>
> Forgot:
>
> I haven't seen the PLIX myself, but from the pinout thought it was just a
 16C5x.
>  Can anyone confirm or deny?

Confirm as much as I can. Software is the issue, not hardware.

Should not be too hard to roll your own. It's clear that the division of
labor is a good thing (i.e. one PIC for handling low level details of
TW-523 and other to handle higher level stuff).

BAJ