Network shield for MAX32 is revision C

[Marty]

Just bought it, and its revision C, where latest is E.  And it seems F is in the works.

  What improvements occured in revision D and E?  

What protential problems will I have with revision C?

 

Will these  two revisions marry well together and not complain?

Max32 is Revision E

Network Shield Revision C

 

Thanks,

Marty

[JColvin]

Hi @Marty,

I'm taking a look into the older revisions for the network shield and let you know what I find. I imagine most of the boards will work as is if they were a product revision, but I'll double check.

Thanks,
JColvin

[Marty]

Thanks,  also if you could add some words of wisdom about the future of network shields for digilent products that work with LABVIEW.  Maybe add some visibility to why they are retired here and is it permanent thing.   I also noticed Ardiuno ethernet shields (for products that work with LABVIEW) also being retired or no longer sold.  My house is wired  with CAT6, and my airways can easily see 10-15 wifi channels that aren't from me.

[JColvin]

Hi @Marty,

In terms of the answer to the question you are more interested in (the long term plan of the network shields), unfortunately, I personally don't know the answer to that. If a number of other ethernet shields not manufactured by Digilent are also becoming in a retired state, then I would personally think (as a third party person) that they are not a viable long-term solution. I don't know if WiFi chips are what every company is going for or if it's something else entirely. I will ask to see if I can find any more definitive information to offer you on this.

As for the differences between boards, I do not think you will run into any hardware problems. It looks like there were a couple of name changes that took place in the Network Shield (such as EMDIO to FMDIO), but looking at the corresponding pin on the Max32 schematics, both pin names are listed on the same port pin, leaving me to believe no functionality breaking change took place. The only actual hardware change that I noted was between Rev E and Rev F of the Network Shield, where in Rev F jumper J13 was added to the NRST pin on the LAN8720 to allow external software control for the reset.

Thank you,
JColvin

[Marty]

JC,

Thanks for your answer,  appreciate it.  I'm new with this embedded stuff, so my visibility is not clear as to what technology I'm going to end up going with for my home.  I like wired networking for this embedded stuff because: 

1) I built a PC based NVR for my home and wired extensively for  using POE cameras,  I have extra ports available, which a MAX32 with ethernet shield can utilize.

2) MCU uses so little resources that I can run labview on  this PC based NVR with no hiccups.

3) wired is more reliable than WIFI,  though I have to say WIFI is really good today.

4) might even try a POE receiver to get rid of wall wort for the MAX32

 

BTW, my revision C network shield seems ok, not 100% finished deciding it based on usage.

 

thanks,

Marty