on chip
RAM to verify the hardware components of your MachZ system. This
debug capability and the FailSafe capability will be discussed in
the second and third articles in the series.But a chip, even one as sophisticated as the MachZ, needs
some board real estate to sit on and bring out the many necessary
signals and input lines. PC/104 has, over the last 10 years, been
widely adopted by the embedded market due to its small size and
rugged and reliable characteristics. An IEEE standard, PC/104 is an
electrical and physical standard for the 8/16-bit ISA bus signals,
using a pass-through header connector system on a printed circuit
board of fixed dimensions. Also included in the specification are
well defined locations for connectors. PC/104+ is a new addition to
this original stand and, which maintains the physical size but
incorporates, in addition, board to board routing of PCI bus
signals.There are hundreds of companies making PC/104 compliant
boards. The companies range in size based on number of cards
manufactured from one or two highly specialized offerings, to
upwards of 100 different products. Unless you are looking for some
truly esoteric plug-on card, you can pretty much buy off the shelf
anything your specifications require. The MZ104 board (see Figure
6) manufactured by Tri-M is one such product competing for the
attention and business of OEM application developers and embedded
solution providers.
Figure 6. MZ 104 PC/104 MachZ Board
The connectors around the outside edge of the MZ104 allow for
the hook-up of all the I/O cables. A cable kit comes with the
contest boards. The hook-up includes up to 4 IDE devices (hard disk
drive and/or CDs), a single USB, a keyboard, a PS/2 mouse, two
serial ports, one parallel port, one floppy disk and power. The
sockets shown on the bottom of the picture are the PC/104 8/16-bit
ISA headers. These headers allow the boards to be connected
together in a stack, with bus routing from card to card.Where are all the components to deal with these devices and
busses? They are inside the chip!The MZ104 can be powered by hooking up a single +5VDC supply
directly to the card or through the PC/104 bus connector from
another board in the stack.With all the different options available as a platform to
build your better ``mouse trap'', why choose PC/104? Design
criteria, which includes one or more of the following, are:

1. x86 based O/S and application
2. small space
3. low power consumption
4. a single +5VDC power source
5. operates in high vibration
6. operation reliably in high g-force
7. doesn't look like desktop, meaning that you can set
   your own price
8. fast development time
9. easy to roll out production product
10. risk of hardware failure reduced
11. risk of software failure reduced
12. multiple vendor sources for similar product
13. board life and stability much longer than mother
    boards
14. relatively easy development for custom
    boards
15. if volumes get really big, relatively easy to
    reduce cost with roll your own custom board.

One of the very first companies to get working samples of the
MachZ chip and to begin designing solutions based around this
revolutionary device was Tri-M Engineering in British Columbia,
Canada. Tri-M, an 18-year-old company, earns its living selling and
supporting embedded x86 equipment to OEM and in-house solution
providers all over the world. Tri-M would never have considered
designing their own line of x86 single board computers until the ZF
Linux MachZ came along. This gave Tri-M an opportunity to play at
the table, which until the arrival of the MachZ was reserved for
the big guys. Tri-M is now able to offer three different commercial
off the shelf (COTS) CPU boards to its clients; in addition Tri-M
has contracts to design two custom boards based around the same
technology. Not a bad position to be in for a company basing it's
future success on the success or failure of its client's products.
The MZ104 board is a fully PC/104 specification-compliant
board, using the MachZ on a 6 layer circuit board. The MZ104 brings
out most of the chip's internal features and supports a 2 or 4MB
Flash ROM, the M-Systems DiskOnChip, and a 144 pin SO_DIMM
connector supporting either 32 or 64MB of fast SDRAM. The MZ104 is
the first and least complex member of a family of three PC/104
boards designed around the MachZ. This first board is the board
which will be used in the design contest. Features of the board are
shown in Figure 7.
Figure 7. Feature Chart of Tri-M MachZ-Based CPU
Boards
The MachZ chip internally generates both the ISA and PCI bus.
PCI is much faster than ISA, and the MachZ supports PCI bus
mastering. The PC/104 standard does not allow interconnect of the
PCI bus from one board to another, but devices on the CPU board may
use the PCI bus. For example, the ICC104MZ uses on-board PCI for
the 10/100Mb Ethernet chips.Although there are few PC/104+ boards built, these ``new
standard'' boards have an additional header allowing the PCI (as
well as the ISA) bus to be routed between boards.The MZ104 has a large white U-Shaped Connector which holds
the SO_DIMM memory module (see Figure 8). The majority of the
remaining circuitry on the board is for clock control. This very
high integration of the MachZ chip provides higher reliability and
greater MTBF. Failure rates for all electronics can be directly
related to the number of discrete components. Less means more in
terms of infant mortality and expectation for long life.
