CPU

5150 CPU rev. C.
This is a "quick & dirty" overview of the 5150cpu board revision C. At the time I am writing this, it's been around seven years since I've last dealt with this board so my knowledge is a little grey to say the least. This is what I have been able to remember so far. (I'm still digging in my old binders trying to figure out what I was trying to do.)

A Short History:

The 5150 is a single board computer based on the 8051/52 processor. The reason I made the 5150 was I was trying to standardize a CPU bus for the 8051 (much like the standard PC-ISA bus) and do it in a form factor that was expandable (like the PC-104 form factor). At the time, I had not seen any such expandability among 8051/52 single board computers (SBC) like the 5150 other than PC-104. When I started the design, The CAN (Controller Area Network) bus looked like the "next big thing". So the first expansion board of the 5150 architecture was a data acquisition board with a can bus controller. Around this time (early 2000), Ethernet products started appearing and this is where the market went instead of CAN. I had started a design for an Ethernet adapter for the 5150 but never finished it. After spending thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours on these products, project development stopped and everything went into storage where it still resides.

Programming:

The 5150 CPU contains a resident program that runs out of the 87C52's internal ROM when the programming switch is set to "PGM". The resident program provides a user terminal interface via RS232 connection. Use HyperTerminal under windows accessories to communicate with the 5150. Use 38400 baud, 8, none, 1. Set your terminal settings to send <CR & LF> or <LF>. Once you have started HyperTerminal, type "H" and you should see the help menu scroll up on the screen. Programs are sent to the 5150 by first selecting "L" and then sending the file using the Xmodem protocol. (Not Xmodem 1k). The file must be binary NOT hex. You will see some consecutive "C"s appearing on the screen then send the file. After the file is successfully sent, move the switch from "PGM" to "RUN" and press the RESET button. After doing this, your program should run.

5150