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Chapter 1. Introduction

This manual is intended for the engineer designing a system using the Rabbit microprocessor and the Dynamic C development environment. It explains how to develop a Rabbit microprocessor-based system that can be programmed with Dynamic C.

With the a Rabbit microprocessor and Dynamic C, many traditional tools and concepts are obsolete. Complicated and fragile in-circuit emulators are unnecessary. EPROM burners are not needed. The Rabbit microprocessor and Dynamic C work together without elaborate hardware aids, provided that the designer observes certain design conventions.

1.1 Summary of Design Conventions

• Include a programming connector.

• Connect a static RAM having at least 32K bytes to the Rabbit 2000 using /CS1, /OE1 and /WE1.

• Connect a flash memory that is on the approved list and has at least 128K bytes of storage to the Rabbit 2000 using /CS0, /OE0 and /WE0.

• Install a crystal or oscillator with a frequency of 32.768 kHz to drive the battery-backable clock. (Battery-backing is optional, but the clock is used in the cold boot sequence to generate a known baud rate.)

• Install a crystal or oscillator for the main processor clock that is a multiple of 614.4 kHz, or better, a multiple of 1.8432 MHz.

As shown in Figure 1-1, the Rabbit programming cable connects a PC serial port to the programming connector of the target system. Dynamic C runs as an application on the PC, and can cold boot the Rabbit-based target system with no pre-existing program installed in the target.

Figure 1-1. The Rabbit Microprocessor and Dynamic C

Dynamic C programming uses the Rabbit's serial port A for software development. However, it is possible with some restrictions for the user's application to also use port A.