This report presents benchmarks for the Z8 FORTH microcontroller system that ORNL uses extensively in proving concepts and developing prototype test equipment for the Smart House Project. The material is technical in nature and assumes considerable experience in microcontroller technology and microcomputer programming. The intent of this report is to provide the Smart House Project team with information concerning the programming techniques needed for developing and testing Smart House products. The device can be used more » to meet numerous sensing, tracking, and test-suite generation needs, and can provide an important function in system testing by simulating the operation function in system testing by simulating the operation of associated Smart House components. Use of a high-performance, easily-adaptable microcontroller such as the Zilog Z8 can facilitate the testing Smart House product prototypes. The major goal of the development of new residential products for communications, energy distribution, and appliance control. The work was conducted for the National Association of Home Builders' Smart House Project, a cooperative research and development effort involving American home builders and several major corporations that provide products and services to the home building industry.
This report presents an extension of the Zilog Z8/FORTH microcontroller system software by defining FORTH words to implement a Z8 assembler. This information is provided to project participants to help them select development and test equipment for Smart House products.
Also, the report shows how to exploit an unusual Z8 FORTH system feature to simulate a multitasking environment (concurrent execution of several tasks). The more » techniques described in this report improve Z8 execution rates up to 300% by replacing selected parts of the vendor-supplied FORTH software with routines optimized for speed rather than program size. Such a device can meet numerous sensing and testing needs, including the important function of simulating the operation of Smart House components associated with the one being tested. Use of a high-performance, easily adaptable microcontroller can greatly facilitate a laboratory evaluation of Smart House product prototypes. Rapid prototyping requires special product development methods and tools because it often mandates short term, radical changes in the concept being developed. This report presents techniques for modifying and extending Zilog Z8 FORTH microcontroller system software to improve its suitability for rapid prototyping, an increasingly popular method of developing new products and services. Suggestions are provided for improving the understandability of FORTH programs and in using machine language routines to compensate for lack of execution = , The evaluation showed tht a Zilog Z8 microcomputer with a FORTH development system in internal ROM meets most of the ORNL-developed rapid-prototyping requirements. The report presents a set of rapid-prototyping requirements based on past ORNL experience with laboratory testing and experimentation. Because it is optimized for laboratory use, a prototyping microcontroller may not be suitable for commercially-available Smart House products. To provide this adaptability, a prototyping controller must offer a broad spectrum of functions that are easily used by a laboratory technician. Testing Smart House hardware prototypes will require a general-purpose microcontroller. The Project will help manufacturers use advanced technology in the development of new products for communications, energy distribution, and appliance control. The work was conducted for the National Association of Home Builders Smart House Project. This report presents an evaluation of a single-board microcontroller suitable for rapid prototyping.