The ethernet interface can control up to 64 strings of Triklits (however, if you want to control a large number of Triklits contact us for other possible options). It is attached, via a daisy chained ribbon cable, to up to 8 driver boards. The ethernet and driver boards are the same size and can be vertically stacked.
It is a single board that requires power (9-12vdc at 85ma) and an ethernet connection (10/100). However, the power supply needs to be able to supply the Driver boards, so we suggest a 1A supply if you will have 8 driver boards attached. The power jack is a coax style 2.1/5.5mm socket.
The ethernet interface comes set with a default IP address of 192.168.0.200 (netmask 255.255.255.0), and the 4 jumpers allow you to add an offset of 0-15 to the host number (in this case .200-215), allowing up to 16 ethernet boards on a network. However, you can order this with any other network number you would like.
The interface is (currently) designed to require a continuous stream of data whenever the TCP connection is opened. IE, you must send data frames all the time even if nothing is changing (the driver software takes care of this). We strongly suggest using a separate ethernet network for controlling the Triklits. Other traffic on the network could cause delays when controlling the Triklits. The ethernet interface needs 40 kbytes/second for every driver board attached.
The software interface is via a TCP connection to port 1000. Our software driver module takes care of the protocol, and the source code for that is available on this web site. Currently there is no ability to exactly synchronize the outputs of multiple ethernet interfaces but we plan to add this in the near future (probably using a UDP broadcast mechanism). The board can be upgraded by replacing the large chip in the center.
