Embedded Systems Design using the Rabbit 3000 Microprocessor : Interfacing, Networking, and Application Development

Rating:
Summary: More than Just a Reference for the Rabbit 3000
Review: As a supplemental to the documentation for the Rabbit 3000, I found this book to be useful. In some ways, it is superior to the documentation which comes with Rabbit 3000 development kits. In particular, this book talks about the Rabbit 3000 as hardware, where the standard documentation tends to describe the processor in terms of the ample drivers supplied by Rabbit Semiconductor. The approach taken in this book is clearly more useful if you need to go straight the hardware, which is often required in embedded projects to wring out that extra performance required to make things work. Rabbit Semiconductor needs to make datasheets that document the hardware directly, as do their competitors. This book is a step in that direction.

The thing I liked most about this book is that it contains real nuggets of wisdom that are applicable to any embedded project. The section of real world interfacing alone is worth the price of the book. Any one of the ideas in this chapter could easily save a project or a career. Other equally useful nuggets are scattered throughout the book.

I have two small complaints about the book. First, it seems a little unfocused. Many of the "golden nuggets" I mentioned previously seem almost out of place in this book, as if the authors were attempting to cram everything they knew into this book for fear of never getting to write another. The use of unusual tools (bash and gnuplot to plot ADC characterization data) seem a bit obscure. Most developers stick with the Microsoft paradigm (Excel and/or Visual Basic) for their embedded interfacing needs. My second complaint is about the inconsistency of editing. Some of the writing is fairly crisp, but some could definitely benefit from a reading of Zinsser and a firm application of Hemingway's rule.

Overall, if you're doing a Rabbit 3000 project, this book is well worth the price. If you're a serious embedded engineer who does real world interfacing, this book should still be considered for your library.


Rating:
Summary: Embedded systems design for the Rabbit 3000: what a book!
Review: I've read a number of books like this, and this is the only one I've seen with the qualities that it has! It includes overviews and lays down a foundation and provides plenty of background for the reader who's not already doing this kind of work, and it provides a wealth of relevant information, not just confining itself to the embedded microprocessor and interfacing.

Very unusual for this kind of book, it's not dry reading. I felt like I was listening to engineers and technicians sharing information with whiteboards, donuts and coffee, it's written in human-speak. Unlike most books of this nature, you can see that the authors are people just like you.

It's a rare and excellent combination of technical data and friendly discussion, providing the reader with the insight needed to get involved with embedded systems or to develop embedded systems using the Rabbit 3000.

I'd reccommend this for anyone who designs, repairs, maintains, or is otherwise involved with equipment that has an embedded system - which is nearly everything, today!

Rating:
Summary: Worth the price and more!
Review: One of the two books I keep in my cubicle! This book explains how to use the features of the Rabbit MCU and the software libraries from ZWorld. These explanations alone are worth the price of the book since they explain *why* whereas the corporate docs merely say "do it this way".

The added benefit of the book are the real-world examples. These cover a variety of typical embedded systems tasks and give excellent context and examples of the stuff beyond to CPU module that real applications have to take into account. Snubber circuits, signal conditioning, network communications, etc, are explained in detail.

If you're new to embedded systems, or just want a reference to the Rabbit that's more readable than the data sheet, then buy this book.