Trace Systems, Inc

New TCPmaker 1.4.2 works with recently released Microchip TCPIP Stack 5.25.  This new Stack adds support for many new processors and capabilities, including compatibility with other parts of the Microchip Application library.  An important new capability is the use of Mass Storage Devices for storage of TCPmaker's web content.

This new library supports Microchip's latest WiFi library, which you can use to make your TCPmaker device wireless.   Sweet!

Support for New PIC32MX6x and 7x Devices

TCPmaker 1.4.2 also adds a new code generator for important group of new PIC32 devices that have internal Ethernet MAC circuitry: PIC32MX795F512L (used in Microchip's PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit), PIC32MX795F512H, PIC32MX695F512L, PIC32MX695F512H. 

These new processors are really awesome, and surprisingly inexpensive. 

They all have 512 KB of program memory (which can easily be used in your TCPmaker project to hold not only your program code, but your web content, too) and a whopping 128 KB of data memory as well. 

The PIC32MX795F512L chip on Microchip's PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit board also contains a full speed USB engine as well - HOST as well as Peripheral Device capability.  (We are working to add support for these devices in a new version of HIDmaker FS.) And a whole candy store of other peripheral modules as well: lots of serial modules, for example.

It is a little known but important fact that each of these processor chips also provides you with a hard-coded legal MAC address that is unique to that specific chip.  So you won't need to buy MAC address chips or go to the IEEE to buy a legal block of MAC addresses, and you WON"T have to fool around programming those IEEE MAC addresses into your device!

Some of our customers have flatly stated that they are switching ALL of their new products over to use the PIC32MX795F512L chip, for these reasons:

• At under $6 in quantity (and about $9.60 in singles) these parts are inexpensive enough for their entire product line (admittedly, this may not true for your products)
• Standardizing on one single large processor for all of their products gives their company financial advantages
• The large amount of program and data memory and other resources available on these chips makes it highly unlikely that they will run into one of those horrible situations where a new product requirement will not fit in the existing processor

For these reasons and more, we have make it a high priority to create bootloader support in our new SUMS system (described in this newsletter) for this important new processor family.

This makes it much easier for you to work with these processors, without having to make major changes in the generated project files.

Registration of your TCPmaker product can now be done ONLINE, which automatically puts you into our new notification system.  This way, we can tell you right away about new versions of our products, and send you helpful tips on how to get the most out of the products you already own.

New Upgrade Policy

TCPmaker Version 1.4.2 will be the last totally free upgrade of TCPmaker for all of our TCPmaker customers. 

• Starting with our next version of TCPmaker, we will be instituting a new Annual Maintenance Program:
• New TCPmaker customer will get free upgrades and tech support for the first 12 months after purchase
• Annual Maintenance will cost $100 per year, and will include free upgrades and tech support for 12 months after date of purchase of a year's Maintenance

Comparing our Annual Maintenance terms to those of many C compilers (whose Annual Maintenance costs require you to effectively re-purchase their compiler every year), our customers whom we have surveyed feel that our new Annual Maintenance Program is very reasonably priced.