Communication strategy between BBxm and Arduino

All,

I am working on a device using both a Beagleboard xm and an Arduino. Most of the sensors and actuators are connected to the Arduino. The only sensor connected ot the BBxm is a camera.

I want to know the best strategy to establish communication between the two.
Briefly this is what both devices will be doing. The Arduino will be checking for its sensor inputs and when they meet a condition it should communicate this to the BBxm. Then the BBxm should capture an image and do some intensive processing and then send the results back to the Arduino. The results will basically be about 4 to 5 binary control signals and also a string of alpha numeric characters.

I have already established a serial communication link between the 2. So that is not what I want to know. What I want to know is how the communication is done.
Atm I am thinking, have the BBxm query the Arduino once every 1ms. The arduino itself will check for inputs once every 1 ms and then if there is a query will send out whether the image is ready to be taken.

What do you think ?

thanks

Hi,

Briefly this is what both devices will be doing. The Arduino will be
checking for its sensor inputs and when they meet a condition it should
communicate this to the BBxm. Then the BBxm should capture an image and do
some intensive processing and then send the results back to the Arduino. The
results will basically be about 4 to 5 binary control signals and also a
string of alpha numeric characters.

[snip]

Atm I am thinking, have the BBxm query the Arduino once every 1ms. The
arduino itself will check for inputs once every 1 ms and then if there is a
query will send out whether the image is ready to be taken.

I do not see any reasons for polling. You can issue the blocking call
(read() or select()) on BB side. On the Arduino side, you will call
write() function as soon as you detect your condition. It will unblock
the blocking call on BB and then you can process received data.

It might be also helpful for you to take a look at "Reactor" design
pattern for more details:

HTH,
Andrey.