Here in the US, basketball fans talk about March Madness, the playoffs between various college teams that lead to a final championship. With the Embedded World show behind us and the Embedded Systems Conference (DESIGN West) ahead, we're entitled to a bit of Microcontroller Madness. The following information brings you news about five product introductions of interest to engineers and product designers who use MCUs. (For non-US readers, "madness" simply means crazy and frenzied activities of fans of the college teams.)
New tools and ARM MCUs from Atmel
Atmel has introduced Studio 6, which combines ARM and AVR MCU software development tools in one free package. Anyone can download the beta version and use it right away. The move to a unified set of tools should simplify software creation for both MCU families, particularly when designers plan to work with the eight-bit AVR devices and the latest 32-bit ARM processors.
The Studio 6 integrated development environment includes more than 1,000 design examples and covers more than 300 Atmel AVR and ARM (Cortex-M3) chips. Designers interested in touch controls will find the needed QTouch Composer tools within the Studio 6 software. Those who use the AVR MCU family also can use a cycle-accurate chip and peripheral simulator.
Atmel simultaneously introduced 40 new ARM Cortex-M3 processors in the SAM3 family, so engineers can choose less-expensive SAM3N chips with a bit less Flash memory or SAM3 MCUs with 512 Kbytes of Flash. These ARM Cortex-M3 devices operate at up to 48MHz and can use power between 1.62V and 3.6V. The new SAM3A and 3X families provide USB, CAN, and Ethernet capabilities.
ARM tools and measurements for game developers
ARM itself has a new set of tools, called DS-5 (v5.9), which will help product designers transfer games from larger to smaller mobile devices in ways that preserve or enhance the graphics "experience" yet help save power. The DS-5 tools also support the ARM Mali graphics processing unit (GPU). The DS-5 Professional Edition includes the Streamline Performance Analyzer, an advanced multiplatform debugger, the ARM compiler, fast simulation models of Cortex processors, and a comprehensive set of documents and examples. The performance analyzer lets you see graphic representations of API events, CPU and GPU activity, and software and hardware counters with a 1-msec resolution.
Wikipedia has a good article about FRAM technology and it notes Ramton has worked with Texas Instruments for over 10 years, so that also might explain TI's interest in replacing high-power Flash memory and SRAM with FRAM. See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferroelectric_RAM.
Thanks, Jon, for that info. That makes sense. Back in the day when I covered memory, I used to wish I could write more about FRAM since it seemed like such a nifty technology for specific applications. That adjustable partitioning looks especially useful.
Hi,Ann. I bet TI put the FRAM in the MSP430 first because this MCU appeals to engineers who need to save as much power as possible. Because the FRAM operates from a 1.5-volt supply, it doesn't require a charge-pump circuit to produce the higher voltage needed by flash memory. That saves energy right away. According to TI, the FRAM section reduces memory power use by a factor of as high as 250 times. The FRAM also has faster throughput for read/write cycles and a very long life for such cycles. One additional capability--as noted already in a comment--gives programmers the capability to divide memory as they choose and adjust the partition as storage needs change. The entire memory-address range operates within the FRAM. So if you need only 1 kbyte of storage for temporary data, you can have 15 kbytes left for a program.
Thanks, tekochip and Chuck. I didn't realize that licensing issues were one of, if not the, major hindrance to wider adoption of FRAM. I'm still curious to know why TI put it in this MCU vs some other one.
I agree, Ann. Everybody on the electronics and materials beats seemed to be writing about FRAM for a decade before anything happend. TI finally incorporated it into a microcontroller about a year ago.
MSP430 continues to push the state of the art in power consumption. Interesting that they chose the name "Wolverine," although it apparently did not help the University of Michigan during March Madness.
I believe using FRAM came from Ramtron finally being able to free up its licensing and other business concerns. I was fortunate enough to use a FRAM part recently and it performed exactly as described on the label. Other than the low current capability the technology also allows you to have a very free memory map, and interesting features like self-modifying code. TI really has something, rather than just introducing a faster/smarter micro, they truly have a new innovation.
Jon, interesting that the MSP430 Wolverine uses FRAM. I remember writing about this memory type years ago, but it never seemed to catch on in a big way although its benefits were obvious. Any idea if that's changed? Or why TI chose it for this specific MCU?
The Machinist Calc Pro computes speeds and feed rates for milling, turning, and drilling: cutting speed, spindle speed, feed rate (inches/minute), cutting feed, etc.
During a recent meeting with engineering-school faculty and alumni, Contributing Technical Editor Jon Titus talked about whether colleges should educate generalists or specialists. What do you think?
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A quick look into the merger of two powerhouse 3D printing OEMs and the new leader in rapid prototyping solutions, Stratasys. The industrial revolution is now led by 3D printing and engineers are given the opportunity to fully maximize their design capabilities, reduce their time-to-market and functionally test prototypes cheaper, faster and easier. Bruce Bradshaw, Director of Marketing in North America, will explore the large product offering and variety of materials that will help CAD designers articulate their product design with actual, physical prototypes. This broadcast will dive deep into technical information including application specific stories from real world customers and their experiences with 3D printing. 3D Printing is
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