SHIP Version 5

SHIP Version 5 (SHIPv5) is currently in beta, and scheduled for production release early Q3'14 and includes many new capabilities:

• Over-the-wire updates (SPI/UART/USB) via built-in bootloader
• Major communications enhancements, including the SHIPBridge Protocol with firmware updates and data movement over USB/SPI/UART
• Larger font support and enhanced text placement with "textframe" objects
• Language translation manager, including MS Excel translation import/export
• Build configuration manager for single project/multiple output
• Improved scripting performance, floating point support, and numerous new functions
• Runtime drawing on "canvas" objects

The SHIPBridge Protocol

SHIP Version 4 had various Modbus protocols included for basic data exchange between the host and the SIM. This protocol was available over SPI and USB. A proprietary protocol over USB enabled updating of the GUI Cargo from SHIPTide, but engine updates had to be performed in various platform-specific ways, sometimes involving a JTAG programmer.

The SHIPBridge Protocol, included in SHIP Version 5 (SHIPv5), is a new protocol developed by Serious for communications between the SIM and attached host. It has the following key features:

• Light, efficient protocol
• Can run over USB, UART, SPI, and in the future, TCP/IP
• Remote file access over-the-wire without a file system stack on the host
• Firmware, cargo, and boot loader updates over-the-wire
• Rich data type exchange over-the-wire
• No cost, portable reference source code to be published for the "host" side