Spectranet: Difference between revisions

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The '''Spectranet''' is an Ethernet adaptor for the ZX Spectrum. It is based around the WIZnet W5100 ethernet chip, and also has 128kB of flash memory (for firmware; in-circuit programmable) and 128kB of onboard static RAM for software to use as a workspace.
The '''Spectranet''' is an Ethernet adaptor for the [[ZX Spectrum]] developed by Winston. [http://spectrum.alioth.net/doc/index.php/Main_Page Project website].


It is being developed by Winston, and its home page is [http://spectrum.alioth.net/doc/index.php/Main_Page].
== Hardware ==
The network interface is provided by WIZnet W5100 which is an all-in-one ethernet controller with a hardware TCP/IP stack. The spectranet also includes 128kB of flash memory and 128kB of static RAM. A Xilinx XC9572 CPLD implements a control and status register in addition to the logic for paging and execution traps.


The w5100 is used in memory mapped mode, and this along with the flash memory and SRAM are accessed in 4kB pages in the bottom 16kB of the Spectrum's memory map, i.e. the ROM area — 0x0000–0x3FFF. The spectranet has a fixed page of flash memory at 0x0000–0x0FFF, and a fixed page of SRAM at 0x3000−0x3FFF. Any block of the interface's memory (including the ethernet chip) can be placed in the remaining two 4kB spaces. These locations are referred to as ''Page A'' (0x1000–0x1FFF) and ''Page B'' (0x2000–0x2FFF).
== Firmware ==
For software writers, a set of BASIC extensions are provided, as well as a C API (whose design is based on the BSD sockets library).  Access to these functions and to Spectranet RAM is via call traps and paging.  It's all explained on Winston's site.
For software writers, a set of BASIC extensions are provided, as well as a C API (whose design is based on the BSD sockets library).  Access to these functions and to Spectranet RAM is via call traps and paging.  It's all explained on Winston's site.



Revision as of 20:18, 24 May 2015

The Spectranet is an Ethernet adaptor for the ZX Spectrum developed by Winston. Project website.

Hardware

The network interface is provided by WIZnet W5100 which is an all-in-one ethernet controller with a hardware TCP/IP stack. The spectranet also includes 128kB of flash memory and 128kB of static RAM. A Xilinx XC9572 CPLD implements a control and status register in addition to the logic for paging and execution traps.

The w5100 is used in memory mapped mode, and this along with the flash memory and SRAM are accessed in 4kB pages in the bottom 16kB of the Spectrum's memory map, i.e. the ROM area — 0x0000–0x3FFF. The spectranet has a fixed page of flash memory at 0x0000–0x0FFF, and a fixed page of SRAM at 0x3000−0x3FFF. Any block of the interface's memory (including the ethernet chip) can be placed in the remaining two 4kB spaces. These locations are referred to as Page A (0x1000–0x1FFF) and Page B (0x2000–0x2FFF).

Firmware

For software writers, a set of BASIC extensions are provided, as well as a C API (whose design is based on the BSD sockets library). Access to these functions and to Spectranet RAM is via call traps and paging. It's all explained on Winston's site.

Availability

As of January 2013, Spectranet interfaces are produced in small runs and sold on a semi-regular basis at SellMyRetro.

Software

Since the Spectranet is new, there's not much software for it yet; most of the existing software is incomplete.

  • Sockets library
  • BASIC extensions
  • TNFS client
  • IRC client
  • Twitter client