Thanks for the tip guys. I spent a few hours looking into some of the hardware TCP/IP solutions. The search has left me with the impression that I would have to read a thick TCP/IP manual cover to cover before I could tackle a real project.

Felix:

It is kind of funny that you mentioned the DS80C400 - Maxim just sent me (unrequested) literature about that same chip about a week ago. I had a few minutes free so I read it. After I was finished I thought to myself that it must really take a lot of work to get one of those chips up and running! I forgot about it shortly thereafter.

After reviewing it again, though, it looks like the ideal candidate for use as a CAN to Ethernet bridge.

Mikkel:

Thanks for the link to the IIM70x0 modules. They look like a good approach to the TCP/IP problem. They are about the right price for what I want to do. I must admit that I am a bit apprehensive to start using one of those, though. Perhaps a simple UDP application wouldn't be beyond my abilities, but I could see a TCP project sucking up a good deal of my summer that should be spent on other things.

I recently took a class on computer networks. Unfortunately the professor chose to focus primarily on the OSI model instead of TCP/IP. The impression that I got from the class is that computer networking is complicated and time consuming. That is why I am reluctant to jump into something like TCP/IP.. Unless of course I have misjudged the beast. Maybe its not as bad as I think, or perhaps those chips take care of all the dirty work.

Have either of you used TCP/IP for projects such as dataloggers or machine control? Roughly how long would you estimate a person with an eval board and a C compiler would take to establish communication using TCP? Are we talking weeks or months?

- Lee