Echelon FTXL - Manual (Page 3)

FTXL User’s Guide iii
Welcome
Echelon’s FTXL™ products enable any product that contains an Altera ® Nios ® II
processor to quickly and inexpensively become a networked smart device. An
FTXL device includes a complete ANSI/CEA 709.1-B (EN14908.1)
implementation that runs on the Nios II embedded processor. Thus, the FTXL
3190™ Free Topology Smart Transceiver Chip provides a simple way to add
L
ON W ORKS ® networking to smart devices. The FTXL Transceiver is easy to use
because it has a simple host application programming interface (API), a pre-built
link-layer driver, a simple hardware interface, and comprehensive tool support.
This document describes how to develop an application for a L ON W ORKS device
using Echelon’s FTXL Transceiver. It describes the architecture of an FTXL
device and how to develop the software for an FTXL device. Development of a
FTXL device includes creating a model file, running the LonTalk ® Interface
Developer utility, and using the FTXL API functions to program your FTXL
application for the Nios II processor.
See the
FTXL Hardware Guide for a description of the hardware interfaces for an
FTXL device, the development boards for which the FTXL Developer’s Kit
provides reference designs, and FPGA design requirements for an FTXL device.
Audience
This document assumes that the reader has a good understanding of the
L
ON
W
ORKS
platform and programming for the Altera Nios II processor.
Related Documentation
In addition to this manual and the FTXL Hardware Guide (078-0364-01A), the
FTXL Developer’s Kit includes the following manuals:
• Neuron C Programmer’s Guide (078-0002-02G). This manual describes
the key concepts of programming using the Neuron ® C programming
language and describes how to develop a L ON W ORKS application.
• Neuron C Reference Guide (078-0140-02E). This manual provides
reference information for writing programs that use the Neuron C
language.
• NodeBuilder Errors Guide (078-0193-01B). This manual describes error
codes issued by the Neuron C compiler.
The FTXL Developer’s Kit also includes the reference documentation for the
FTXL LonTalk API, which is delivered as a set of HTML files.
After you install the FTXL software, you can view these documents from the
Windows Start menu: select Programs
→ Echelon FTXL Developer’s Kit →
Documentation, then select the document that you want to view.
The following manuals are available from the Echelon Web site
(
www.echelon.com ) and provide additional information that can help you develop
applications for an FTXL Transceiver: