The Parallax Propeller MCU runs in 3 different flavors. A DIP-40 package (P8X32A-D40), a LQFP-44 package (P8X32A-Q44), and a QFN-44 package (P8X32A-M44). This appnote covers the two SMD packages; LQFP-44 and QFN-44.
The schematic is fairly simple as its just to show a typical layout of for the Propeller. The part number for the crystal is a 6MHz which will run the Propeller at 96MHz. It is a common HC-49/US package so the standard 5MHz type crystal can be used with this layout.
I made a special footprint that can use both the P8X32A-Q44 and P8X32A-M44. This way a part shortage on either package won’t hurt production. I made sure to leave plenty of room around the chip and supporting circuitry for easy fanout of the I/O. Just make sure to route away from the X0 and X1 crystal I/O to reduce EMF.
The WS2801 is a 3-channel constant current LED drivers that is designed for controlling chains of RGB LEDs. The IC is controlled by a 2-wire serial control scheme that allows multiple WS2801 to be chained together. You can find the WS2801 in the link below. This demo code basically shifts out 24 bits (8bits per color) using a 2-wire protocol. This code only works for one WS2801. There is a object designed for multiple WS2801 already in the propeller OBEX. That design uses too many resources for use on my pinball machine so I wrote this to use as little resources as possible (no new cog).
The idea would be to have the WS2801 PWM a set of mosfets which would in turn be connected to the string of LEDs. This way you could light up a bunch of RGB LEDs without allot of CPU time taken from the Propeller. The Propeller only has to mess with the WS2801 when it needs to change the PWM signals.
