Microchip Technology DM163024 User Manual

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PICDEM.net™ 2 Development Board User’s Guide
DS51623D-page 16
 2011 Microchip Technology Inc.
2.3
USING PICDEM.net 2 DEVELOPMENT BOARD WITH A TEST NETWORK
Although the PICDEM.net 2 Development Board is ready to communicate on a 
DHCP-enabled Ethernet network out of the box, you may have reasons not to do this. 
Besides those already mentioned, there may be others, such as:
• You don’t have an Ethernet network available to experiment with
• Your network doesn’t use DHCP
• Your network administrator forbids you to put the board on the network
For these reasons, the PICDEM.net 2 Development Board can also communicate 
directly with a desktop system, known here as a test network. In this configuration, the 
Development Board acts as a DHCP server for your local desktop system.
To function in a test network, the local system must meet the following basic 
requirements:
• Any operating system capable of TCP/IP network communication
• Standard Ethernet card or integrated adapter, capable of supporting 10 Mbps 
operation, with a RJ45 connector 
• Any Internet browser software
2.4
CONNECTING THE PICDEM.net 2 DEVELOPMENT BOARD
There are two basic network configurations for the PICDEM.net 2 Development Board: 
direct connection to a network and a test network connection to a PC through a 
crossover cable.
If you are connecting the Development Board to a DHCP-enabled network, follow the 
steps in Section 2.4.1 “Connecting to a Network”.
If you are connecting the board directly to a PC in a test network configuration, follow 
the steps in Section 2.4.2 “Connecting Directly to a Host System”.
All of this assumes that the Development Board is running the preprogrammed Demo 
Application firmware. The general principles for hardware discussed in the following 
sections still apply for other applications and may be used as a guideline.
Note:
The DHCP server in the Microchip TCP/IP Stack can only provide a single 
address to a single remote node. If it detects another DHCP server on the 
network, it will automatically disable itself. This feature is enabled by default 
in the factory preprogrammed demo based off of the TCP/IP Stack version 
at the time of this writing (Version 5.31). Future Stack releases may change; 
please check the TCP/IP Stack Help file for up to date information.
Note:
This section assumes that an Ethernet card has already been installed in 
the host system and is working properly, and that the TCP/IP protocol has 
been installed and bound to the card. If this has not been done, or if you are 
uncertain if this has been done, please contact your Information Systems 
support person for further assistance.