IOTester® development tool
IOTester connects "embedded" I/O hardware to the PC and enables the hardware to be accessed and controlled directly from an ordinary PC program application written in C or C++.
Simple and easy to use; you do not have to be a PC programming wizard.
Just focus on your I/O hardware functionality while programming and testing "embedded" hardware drivers on the PC, using
common PC program development tools.
Make direct I/O operations on target hardware from a PC application
From your application source code you can directly do basic low-level access (RD, WR, AND, OR, XOR operations) on the target I/O hardware.
- Compile your "embedded" application and driver source modules with a normal PC compiler.
- Then run your "embedded" GUI application on the PC.
- Test and debug you "embedded" program C / C++ code like a normal PC program.
- Use the real I/O hardware: display module controller, touch screen controller, frontpanel keys etc.
IOTester includes support for "embedded" target interrupt event handling by functions on the PC, for instance interrupts from a touch screen controller.
Support for DMA-like block transfers between the target I/O hardware and data buffers in the PC application.
Ideal for testing your new GUI application source modules in PC mode while I/O operations take place on the real display controller and touch screen hardware.
All RAMTEX display driver library source codes can directly be used with IOTester.
Display module - FCC-FCB connector board - Connection cable - IOTester 8/16 bit parallel bus - Direct I/O access via USB connection to PC.
- Display module connected via a normal 8 bit (or 16 bit) parallel bus on IOTester.
- Display touch screen connected via IOTester I/O hardware devices (Touch controller, I2C, or SPI bus)
- The display "target system" and IOTester are both powered via the PC-USB cable
Features: IOTester hardware
(Use links to jump to hardware descriptions)
- Fast and simple USB-2 connection to the PC.
- Two target hardware connectors with a total of 45 configurable pins. Flat cable connections.
- Built-in 3.3V power supply to target via target connectors.
Target hardware with low current consumption (<= 300mA) (i.e. most display modules) can be powered directly via the PC's USB connector. 5V DC Power Adaptor for larger current consumptions, or to use 5V power supply for target. - Target interface logic
- Programmable I/O pins: Out, In, 3-state, pull-up.
- External processor bus:
- 8 or 16-bit external data bus.
- Bus types: 8080 (/WR, /RD clocks) or 6800 (R/W, E-clock).
- Chip select (/CS) and Reset (/RES). Controlleable from PC program.
- Programmable external address bus size, from 0 to 24 bits.
- Programmable bus clock timing. Clock stretch via bus /WAIT pin.
-
Internal I/O devices
Functionality similar to I/O hardware devices in most processor chips:- SPI bus interface (rerouteable to any connector pins)
- I2C bus interface (rerouteable to any connector pins)
- Hardware timestamp timer (for timing control or measurement)
- Interval timer (Polled or generation of interrupt to activate a PC handler function)
- Interrupt input pin. Edge trigged. (Polled event checking or interrupt generation to activate a PC handler function)
- Interrupt controller Enable / disable the activation of interrupt-handler functions on PC.
-
Internal I/O devices for display modules with RGB bus
Enable use and test of RGB bus type display modules and/or touch screen interfaces from the PC application.- RGB display controller with frame buffer in RAM.
- External 16, 18 or 24-bit RGB bus.
- Programmable RGB bus clocks
- Programmable PWM signal for backlight intensity control.
- 16 MB RAM buffer. Used as video frame buffer or image storage.
- Copy and fill accelerator.
- Touch screen interface.
- RGB display controller with frame buffer in RAM.
- Win32 and Win64 .dll and .sys driver for Windows 2000, NT, XP, Vista, Win7, Win8, Win10 included.
Use free PC C or C++ compilers from Microsoft (or Embarcadero) to develop and test your embedded GUI application, and see the result on your new display hardware module. - Two different IOTester Hardware Versions. IOTESTER and IOTESTER-DISP.
- Comples product package with IOTester box, Power adaptors, USB cable and easy-to-use target interface cables.
Typical Application Areas:
Accelerated GUI development
Usually "embedded" GUI application development requires a number of iteration cycles to get the most attractive "look and feel" result.
Fast turnaround cycles during development, debugging and test are of paramount importance to achieve short development time.
Take advantage of powerful and low-cost PC development tools, and an unconstrained development environment to accelerate development and testing of application and I/O driver C source modules.
Education and training.
Simple to use. Easy to get started.
No Windows programming skills are needed to get started with programming and use of embedded I/O hardware from the PC.
Focus directly on the characteristics of I/O hardware and just write the "embedded" program in Standard C or C++
Neither an embedded processor system nor a target processor compiler is required to use IOTester.
Production test
Fast and flexible interface to production test equipment for small-scale production.
Up to 4 IOTesters can be used simultaneously by one test application running on the PC. A total of
180 pins are programmable for use as parallel buses, I2C or SPI buses, individual input or output pins, etc.
Early prototyping, Presentation and sales demos
Combine fast prototyping with "touch and feel" experience for your customers. Easy to install and run a demo using IOTester. Only a few files are needed. The ideal solution for sales presentations of I/O hardware devices like display modules and touch screens.