[Oberon] RISC.img format

[Chris Burrows]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Oberon [mailto:oberon-bounces at lists.inf.ethz.ch] On Behalf Of
> Lars
> Sent: Monday, 15 February 2016 9:28 PM
> To: ETH Oberon and related systems
> Subject: Re: [Oberon] RISC.img format
> 
> Not sure if RISC oberon could transfer a file over ps/2, or serial, if it
even
> has the old serial style option.
> 

Yes - it has the old serial style option. We use a 115000 baud RS232 serial
link to upload compiled Oberon modules from the Astrobe development system
to the targte system to be executed. This works with all of the five
different RISC5 boards that we currently support. 

Some RISC5 boards also have a new serial style option that is commonly found
these days on ARM- based boards. i.e. the serial link is via a USB bridge.
The same cable that powers the RISC5 board can be used for file transfers so
only one cable connection from the PC to the board is required.

RISC5 developmemt turnaround time is rapid compared to ARM embedded
development. Compiles take milliseconds - the speed is partly due to
Oberon's pre-compiled symbol file import system. A significant advantage of
Oberon over many other systems is there is no *static* link/load operation
required. The resulting Oberon object files are automatically *dynamically*
linked very efficiently by the Project Oberon OS. Any imported modules that
already exist on the target are reused. Hence the executables to be uploaded
are miniscule - most serial uploads during a normal edit-compile-run cycle
are virtually instantaneous.

Regards,
Chris Burrows

CFB Software
http://www.astrobe.com/RISC5