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JACK WHITHAM
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Home ->
EMS Client
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The EMS client is a complete example of a VL2 application, built using
wxWidgets in addition to
Twisted and the VL2 modules vlabif
and vlab. The application communicates via VL2
with a hardware design on a
Spartan
3E Starter Kit, a popular FPGA board that can be used for teaching.
The hardware design includes vlabifhw and the
debug device; this is normally extended
by the user.
Two versions of this application exist. The first was written for the
2008 EMS course at
York; this was partly
rewritten to improve various capabilities for 2009. Following this,
the EMS course was replaced with a longer embedded systems
course named EDI. For the time being, the virtual lab does not
feature in the new course.
The 2009 EMS client is still used for some project work. UoY students
and staff can find it
on this internal page.
The 2008 client is not compatible with the protocols used by the
new version and has therefore been withdrawn.
Features
The application and associated hardware have the following features:
- Hardware built with the VL2-based component can either
be used remotely (via the application) or locally (using
the physical switches and ports on the board).
- Bidirectional text-based communication is supported
between the hardware and the user. Messages received
are shown in a terminal window. The user can type in this
window to send characters to hardware. It is also possible
to upload binary files.
- The hardware provides video RAM
(256x192 pixels with 8 colours in the 2008 version,
320x200 pixels with 256 colours in the 2009 version). The
software is able to download a copy of this memory and display it
within the GUI. Using a simple compression scheme, the 2009
version is able to refresh at up to 10 frames per second - not
bad, as the image data is being sent via a 500kbit/s serial
connection.
- The hardware has four switches, five push buttons and a rotary
control. The user can operate any of them using the GUI.
- The hardware has eight LEDs, also shown in the GUI.
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Copyright (C) Jack Whitham 1997-2011
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