Figure 8. Annotated MZ104 Board
The MZ104 has not brought out all of the MachZ chip PCI bus
signals. This was intentional so as to produce a minimum-cost
board, free up board real estate for other components and to match
market demands for embedded solutions which, for the vast majority
of applications, don't usually require the high bandwidth of the
PCI bus. To further save cost, all the components are placed on the
top side of the board, reducing manufacturing cost and time.A typical PC/104 stack of cards would include some of the
components listed in Figure 9. Prices are given for small
quantities.
Figure 9. US Dollar Cost of Typical Components
Prototype BoardsFigure 10 shows a MZ104 plugged into a three slot, standard
16-bit ISA bus passive backplane. Backplanes of this type are
available from various manufacturers.
Figure 10. The MZ104 Plugged into a 16-Bit ISA Bus
Passive Backplane
Backplanes such as this allow you to combine ISA cards and
PC/104 cards during prototyping and testing. Although only the
MZ104 card is shown in the figure, a complete PC/104 stack could be
connected to up to three ISA cards using this backplane.The backplane allows for easy testing of compatibility of
features and functions in chip sets under consideration for design
into your embedded solution.When would you use a passive backplane? If, for example, you
had five different frame grabber chip sets, you could purchase ISA
cards which use these chips and then test and implement your
software, without having to build custom boards of your own, using
each of the chips under consideration.The Tri-M DEV 104 Development Backplane Board (see Figure 11)
allows not only the connection of PC/104 and ISA cards, but
provides hardware prototyping areas for both thru-hole and surface
mount electronic components. This is very useful for solution
providers who require the development of custom boards based on a
hardware prototype. In addition to the PC/104 header that the MZ104
is mounted on, there are three additional PC/104 connectors, one of
which has male pins facing upwards which allows testing of
components on the back side of a PC/104 card. That's much easier
than testing in a stack!
Figure 11. The Tri-M DEV 104 Development Backplane
Board
PC/104 and PC/104+ SpecificationsThe PC/104+ specification is a superset of the PC/104
specification. The + specification adds an extra connector for the
PCI bus. Both types of cards can be mixed in the same stack. This
is done by putting the 104+ cards in the stack such that those
cards having both buses are plugged together. Standard PC/104 cards
may then be attached to either the top and/or bottom of the card
stack.The maximum distance between cards (due to pin
specifications) is .6 inches. Older PC/104 CPU cards usually had to
occupy the top position in a vertical stack to allow for heat
dissipation. However, the latest generation of CPU cards can be
placed anywhere in the stack due to their very low power
consumption.PC104 modules will stack together, connecting the bus from
one card to the next. In this case, the top card is a relay board
showing the somewhat industrial history of the PC/104 modules (see
Figure 12). In the middle of the stack we have a CPU card, and on
the bottom there is a UPS battery board.
Figure 12. Stacking PC/104 Boards
The PC/104 connectors themselves use long pins and deep
sockets to provide a very reliable electrical interconnect and
which act as a spine to strengthen the stack. Nylon or metal
spacers are used on the corners adding strength and rigidity to the
stack. Compare this to standard ISA cards, which are prone to
intermittent electrical connections--especially when in
motion!Figure 13 shows an aluminum enclosure with rubber shock
absorbing mounts designed specifically for hostile
environments.
Figure 13. PC/104 Module Stack
Enclosures for PC/104 are basically there to protect the
electronics from the environment. They are also designed to shed as
much heat as possible to keep the internal electronics cool. Good
designs also include consideration of vibration and G-force
minimization to protect the PC/104 stack when mounted in high
vibration or G-force locations.Marketing people like the idea of selling a block box
solution whose price is justified by its function rather than its
component costs. These high stamina enclosures provide added
protection and, thus, added value.Switching from PC/104 to Custom BoardsAt some point prior to committing serious manufacturing money
into your ``mouse trap'', or even a beta run of production models,
a key question arises: do you build you own hardware from scratch
or do you buy commercially available, off-the-shelf components or
maybe some combination of the two? Assuming your proof of concept
unit works and the guys with the money are hot to finance your
dream, it's time to bring together the engineering and marketing
staff and, as best you can, determine how many units you think you
can sell during the window of opportunity.From my experience in using x86 as the solution platform for
the last 18 years, the economies of scale to convert from a PC/104
stack to a custom board was usually somewhere above the 5000 unit
mark. I no longer think this is true today. With the advent of
chips like the MachZ and others that are sure to follow, we have
seen a truly new paradigm shift which will greatly benefit the
smaller and wannabe electronic manufacturers. Using this new chip,
the switchover point to develop a unique or custom hardware
solution and to bring that device to a successful fruition has
dropped to perhaps less then 1000 units. There are many reasons for
this: we can get more functionality from this single chip, it uses
less board space, it requires less engineering hardware design time
so that designs can be accomplished in much shorter periods.Further, the MachZ comes bundled with a fully licensed and
integrated Phoenix BIOS. This alone significantly reduces the cost
to roll and support your own hardware from scratch, and at the same
time, effectively outsources any x86 software compatibilities to
the chip manufacturer. This greatly reduces risk of software
failures and the subsequent time delays to find and fix these bugs.
