Echelon Series 6000 Chip databook - Manual (Page 3)

Welcome
Echelon’s FT 6000 Free Topology Smart Transceiver is the latest addition to Echelon’s FT
Smart Transceiver family.
The FT 6000 Smart Transceivers includes a network transceiver that is fully compatible with
the TP/FT-10 channel. The free topology transceiver supports polarity-insensitive cabling
using a star, bus, daisy chain, loop, or combined topologies. This flexibility frees the installer
from the need to adhere to a strict set of wiring rules. Free topology wiring reduces the time
and expense of device installation by allowing the wiring to be installed in the most
expeditious and cost-effective manner. It also simplifies network expansion by eliminating
restrictions on wire routing, splicing, and device placement.
The Neuron 6000 Processor has similar performance, robustness, and low cost as the FT
6000 Smart Transceiver, but you can use it with a number of different types of network
transceivers so that you can integrate different channel types (such as the TP/XF-1250
channel) into a L ON W ORKS network.
Together, the FT 6000 Smart Transceiver and the Neuron 6000 Processor are part of a
family of products, collectively known as Series 6000 chips.
This document provides technical specifications for the electrical interfaces, mechanical
interfaces, and operating environment characteristics for the FT 6000 Smart Transceiver
and Neuron 6000 Processor.
This manual does not describe Echelon’s Power Line Smart Transceivers. For more
information about that technology, see the PL 3120 / PL 3150 / PL 3170 Power Line Smart
Transceiver Data Book (005-0193-01A).
Audience
This manual provides specifications and user instructions for engineers who develop
applications and devices that use FT 6000 Smart Transceivers or Neuron 6000 Processors,
and for users of network interfaces based on the FT Smart Transceivers or Neuron Chips.
What’s New for Echelon’s Smart Transceivers and
Neuron Chips
Echelon’s FT 6000 Smart Transceiver and Neuron 6000 Processor include new features and
functions compared with Echelon’s FT 5000 Smart Transceiver and Neuron 5000 Processor.
This section describes some of the major new features and functions of the Series 6000 chips.
New Memory Layout
Series 6000 chips use only an external SPI flash of at least 512KB. This flash contains active
and standby bootloaders, system images, and applications. It also holds persistent system
and application data, as well as data logs. Larger applications can be supported because
certain code can be designated to be “transient” which means it is brought into RAM for
execution out of flash only on demand. See the Memory Architecture section in Chapter 2 for
a full description.
Series 6000 Chip Data Book iii