Originally Published EMDM January/February 2002
TECHNOLOGY NEWS
ElectronicsCompany Offers OEMs Multiple Options for Device Connectivity
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| A chip with a 12 x 12-mm footprint developed by Lantronix Inc. allows devices to be remotely monitored or controlled via the Internet. |
A company has developed a technology that enables most new and legacy devices to be accessed, controlled, and programmed over the Internet or shared networks. Device Server Technology (DST) from Lantronix Inc. (Irvine, CA, USA) is compatible with standard connectivity protocols and is available in external and embedded formats.
"We have found that OEMs first dip their toe in the water by going with our external solution, which connects a serial port to an Ethernet box," says technical marketing manager Paul Wacker. "That automatically puts a legacy device on-line." The company also produces a smaller version that is designed in the box, he adds. "From there we drop it down to the semiconductor level, where you're integrating more silicon into the motherboard. That's the typical migration path for most OEMs," notes Wacker.
Device manufacturer Welch Allyn Protocol (Beaverton, OR, USA) opted for the external box when it updated its Acuity Central Monitoring Station. DST from Lantronix establishes two-way communication between the Propaq bedside monitors and a central workstation via the hospital local area network. Instead of walking from bed to bed to collect vital signs data, nurses can monitor up to 60 patients simultaneously from the workstation; in addition, the supervising clinician can modify monitoring functions from the Acuity station or at the bedside.
For device OEMs seeking an embedded system with these features, Lantronix recently introduced a fully integrated semiconductor named DSTni. The chip's 12 x 12-mm ball-grid array footprint makes it suitable for integration into even the smallest devices. DSTni comes with a suite of on-chip peripheral hardware to minimize integration risk and a 96-MHz processor. In addition to two 10𢬔 Ethernet MACs and an integrated physical layer, the chip has four high-speed serial ports, CANBUS, SP1, I2C, and parallel I/O.
To ease installation, the company offers an OEM developer's kit that contains a reference design board and network-enabling software. Also included are a TCP/IP protocol stack to facilitate Ethernet connectivity, a set of C libraries and sample source code, and a Web server that enables standards-based graphical presentation, access, and control via any Web browser.
Norbert Sparrow
Copyright ©2002 European Medical Device Manufacturer
