KS8995MA Evaluation Board User’s Guide
Micrel Inc. Confidential
Page 17
11/3/2006
5.3 SPI Interface Software
Micrel/Kendin provides Windows 98 based software to enable the user to use the
KS8995MA’s SPI interface with a computer and a parallel port connection. The software
comes in two parts, a command line interface, and a simple graphical user interface.
The command line interface is an executable file called “pspi.exe” which runs in a Windows
98 DOS environment. All of the KS8995MA registers can be accessed using pspi.exe. The
command line interface also supports scripts so that the user can create custom
configuration files for the KS8995MA. We have also provided some scripts for the SPI
software to make configuration for the advanced test scenarios in the following sections
quick and easy. We recommend copying the scripts and the pspi.exe program to the same
directory before invoking the pspi.exe program. We also recommend opening an MSDOS
window and running the pspi.exe program from the MSDOS prompt. For a complete list of
commands see Appendix A.
The graphical interface is an executable called “wpspi.exe” that runs in a Windows 98
environment. The graphical user interface allows the user to be able to read MIB counters;
set the static MAC ID table; configure the VLAN table; and enable the rate-limiting and
port mirroring features of the KS8995MA. The graphical interface does not allow access to
the KS8995MA’s full register set, but gives the user an easy and comprehensive way to
configure the KS8995MA for evaluation.
Please note the following when using Micrel/Kendin SPI software:
1. This program only supports Windows 98 and Windows ME DOS box mode.
2. Set parallel port BIOS setting to ECP+EEP mode.
3. KS8995MA demo board Rev 1.1 cannot reliably communicate with some PCs that have
poor parallel port signal quality. Switch to another PC if you are experiencing
unreliable reading problems.
6.0 Advanced Test Scenarios
This section describes test procedures that illustrate how to use the advanced features in the
KS8995MA. All of these features are accessible with a host CPU through the SPI interface
in real applications. We have provided Smartbits configuration files to make these tests easy
to set up. However there are some limitations. Please be sure that Auto-negotiation is set on
your Smartbits equipment and that flow-control is enabled for all tests. We cannot control
this through the Smartbits configuration file. Also, different Smartbits chassis require
different configuration files. Please choose the appropriate folder for your Smartbits
equipment, i.e. Smartbits 600, Smartbits 1000, Smartbits 2000. We recommend resetting
the evaluation board for each new test to ensure that the KS8995MA comes up in default
configuration. These scenario procedures assume that the user has prior experience with
Smartbits equipment.
