I have a product in volume manufacture where the embedded CPU is now obsolete.
I have to replace that CPU with a lower cost alternative. For political (and practical) reasons I don't have a choice which CPU to use.
The original CPU had a companion chip which provided a printer port. The replacement does not have that feature.
The printer port is/was used for debug purposes by a legacy (and very a old/obsolete) RTOS. I would love to change that OS, but due to the complexity, that is not going to happen before we stop prodution of the current design due to shortages.
The replacement CPU does not have a IEEE1284 port (otherwise known as EPP, ECP, LPT, SPP,printer etc)
I have hunted high and low and can't find an ASIC which implements IEEE1284 on a 3.3V PCI bus. The only parts I can find that ever were are also obsolete.
I can find VHDL soft IP, but the powers that be don't want an FPGA in the design, and in any case the cost of the IP is far too high.
So, (at the risk of being accused of 'shopping') is there manufacturer that still makes a 3.3V PCI IEEE1284 (sometimes called a SuperIO) ASIC device that can be bought at a low cost in relatively low production volumes for sale in (or import to) Europe?
TIA,
Best Answer
I suggest you bit banging LPT port in code. AVR example can be found here. Alternatively you can make debugging via some new preffered interface, and then just for old debug devices make an intermediate hardware that will translate this new interface to old LPT interface. This will be good for the future, because you can drop LPT completely when RTOS finally gets a replacement.