Products and Services for Embedded Systems

Prototyping System for ZiLOG Z8 Encore!®
Expansion Option

The expansion option consists of the header and header socket needed to use the main expansion connector.

Order Kit from ECROS Technology

An Expansion Option Kit is available from ECROS Technology including all parts in the table above.

Save money!  The Silver, Gold and Platinum packages include the Expansion Option Kit and can be purchased at a discount over options selected individually.

Click this button for general ordering information, shipping charges, tax, etc.

Expansion Technical Details

Main Expansion Connector

The main expansion connector on the main board is a 1-row by 36-pin 0.1" header or socket.  The signals brought to this connector are:

• GPIO Port A (Timer 0, UART0, I2C)
• GPIO Port B (Analog inputs 0 to 7)
• GPIO Port C (Timers 1 and 2, SPI)
• GPIO Port H (Analog inputs 8 to 11)
• VREF (analog reference)
• Unregulated input power
• Ground (4 pins), 3.3 V Power (1 pin) and 5 V Power (1 pin)

Two positions are available for this connector.  Both can be populated, so that signals pass to expansion boards both above and below the main board at the same time.  If only one position is populated, the other can be used for wiring to the on-board prototyping areas.

Auxiliary Expansion Connector

GPIO Port D signals  (Timer 3, UART1, RCOUT, PD2 and PD3) are not available on the expansion connector.  In many cases, these signals will not be used for expansion for the following reasons:

• Timer 3 is used by the ECROS Operating System.  If ECROS is not used in an application, this timer should be used in preference to the others to measure the passage of time and thus does not need external connections.   Z8F64x1 devices do not even have Timer 3 (ECROS can use other timers).
• UART1 is connected to the on-board RS232 serial port.
• RCOUT, the output of the RC oscillator that drives the watchdog timer, is not a very useful signal.
• PD2 and PD3 are used by the display option, see below.

GPIO PF7 is also not available on the expansion connector.

An auxiliary expansion connector is provided with fixed power and ground pins and ten uncommitted pins to which the user can connect any desired signal.   This connector is under the LCD and so cannot be used to bring signals upward if the display option is fitted directly to the main board.  It can bring signals to expansion boards mounted under the main board, between the main board and the LCD or above the main board with the display not fitted.  There is only one position for this connector, so to pass signals up and down at the same time it must be a double-sided pin header.

Display Expansion Connector

GPIO Port E, PG3, PD2 and PD3 are available on a separate connector.  This is positioned for the Display Option Package, but if this is not fitted then other use can be made of these signals.

User Expansion Connectors

The outer rows of holes in the main prototyping area are drilled larger than the interior holes and can be used for additional pin headers and/or sockets pointing up, down or over the edge of the board.

Board Stacking

As has been alluded to above, the Prototyping System is designed for numerous stacking options.  You can stack the main board on top of another board, under another board, both or neither.  The main and display expansion connectors are doubled up so signals can pass both up and down the stack without limit.  If boards are stacked on top of the main board, the display option can still be used by attaching the LCD to the top board and passing the 16 required signals straight up the stack.   Expansion boards can be larger than the main board.  If the stack is to be mounted in a Serpac enclosure, the bottom board can be wider than the main board allowing for very tall components such as relays.

Holes HA in the main board are intended for fixing in a Serpac enclosure.   Because of the design of these enclosures, they do not fall on a 0.1 in. grid.  Hoes HB are intended for stacking and fall on a 0.1 in. grid making it easy to drill these holes in a general purpose prototyping board ("perf-board").  All mounting holes are drilled 0.128 in. and have 0.25 in. copper pads.

ZiLOG and Z8 Encore! are registered trademarks of ZiLOG inc.
Copyright © 2004, ECROS Technology, all rights reserved.