In theory you could probably build something that can upload new sketches over the network, presumably using a second device to act as the programmer and which acts as an ethernet to serial device.

In the grand scheme of things it is probably easier to hook a Rasberry Pi, Beaglebone Black, or pcDuino to the network, run Linux, and use ssh to log into the system to modify the programs, than it would be to build a method to download programs via the network.  Or use the Linux machines to run the IDE remotely and hook up the Arduino to those machines, that can be reprogrammed via the USB/FDTI cables.

In looking at your request however, I think you probably don't want full fledged reprogramming.  Instead you just want to control various parameters via the network.  That is simpler than trying to reprogram the whole thing.  You could make a little web server that puts up a simple screen with toggle/slidder switches.

What you want to do is step back, and clearly identify what you want controlled, down to what types of control you want and how much automation is involved in the program.  At the moment, you seem to be just hand waving on what you want.  You need to break it down into smaller pieces so you can work on each piece, rather than trying to get the whole development done all at once.

Totally different naming than Power7 or Power8.  Is it fair to say that IBM and Freescale's development of POWER has completely diverged?

There is coordination, at higher levels, and both camps contribute to the shared GCC port.

Thank you. But 1 byte = 2 ascii charcters, correct?  So then I have 1048 bytes left???

No 1 byte = 1 ascii character.  I imagine you could manually compress it to just the printable characters as you are reading it, but it will make it harder to process.  Bear in mind the ethernet processing libraries will also consume a good deal of memory.  Now, if you connect a SD/micro-SD card you could read a bunch of bytes, and store them to SD card and process them in pieces.

However, if what you are doing is spooling characters and don't have real time components (like running a motor), it will be much simpler to use a Rasberry Pi, which has much more memory and has a built in ethernet port.  The programming is somewhat different than Arduinos, but I suspect over all it would be a lot easier to use a Pi, than trying to shoehorn the code into an Arduino.  An R-pi would also tend to be cheaper than an Arduino + Ethernet shield.

I don't use Freescale chips, but I do use the Powerpc architecture all of the time.  I work at IBM on the GCC compiler for the powerpc architecture.  At present, our current released server machines are power7/power7+ with a lot of work for the new power8 server platform that will be coming.

In addition to automotive field, I know powerpc also had design wins for set top boxes.  But since I don't track that end of the market, I don't know who the major customers using the embedded powerpc boards are.

It won't harm your arduino board electrically, however the socket connector on the arduino board is a 5.5/2.3mm type and your 2.1mm center pin most likely won't make good contact.

Lefty

Ummm, according to http://arduino.cc/en/Main/ArduinoBoardUno the plug is 2.1mm:

External (non-USB) power can come either from an AC-to-DC adapter (wall-wart) or battery. The adapter can be connected by plugging a 2.1mm center-positive plug into the board's power jack. Leads from a battery can be inserted in the Gnd and Vin pin headers of the POWER connector.

You can also get them from places like Radio Shack, such as: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11343870 (note, with this device, you would need to get the 2.1mm adaptaplug.

I had gone to Radio Shack just to post a link you could get it at a brick & mortar store (in the USA) rather than having to wait for ebay.  Normally the Shack's prices are on the high side, but evidently they are having a clearance on this item right now.  Normally they sell just the adapter cable for $20.  It is a real nice price to pick up an adapter cable that includes a battery for $10 (if you can find a store that has stock available).

I have some projects that needed batteries at 6, 9 or 12 volts, so I picked up two devices last night.  Because it was a clearance item, I needed to go to 3 different local stores to get both devices.  Radio Shack gives you  a free device plug when you buy the power adapter at the same time.  The correct device plug for the Arduino is the Adaptit "M".  You want to plug in the device plug so that the center pin is positive (line up '+' symbol to the flat area on the cable).  When I posted the link yesterday, you could still order it online.  This morning however, it is no longer available for online ordering.

If I do build my projects, I probably will want to get less bulky batteries (depending on how long I need power for), but it convenient to have something to do use during the prototype stage.  I could also imagine using for devices that are normally plugged into the wall, but you want to keep powered during power blackouts.  I have powered an Arduino for 4-5 days from a 5000 mah cell phone charger running with no power conservation, so I figure the battery in the unit (1,200mAh at 14.8 volts) should last at least a day, probably 2.  For the projects I typically want to do, I figure I probably need 12-16 hours of power before I can turn off the unit and recharge.

