[cc65] Contiki 2.1 released

From: Oliver Schmidt <ol.sc1web.de>
Date: 2007-12-05 11:50:37
Hi,

Just in time for the Contiki 2.1 release I finished my port of the
Contiki 2.x codebase to cc65 targets :-)

http://www.sics.se/contiki/current-events/contiki-2.1-released.html

This port consist primarily of two parts:

1. Complete and clean integration of the cc65 toolchain into the
Contiki 2.x build system. This allows Contiki 2.x applications to be
built for about every cc65 target. Predefined are the C64 and the
enhanced Apple //e.

2. Generic Ethernet packet driver with dynamically loading,
self-modifying Ethernet card device drivers for the CS8900A and the
LAN91C96. These two drivers are used both for the C64 and the enhanced
Apple //e.

My Contiki 2.x port is _NO_ successor of the existing Contiki 1.x
ports - it's a framework for cc65 developers !

While Contiki was originally a disk based OS with a GUI and with
TCP/IP the goals have totally changed in the meanwhile. Now it's a ROM
based OS for embedded systems without UI and with TCP/IP or low power
radio MAC protocols.

As a consequence there's no development at all done on the original
GUI applications. Therefore it didn't make sense to invest a lot of
effort into just recreating the Contiki 1.x experience with the
Contiki 2.x codebase.

The Contiki 1.x ports to cc65 targets use about every possible trick
and hack to sqeeeze as much as possible into the available memory. In
constrast my Contiki 2.x port is as straight and clean as possible
with the goal to make it much more approachable to create new
networking enabled applications using cc65.

One major change is moving away from using cc65 modules for
dynamically loading applications. The main reasons:
- It's kind of a hack as the cc65 module loader doesn't resolve
external references in the o65 file.
- There's just not enough memory for more than one significant
application at a time.

Instead cc65 modules are now used as designed for low level Ethernet
card device drivers. They closely follow the design of the driver
interfaces coming with cc65. Here's an example:

http://contiki.cvs.sourceforge.net/contiki/contiki-2.x/cpu/6502/net/cs8900a.S?revision=1.3

Have fun, Oliver
----------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list send mail to majordomo@musoftware.de with
the string "unsubscribe cc65" in the body(!) of the mail.
Received on Wed Dec 5 11:50:47 2007

This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : 2007-12-05 11:50:51 CET