after reviewing the posts, it seems others had the same problem I had, and that is this DigiKey web site displayed an "not available" error and could not access any of the first semester archives for at least 1 1/2 hours or more.
Jon, thank you for this week's and the previous sessions. They were great. I didn't know what to expect back in January, but the best outcome of this effort is that I'm left wanting more.
Design News and Digikey have provided an excellent way to introduce new technology, techniques and enough information for me to ask the right quiestions and where to start looking for answers. Thank you.
Jon, Design News and Digi-Key, can't say thanks enough for this informative week. Extremely valuable information and recommendations.
Thank you for your kind words. I have enjoyed the week and hope to return for the next "semester." Have a good summer (northern hemisphere) or winter (southern hemisphere). Bye for now.
Thanks for keeping the session open. Another day when conflicts kept me from being here on time.
This has been a great series this week! Well worth the time as Jon has provided real user evaluations.
Regarding hardware tools, buying from anybody except the manufacturer or an authorized distributor is either suicide or simply a repressed desire to work 7 days a week. These are cheap compared to our engineering overhead rate.
Also, there is a lot of variation between the vendors into how durable programming tools and development kits are. Specifically, the Microchip PICkits have survived numerous wiring errors on my part. Microchip has the most durable and easiest to use that I have found.
Regarding slides 13 & 14, I need to know what the gates are really doing. This is essential when the wizard does not work as advertised. I have seen similar problems with library functions that do not work correctly.
Thanks Don H, How do I get audio? just attend this and I should have audio? I could not get audio for the past few days. First timer joining this series.
@tgk - recorede audio is running ok. there was partial website outage (www.designnews.com was just showing an error page) - may have affected me, gsmick, etc... but the lecture was recorded (listening to it now).
I've only now (3:02pm) gotten in. The link in the email sent me to an error, same with the Design news DigiKey CEC link. Did anybody else have this much trouble getting in? I had trouble with Verizon earlier.
Hi Jon, in your opnion does using a wizard remove teh requirements of understanding the operational details of the embedded pereferials?
It removes some of it, Dave. I would use a wizard to get some code to start with and then examine the code to determine how it affects the I/O ports and peripherals. You can get a good idea of the base-level code needed for hardware, but I'd want to know the details to ensure I knew what is going on.
I'm aware of these wizard tools and need to verify the output of the tool to ensure that the desired capability is configured. They are usually a good starting point but not the magic bullet to address all issues.
True. They also help newcomers understand what needs to get done to initialize hardware, set up interrupt-service routines, and so on.
I don't think I'd be comfortable having the HW details hidden from me. For troubleshooting you do need to know the intimate details.
You can get into as much detail as you want. The "wizards" just give you a head start. Then you have code you can use as a skeleton and investigate all of the hardware operations as you wish. It's always good to check that a wizard does what you think it does.
Cmeadow6959 asks: Do boards come with emulator software that runs the code as if it is the actual board under test?
Many software tools include a simulator so you can test the code on your host PC and determine how it works. This type of simulation does not involve a specific board.
sorry, I means I should follow up which one? cortax or MIPS in my future products
MIPS and ARM both license their designs. I would follow up with the ARM Cortex-M3 or -M4 rather than a MIPS-based processor. There are many more M3 and M3 MCU vendors and a larger variety of tools and chips.
Jon, I appreciate the goal. Unfortunately being understaffed and the SW being the last part to get completed, the hardware team can be significantly ahead of the sw and be selecting MCUs based on incomplete guesses as to how much capability is needed for the MCU.
Suggestions on how to get a 106 year old company to change it's approach is appreciated :)
Hi Jon, I want to know you how to comment MIPS and ARM cortex-M device. I have both of them Dev-kit on the hand which is PIC32 and TI ...Cortex-M device. I means I should follow up cortax or MIPS in my future products. Thanks a lot.
LevitonDave asks: How do you keep the HW team from selecting an underpowered or mismatched MCU before the software team gets involved?
I would hope the teams work together and use some sort of model-based design that doesn't separate teams with the "brick walls" found in many organizations.
do boards come with emulator software that runs the code as if it is the actual board under test.
Yes, many of the software tools can simulate your code on a host PC and also simulate I/O ports to show activity caused by your software. The simulators come as part of the development software. If you need this capability, ensure your chosen tools have it. Also, download tools and check out how the simulation works.
My suggestion is to only use a wizard that generates C or assembly source, then do a code review to verify that the initialization is done as you expect. Take their source back to the data book, rather than the data book to your source.
I'm aware of these wizard tools and need to verify the output of the tool to ensure that the desired capability is configured. They are usually a good starting point but not the magic bullet to address all issues.
Usually there are two levels of cost for most MCUs - introductory "kits" with limited capability (inexpensive) and more flexible "professional" kits that are usually more expensive.
For the HW (programmer/debugger, dev kit) I go direct to mfg or distributor (DigiKey). I only look at eBay to find cable or connector adapter kinds of things.
hello Jon, Rob and all from sunny northern alberta. it finally feels like summer at 22C/72F with bright blue sky and a pleasant breeze. That can change in 5 minutes though!
Welcome: We have smog in the Salt Lake Valley today caused by fires south of us and thanfully not threatening our area. Up to 87 degrees F and about 11% humidity.
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