Installers and newbies A good first read is ...
http://en.wikipedia.org/...Controller_Area_Network and Jackrabbitmarines http://www.jackrabbitmar....bok?category=NMEA+2000 (click on the link for his PDF).

NMEA2000 info is available at www.NMEA.org and on Panbo's site. http://www.panbo.com/ - Read http://www.nmea.org/pub/2000/index.html and Why NMEA2000
Also read http://www.nmea.org/pub/2000/NMEA2000.ppt

I would say Maretron seems more on top than anyone for getting info out to people. http://maretron.com/ ... Some companies it's like pulling teeth to get info on them. This is a great read http://www.maretron.com/...%20Sailboat%20Show.pdf, though I do not concur on ethernet with the IEEE1588 and RT ethernet protocols being a poor choice. Maretron also makes a NMEA2000 bus tester.

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Developers should read.

NMEA 2000 compatibility uses a suite from Kvaser http://www.kvaser.com/can/ and Vector http://www.vector-worldw...om/vi_nmea2000_en.html.
Dakota software makes a NMEA2000 stack also, but I don't know much about them. I like MATLAB a lot for simulink, but it's expensive. If you are a hobbyist, download Octave for running simulations.

Servo Magazine has had a number of articles on CANBUS. Nice people and a good place for new hobby developers working. It's a robotic magazine.

NMEA 2000 Developers who are creating new systems should read http://www.nmea.org/Stan...00ADigitalInterface.pdf - This also names some key ISO standards. The cost of the standards is relatively high for a full set.

A couple of CANBUS books are out there, but none for the hoobyist I like.

I also suggest a subscription to IEEExplore for serious developers. It has more articles on everything than you can imagine.

Well, I am less pleased with the personal Code Sourcery Stack ($199) for Stellaris. Code Sourcery has been very good on responsiveness for a product that does not get support. They upgraded the package free of charge to the ARM EABI. I do like the professional support (as many calls as needed in a year). CS uses the GNU toolchain and Eclipse. The ARM EABI is an upgrade of the product for Stellaris to do local emulation, which I really like. Still it's a low cost stack. The Free version (lite) is OK, and used by a large number of people. The Keil Stack works very well, and is incredibly easy to use. It seems to be very well supported, but it's very expensive comapred to GNU tool chains (It's their info, so you can get an Idea of the cost from Digikey for ARM3-cortex. Keil supports GNU, but provides their own tool chain also with Realview.


As for the LM chips, they appear to be an excellent platform. At a couple of bucks apiece they do a lot.

A real manufacturer would probably choose the Keil Suite. They would also likely use the KVASER stack.

-------------------------------------- On windows CE and per device charges -------------------

Some OS manufacturers charge a per installation cost. This is OK for the hobbyist, but it really bites small manufacturers. Windows CE/embedded has this challenge. Large Manufacturers have negotiation leverage.

An excellent article is and http://www.nxtbook.com/n.../index.php?startpage=32

Thanks

I may buy myself the Keil version as I like their product, but it's not for the average hobbyist in cost for good size products.