While the power brick is kind of bulky and heavy, it does work to power an Arduino with the voltage set to 7.5 volts.  The power plug folds into the unit when you are traveling, but the cable is attached to the unit.

So thank you for the query, that caused me to look at the Shack.  

alright thanks for the suggestion guys. I'll try and find a 7~9V adapter!

I tend to like the universal adapters that can target different voltage levels, and have several different plugs, so if I need power to a device, I usually have the right voltage and plug (as opposed to having a drawer full of cords with a specific plug and voltage).  For example, a quick search on ebay for universal adapter, buy-it-now, USA seller showed several cords, including: http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-Way-Universal-AC-DC-Adapter-/111064129599?pt=Multipurpose_AC_to_DC_Adapters&hash=item19dbf0203f.

You can also get them from places like Radio Shack, such as: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11343870 (note, with this device, you would need to get the 2.1mm adaptaplug.

12 volts is at the high range of recommended voltage for an UNO, so it should work (recommended 7-12 volts, physical limits 6-20 volts).  If you get a cord that outputs 7-8 volts, it will mean less energy is wasted by the Uno's external voltage converter that you plug the 2.1mm power cable into.  I tend to use 1amp and 2.1amp USB charging ports meant for charging cell phones, and plug in a USB A male to USB B male cable into it and the Arduino.

If you haven't bought the pcs that will be acting as your servers, I would say the simplest approach is to get pcs that use a serial console if they don't have a graphics device installed, and use the Arduino to monitor the serial line.

If your PC does not have a serial console boot option and booting up with the output going to a VGA, DVI, or HDMI graphics device, then you are talking about much more memory needed, since the device will be outputting raw pixels and not characters.  It may be displaying 24x80 black and white characters, but it is something like 640x480x3 to 1092x1080x3 pixels (the x3 is for the 3 colors).

thank you very much!
it works!!! 

The ^ operator is exclusive or, which only works on integer types.

If you have an Uno (but not Leonardo or Mega), you might want to check out the Video Experimenter shield.  I must admit to buying one, but not actually investigating what it can do.  https://nootropicdesign.com/ve/.

The usual suggestion for these type of projects is to investigate  the blink without delay tutorial: http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/BlinkWithoutDelay.  Basically you want to set up a state machine for the 2nd led to indicate when to turn it on, and when to turn it off whenever the button changes state.

There are different chip vendors for arm chips, so there is competition.  I would imagine there is only one maker for AVR chips, so there is less competition.

Well memory is an obvious answer, as long as you figure out the memory/megabyte.  I just bought a 32 gigabyte Sandisk class 10/UHS-1 card for $27 (with free shipping) from B&H.  When I started with digital photography in 2001, I was shooting with a Olympus D-510Z and later C-2100UZ.  Those cameras were 2 megapixel cameras, and used smart media.  SM cards topped out at 128 megabytes, but the first card I bought was 'only' 32 megabytes, and in looking up the price at Amazon, I paid about $26 including shipping.  So for roughly the same amount of money, I just got 1,024 times as much memory 12 years later.  Looking up the specs, SM cards were rated at 2 MB/s, and the new card I got is rated at 30 MB/s for read, and 10 MB/s for writing.

Well if you go to the AnalogReference manual page at http://arduino.cc/en/Reference/AnalogReference, you will see:

Configures the reference voltage used for analog input (i.e. the value used as the top of the input range). The options are:

• DEFAULT: the default analog reference of 5 volts (on 5V Arduino boards) or 3.3 volts (on 3.3V Arduino boards)
• INTERNAL: an built-in reference, equal to 1.1 volts on the ATmega168 or ATmega328 and 2.56 volts on the ATmega8 (not available on the Arduino Mega)
• INTERNAL1V1: a built-in 1.1V reference (Arduino Mega only)
• INTERNAL2V56: a built-in 2.56V reference (Arduino Mega only)
• EXTERNAL: the voltage applied to the AREF pin (0 to 5V only) is used as the reference.

Presumably on a Mega you want INTERNAL1V1 (or perhaps INTERNAL2V56).