Rather than develop a (product) competing processor-based design, including a set of features, and support... I decided it is much cheaper, and more prudent to approach the hardware design giving it a serial interface to a ROBUST set of processors. SPI and I2C are both supported using the MCP20S08 (MCP2008,) not as a port expander primarily, but an INTERFACE! Viola! The project takes on a new dimension, is compelling!
If interested in collaborating on this PLZ inquire. THX
-C 