Start • Ethernet SoC • I've Been Had! • AX110xx Development Kit • Keil's Been Had 2! • Ethernet Module • Serious Stuff • Sources and PDF

I recall standing in a room full of Token Ring equipment some years ago and one of my coworkers looked at all of the new stuff we had just installed and said, “Ethernet is dead.” We both should have turned around and took a closer look at the new Ethernet stuff the other guys were installing on the other side of the room. Why? That “dead” Ethernet equipment is still in use to this day, while the Token Ring stuff is nowhere to be found. 

Ethernet technology has come a long way since then. It has become faster and can travel over many types of media. In essence, the core of Ethernet technology hasn’t really changed that much over the years. However, the way Ethernet is used changes daily. For instance, Ethernet is now being incorporated into embedded devices just as regularly as RS-232. In fact, Ethernet is more and more becoming a familiar resident on microcontroller silicon. We’re all watching the Ethernet-on-microcontroller revolution happen with all-in-one parts emerging from Microchip Technology, Freescale Semiconductor, and ASIX Electronics, to name only a few.

Thanks to the folks at ASIX Electronics. During this go-round, I got to take a look at its new AX110xx development kit, which is based on the new AX11005 single-chip microcontroller with TCP/IP and 10/100-Mbps fast Ethernet MAC/PHY.