sorry to just burst into here like this...
but recently i've been thinking about using SPI as an expansion bus (similar to PCIe) to save on Pins required for an expansion connector. though controlling multiple /SS lines with a single SPI Master seems complicated.
anyways, the idea made me wonder how one would go about hooking up a regular 8 bit parallel device (like a Video Controller, Sound chip, etc) to an SPI Bus as a slave.
I don't know if someone else has already thought about this or even tried it...
but in my search i came across these SPI 8/16 bit GPIO Expanders. the
MCP23S08 and
MCP23S18. they come in a DIP package and run at 1.8V to 5V, though their SPI speed is limited to 10MHz. (maybe overclockable?)
the 8 bit version seems a bit more useful since you can put 4 of them in parallel using the same /SS line from the SPI Master, while the 16 bit one only has that option for the I2C version of the chip.
i was also thinking that the 8 bit chip could be replicated using a CPLD, allowing for potentially higher Clock Speeds and more specific features around connecting to 8 bit devices. though that would obviously drive up the total cost of the interface.
either way, any thoughts on this?