The Rabbit 6000 Processor; Introduction - Rabbit 6000 User Manual

1. T R 6000 P
HE ABBIT ROCESSOR

1.1 Introduction

Rabbit Semiconductor was formed expressly to design a better microprocessor for use in small- and
medium-scale, single-board computers. The first microprocessors were the Rabbit 2000, Rabbit 3000, Rab-
bit 4000, and the Rabbit 5000. The latest microprocessor is the Rabbit 6000. Rabbit microprocessor
designers have had years of experience using Z80, Z180, and HD64180 microprocessors in small single-
board computers. The Rabbit microprocessors share a similar architecture and a high degree of compatibil-
ity with these microprocessors, but represent a vast improvement.
The Rabbit 6000 is a high-performance microprocessor with low electromagnetic interference (EMI), and
is designed specifically for embedded control, communications, and network connectivity. Extensive inte-
grated features and glueless architecture facilitate rapid hardware design, while a C-friendly instruction set
promotes efficient development of even the most complex applications.
The Rabbit 6000 is the second Rabbit microprocessor to have a full 16-bit internal bus architecture, pro-
viding significant performance improvements when used with external 16-bit memory devices. It also has
the ability to support both 8-bit and 16-bit external memory devices.
The Rabbit 6000 is also the fastest microprocessor from Rabbit, now a Digi International brand, running at
up to 200 MHz, with compact code and support for up to 16 MB of memory. Operating with a 1.2 V core
and 3.3 V I/O, the Rabbit 6000 boasts 16 channels of DMA, six serial ports with IrDA, 64+ digital I/O,
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quadrature decoder, PWM outputs, I C port, and pulse capture and measurement capabilities. It also fea-
tures a battery-backable real-time clock, glueless memory and I/O interfacing, and ultra-low power modes.
Four levels of interrupt priority allow fast response to real-time events. Its compact instruction set and high
clock speeds give the Rabbit 6000 exceptionally fast math, logic, and I/O performance.
The Rabbit 6000 contains 1MB of internal high-speed 16-bit RAM, which can be used for both code and
data. It also contains 32 KB of battery-backable 16-bit SRAM (also high speed) for applications where
data retention is critical. It is capable of booting off of a standard serial flash, so a microcontroller applica-
tion with no external parallel memory is possible.
The Rabbit 6000 provides two options for network connectivity — a full 10/100Base-T Ethernet MAC and
PHY built into the device, and a wireless 802.11a/b/g MAC compatible with several standard Wi-Fi trans-
ceivers. Both network interfaces can be active at the same time. The Rabbit 6000 also contains a USB 2.0-
compatible full-speed USB host MAC and PHY.
The Rabbit 6000 also features two "flexible interface modules," or FIMs. These two modules can be
loaded with customized designs to support a variety of interfaces, including serial ports and CAN-bus
interfaces.
digi.com
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