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Description

The ENC28J60 is Microchip's first incursion into the ethernet controller arena, this new device includes all MAC & PHY IEEE 802.3 10BaseT functions, 8KB of dual access RAM packet buffer and a SPI serial interface, all in a convenient 28-pin package (SPDIP, SOIC, SSOP and QFN packages available).

It takes just few components to get the ENC28J60 up and running and connected to a host microprocessor or microcontroller with support for the industry standard SPI interface.

This project includes the schematics and related information for a simple hardware implementation based on the ENC28J60 (ENC) and a Microchip PIC18F 8-bit microcontroller running Microchip's free TCP/IP stack.

Design considerations

While a PIC18F452 MCU can be used for this project, a better and recommended option due its additional program and RAM memory space is the PIC18F4620 (40-pin) or the PIC18F2620 (28-pin) if fewer I/O interfaces are needed.

The ENC has 3.3V Vdd supply, one alternative is to use a MCU also with 3.3V Vdd (such as a PIC18LF4620) but depending on the MCU selection this will limit the maximum clock frequency supported by the MCU then reducing also the maximum SPI clock generated from the MCU clock.

Another alternative is to use 5V Vdd for the MCU, but in this case level conversion is required for at least the signals from the ENC to the MCU, no conversion is necessary on the other way since the ENC inputs are 5V tolerant but a small (100-300ohms) resistor in series is recommended to reduce undershoots.



Click for a larger image [Click Image to Enlarge]

Click for a larger image [Click Image to Enlarge]

Click for a larger image [Click Image to Enlarge]

Another consideration is that silicon revisions of the ENC28J60 prior to B5 have a bug that requires the SPI clock (SCK) to be between 8MHz to 10MHz to avoid clock synchronization problems and unreliable access to the ENC registers, then you have to choose a MCU clock speed that permits generating a SPI clock within the acceptable range, or as a workaround to this problem use the same clock source for both devices, for example using the ENC28J60 CLKOUT output as the source for the MCU clock (this configuration is shown in the miniPIC10T project that is a variant of this project showing a minimal implementation).

This clock synchronization problem has been fixed in the B5 silicon revision, the new acceptable range for SCK is now DC to 20MHz.

The new silicon revision introduced another change, now the recommended value for RBIAS (R17 in the schematics) is 2.32K 1% for Rev B5 and 2.7K 1% for Rev B1/B4. It's important that you use the correct value for RBIAS since it controls the signal shape of the differential outputs, a wrong value can produce deformation of the signal and non-compliance with IEEE 802.3.

For this project we will use a dual power supply, 5V for the MCU and a 3.3V regulator for the ENC, a 74ACT125 or 74HCT125 3-state buffer for level conversion, and a 10MHz can oscillator (a 10MHz parallel crystal works fine too) with HS-PLL enabled for a MCU clock speed of 40MHz with SCK=Fosc/4 ie 10MHz.

The hardware design includes a 25LC256 serial EEPROM (the new 25LC1024 is also supported) for storage of configuration information and web pages, several leds, a RS232 driver for a serial interface, some push buttons and a 20x2 LCD character module (HD44780 or equivalent controller).

Several people asked if this type of circuit can be built using wire-wrap. As you can see from the last picture on, the answer is yes, just keep your wires as short as possible and flat to the board.

The first hardware prototype was built in a prototype breadboard shown in the first picture from the top and then moved to a standard wire-wrapped prototype board.


SPI Interface signals

For your reference, the two images below show an oscilloscope and logic analyzer screen captures of various SPI signals.


[Click on the image for a larger view]

The image on the left is an oscilloscope capture showing SPI SCK in Channel 1 and ENC28J60 CS (Chip Select) in Channel 2. The image on the right is a logic analyzer capture showing the ENC28J60 CS, all SPI signals (SCK, SDO, SDI), the 25LC256 Chip Select and the MCU clock at 10MHz.


Getting the board up and running

Compiling the firmware is not a huge or complicated task, it requires few software tools available for download from Microchip's website at no cost, and obviously the TCP/IP stack source code distribution and a PIC programmer. For this project I used Microchip's MPLAB ICD2 as a programmer.

With the latest modified version of the Microchip TCP/IP Stack v3.75, the process is quite simple.

This new version adds the PIC10T macro definition that combined with the device selection for the Microcontroller generates the appropriate code for this particular project.

The software distribution includes the MPLAB IDE project file PIC10T.mcp, load this project into MPLAB IDE, select the correct processor (by default the project has selected the PIC18F4620) and verify that the settings on the config.h and pic10t.h files apply to your project or modify them accordingly (both files are located in the include subdirectory of the main src directory).

For additional details check the README.TXT file included in the software distribution.

For a detailed explanation about how to build Microchip's TCP/IP stack
for this or similar projects Click Here.


Schematics & Firmware source Code

PIC18F4620-ENC28J60 Schematics  
Building the Microchip TCP/IP Stack for this project  


Datasheets for relevant parts used in this project

Microchip's PIC18F2620/4620 8-bit MCU Datasheet  
Microchip's PIC18F2620/4620 8-bit MCU Datasheet Errata  
Microchip's PIC18F2620/4620 8-bit MCU Silicon/Datasheet Errata Rev.A3  
Microchip's PIC18F2620/4620 8-bit MCU Silicon/Datasheet Errata Rev.A4  
Microchip's ENC28J60 Ethernet Controller Datasheet (Version A)  
Microchip's ENC28J60 Ethernet Controller Datasheet (Version B - Latest)  
Microchip's ENC28J60 Silicon Errata Rev.B1  
Microchip's ENC28J60 Silicon Errata Rev.B4  
Microchip's ENC28J60 Silicon Errata Rev.B5  
Microchip's 25LC256 Serial EEPROM Datasheet  
Optrex DMC20261 2x20 Character LCD module  
Pulse Engineering J1006F01P 10/100BaseT Integrated magnetics RJ45 Jack  
Xicon 60ohm Chip Ferrite Bead  


Useful Links

TCP/IP Stack Source code and useful software tools

Microchip's TCP/IP Stack v3.02  
Microchip's TCP/IP Stack v3.60  
Microchip's TCP/IP Stack v3.75  
Microchip's TCP/IP Stack v4.02  
Microchip's TCP/IP Latest Version  
Microchip's MPLAB Integrated Development Environment  
Microchip's MPLAB C18 Compiler  
Wireshark (formerly Ethereal) Network Protocol Analyzer  
CoffeCup HTML Editor 2007  


Some Boards/Products developed with the ENC28J60 controller

nic28 - ENC28J60 Network Controller Interface Card  
eip-10 - Embedded TCP/IP Network Module  
PICNet 1 - PIC18 Network Development Board  
Microchip's Ethernet PICTail Daughter Board  
NorthMicro NM121 ENC28J60 Network Board  
CCS Embedded Ethernet Prototyping Board  
Olimex ENC28J60-H Ethernet Controller Header Board  
Olimex PIC-WEB WEB Server TCP-IP Development Board  
Olimex PIC-MINI-WEB WEB Server TCP-IP Development Board  


Additional Resources

Brush Electronics Ethernet Boot Loader  
Microchip TCP/IP Stack Application Note (AN833)  
Microchip Users Forum - TCP/IP-Ethernet  




   
    ©2006-2009, Jorge Amodio, All rights reserved

Last Update: Jan 28, 2008