Circuit Cellar Launches WIZnet iMCU Design Contest

Nov. 4, 2009 - PRLog -- Vernon, Connecticut —Circuit Cellar—The Magazine for Computer Applications—has announced the launch of the WIZnet iMCU Design Contest 2010.

The design contest simply requires the use of WIZnet’s new chip (the W7100) as part of an embedded project. (See www.wizwiki.net/ for official rules).  The W7100 is an Internet MCU integrating a hardwired TCP/IP core with an 8051 processor. The resulting integration is known as ‘iMCU.'

The W7100 can make an easy-to-implement platform for applications that need a network connection. In addition, the 64-KB SRAM and 32-KB internal buffer make even high-performance Internet applications possible. WIZnet’s hardwired TCP/IP stack, which includes Ethernet MAC and PHY, has positioned a market-proven chip (the W5100) in industrial and multimedia application market for a number of years. By combining the latest hardwired TCP/IP chip with the benefits of the W5100 and 8051 MCU core, the new W7100 provides a one-chip solution for all your embedded Internet projects.

The W7100 can guarantee cost and time efficiency as well as the possibility of ‘offloaded’ Internet capability to existing embedded designs. Moreover, without any knowledge about TCP/IP protocol, W7100 users can design various applications with WIZnet providing simple SOCKET programs.

Contest judges look at a wide range of criteria when considering winners, including technical merit, originality, usefulness, cost-effectiveness, and design optimization. The project submission deadline is June 30, 2010.

To facilitate the use of the W7100 chip for the contest, an official evaluation board (iMCU7100EVB) is being made available at a discounted price of $49 USD (normally $99 USD) for a limited time. The EVB is available exclusively through www.FutureElectronics.com/.

The iMCU Design Contest 2010 is the second contest WIZnet has co-sponsored with Circuit Cellar. The iEthernet Design contest 2007 introduced many in the design community to the benefits of the W5100 hardwired TCP/IP Ethernet controller. "With the 2007 contest, we saw many Circuit Cellar readers finally bringing Ethernet capability to their existing embedded projects," said Sean Donnelly, Publisher of Circuit Cellar. "But with the MCU capabilities of WIZnet's new W7100 chip, I'm seeing engineers offer pretty ambitious Internet-enabled projects for the next round of judging."

Because Circuit Cellar's primary role is publishing a print magazine about hands-on embedded systems projects, every iMCU Design Contest entrant is viewed as a potential author. "The contest is just the beginning for many of these entrants," Donnelly explains. "It’s a fast way for them to get our attention. A great many of the participants with the best entries become Circuit Cellar authors, advisors, project evaluators, and so on. It's the ultimate resume' booster, and I'm proud to have a partner like WIZnet that can make it easy to produce really useful contest entries."

The iMCU Design Contest 2010 winners will be announced in August 2010. Winner announcements and complete projects from past Circuit Cellar design contests are available at www.circuitcellar.com/.

Background
Since 1988, Circuit Cellar magazine has maintained its role as the premier source of practical technical information for designers and builders of computer hardware and software applications. Circuit Cellar enhances electronics design skills by offering creative solutions and unique applications through complete projects, practical tutorials, and useful design techniques. Circuit Cellar is published monthly in print and digital edition formats. For more information, visit www.circuitcellar.com/.  

WIZnet Inc., founded in 1998, is a Korean fabless semiconductor company focusing on fully hardwired TCP/IP core technology. For more information about WIZnet, visit http://www.wiznet.co.kr/.

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Circuit Cellar is the premier source of practical technical information for designers and builders of computer hardware and software applications.