This contributes to getting your mouse trap finished and into
production while the market window of opportunity is still open. In
the past, getting your hands on a major BIOS involved lots of
costly legal issues, let alone negotiating a reasonable cost for
less then 5000 units (a small quantity from the perspective of the
BIOS manufacturers). Thus, the BIOS was often a show stopper for
the small or low volume project being accomplished from scratch.
Add to this the product life burden of maintaining both backward
and forward software after you have spent considerable technical
resources to adapt the BIOS to work properly in custom hardware
configuration.Opportunities that Are Out ThereSo where are some of the market opportunities, ripe to be
harvested, using an embedded solution with a MZ104 hardware layer,
a flash drive and the extremely reliable Linux operating system?
They are literally everywhere.Consider the area of Supervisory Control and Data
Acquisition, SCADA. These systems are used extensively by power,
water, gas and other utility companies to monitor and manage their
distribution facilities. They also are used to monitor and control
usage levels, load sharing/shedding and more and more for the
purpose of remote meter reading. Historically, the hardware used in
SCADA applications absolutely required the very highest reliability
hardware available at the time. If was not uncommon to see a very
expensive Micro VAX or other mini computers sitting in a remote
station. Not only was the capital cost for this hardware a major
consideration for the operator, OS and application software, custom
application modifications and ongoing maintenance often exceeded
the capital cost many times over.It is now possible to achieve this same or better level of
reliability using the MZ104, Linux and much less expensive
application solutions. With the ever increasing pressure on these
utility companies' bottom lines, embedded replacement solutions
which can economically justify their cost in a few months make very
attractive opportunities.Recently, Tri-M Systems/Engineering provided one such OEM, a
publicly traded manufacture of an ``UltraViolet Light'' (UV) sewage
treatment system contract for a PC/104 based control system. The
system was made from a combination of off-the-shelf PC/104 hardware
together with a custom I/O board. The objective of this system was
to gather data from various sensors monitoring the cleaning process
and to automate and control the amount of energy used to produce
enough UV to kill the bacteria. Of course, the correct amount of
energy and UV needed changes quickly with rate of flow and density
of particles suspended in the sewage. In the clients<\#161>
older systems, the lamps where always run at their brightest levels
as the only way of assuring whatever bugs present died.Moving to an embedded SCADA solution allowed the clients
using the system to gain full recovery of the upgrade cost in a few
months, with additional operation energy savings over the next
twenty years estimated in the millions of dollars. Adding smarts to
this type of system worked out to be a big win for the company,
one-upping all their competition. It was also a win for the clients
who will require less public money to look after a problem. And it
was a win for the environment as a greener solution to a serious
problem.The majority of the hardware layer was made up of
off-the-shelf PC/104 hardware, consisting of a 486 CPU, a solid
state digital disk drive card, 10Mb Ethernet card, and a PC/104 DC
to DC power supply card (to ensure clean power to the stack). These
cards were mounted on a custom designed carrier board which also
contained various relay, communication devices and sensors. The
application was written as JAVA applets running on top of a web
browser. This effectively allowed the OEM to remotely upgrade and
monitor their systems over the Internet, and at the same time gave
the treatment plant staff a GUI-based interface to adjust set
points and alarm conditions to suit their particular desires. The
total time from start of the project to hand over of working
prototypes was four months, including time for the custom board
design and application software.Other areas where embedded x86 solutions could run Linux are
process controllers, medical equipment, money collection and ticket
dispensing, GPS autopilots, and any place where the collection,
storage and manipulation of data can stand an improvement in
efficiency. With the low cost of today's components, ideas for high
reliability products which justify a ``smart'' solution don't
require a whole lot of imagination. Think telecommunication,
robotics, Internet appliances, data loggers or anywhere data can be
turned into information. Information is power, and power is closely
associated with money.Standards and SourcesHardware Terms and
Definitions

Engineering, successful distributors and manufacturers of x86
embedded hardware solutions for the past 18 years. Doug is also a
founding director of the American Anti-Child Pornography
Organization, helping to protect children from digital criminals
(http://www.antichildporn.org/).