Course: Choosing a Microcontroller Architecture
Topic: An Overview of the Microcontroller Marketplace
Monday February 18, 2013
Presenter: Bill Giovino
Question and Answer Log v1.1
Questions in italics
Bill Giovino responses in blue
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A generic question. I havent seen a microcontroller so far with 2 usb modules. It would be really good if i can use a microcontroller as a usb device as well as a usb host at the same time. Is there any in the market now ??
natraj20
STMicroelectronics, Microchip, and Atmel all offer microcontrollers with two or more USB ports. Check them out!
With repspect to roadmaps, for a long time, Atmel only released road-maps to preferred customers. Maybe this is still their policy as I've never seen one publically available. For me, rather than forcasting the future, I use them to see how the manufacturer concieves of the relationships among their products and what the potential upgrade paths are. Having the roadmap makes the system designer's life a LOT easier, even if you are a small customer.
JimWagner
I agree. It is unfortunate that roadmaps for future products are often kept confidential by many microcontroller vendors. However, you can still judge the feasibility of a microcontroller product line by looking at a roadmap of existing products.
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Are there any 64-bit uC or do you forsee one in the near future?
Cghaba
64-bit architectures are really in the realm of the microprocessor. Very few microcontroller applications would require that sort of number-crunching.
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Question: We're working with some educators advancing STEM in middle & high schools. Do you know of vendors who share that emphasis and have development boards focused on that level of study?
Most vendors have educational programs and are happy to supply schools with hardware at reduced cost.
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Re: development boards... It appears one can tie up a lot of $$ buying several types of development boards. Are used dev kits available? Will a vendor let you use a low level board for testing an application, then do a buy back for a more advanced dev kit?
I haven't seen anyone provide used development kits. One problem with a used kit is that you may not be able to determine if it is damaged. You might try contacting your local representative to see if they will loan you a board.Digi-Key does offer development kits at very low cost.
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Which vendor as of now do u consider has the best/extensive code support or examples ?? for 8 bit microcontrollers?
Any of the major 8-bit players – Microchip, Atmel, Renesas, ST – will want to provide excellent code support and examples for 8-bit microcontrollers. These are the 8-bit companies that have done well during the 2008-2010 "recession" BECAUSE they were focused on 8-bit. That focus kept their 8-bit biz alive.
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You didn't say much about those mixed-signal devices that have both DSP and MCU cores
JimWagner
Right. These tend to be in a very specific niche of applications. As I mentioned, microcontroller people tend to shy away from anything that says "DSP". But some of these hybrid cores, like the Microchip dsPIC, are very powerful devices for motor control and sensor processing.
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We currently use Freescale for thier ColdFire product. We are currently looking on going to an ARM product in the near future. When we do this, we will look at other vendors ARMs as well to see what they offer. In general we look for several things in a vendor - 1) are they on our Preffered Parts Vendor list. 2) How well they support their product (do they keep use tuned to new and better products coming down the pike) 3) Do they good development tools. and 4) how much can they help us out when we get into trouble if we run into snaggs during devlopment.
johnmr
All excellent criteria. This keeps you out of trouble and teaches you a lot about the vendor.
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Nice intro. It confirms that the support system is very important to the decision.
As far as choosing between different manufacturers for an application, would you recommend asking that manufacturer/vendor for "referrals" from other customers who might have done similar work?
Alaskaman66
Yes, it's always good to ask for referrals if they are new to you. You can tell a lot about a vendor that way.
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I don't see C as "outmoded". It provides a good mix of low level bit and register access with higher level libraries. Its generally a very good fit in the microcontroller application space.
JimWagner
I agree, I think the C language will outlast the planet!
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Why change micros? There is no one reason usually. It's a weighing of all the factors and what you are looking for.
As always the application dictates.
RMRSS
Excellent points!
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I think the biggest thing for us in considering whether to switch vendors is weighing the power of the development tools and the features that are available against the cost of trying to switch and getting trained on the new product as well as continuing support of existing controllers.
Brandon
This is important feedback, thank you!
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Are any other high-level languages in use? I can understand assembly (understand, not like!), but C is old and from a software engineering point of view, very out-dated and outmoded.
Well, C is the most popular language for embedded developers. I think it’s popularity will guarantee that it will be around for a very long time. You will find some manufacturers also support C++ a nd a few even support Java.
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nice presentation. i try to stick with microchip as i'm used to it.. but if for some reason, i do not get all the hardware peripheral features i need (eg: usb, 2 mssp and 5 pwm all in a single package) i would try to switch to a different vendor
natraj20
So you would switch vendors because you need a combination of peripherals that your current vendor doesn’t support. That is very interesting!
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Question: We're working with some educators advancing STEM in middle & high schools. Do you know of vendors who share that emphasis and have development boards focused on that level of study?
6sigma
Most major vendor has some sort of educational program. I recommend that you contact the vendor’s Public Relations department and ask about their programs and discounts for schools and university. Digi-Key also may be able to help you.
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Which uC is best for educating students in uC practice?
cghaba
For educating students in microcontrollers I would suggest a 16-bit microcontroller. It is register-based and easier to understand than an accumulator-based 8-bit, and is less complicated than a 32-bit. I would talk to Renesas or Microchip about an educational board for their 16-bit microcontrollers.
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out of all the vendors u listed, what do u consider has the best code support or extensive library support ?
natraj20
I can’t say that there is a “best” – each vendor I list provides excellent code and library support. They are all outstanding
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Can you expand on development boards and their key to MFR commitment?
Glad to! As I had discussed, development boards are key for you to evaluate whether or not a microcontroller is the right fit for you. Manufacturers know this, but they also know that the planning, designing, and building a development board’s hardware and software takes time and money. And it’s not easy to make the dev board easy for you to use! So the quality and ease-of-use of the development boards tell you a lot about a microcontroller manufacturer’s commitment to a product line. Again, browse Digi-Key’s selection of development boards and compare the features.
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Bill, your lecture sounds like a high level marketing "guide to success" for a MC vendor...
caa028
Thanks for the compliment! More than one microcontroller vendor has taken pages from my playbook.
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One difficulty we have is that we have a history using a certain type of microcontroller, so there is a lot of legacy code that is reused/leveraged in new products. I'd like to explore other vendors - do any of the development tools help with porting code between various microprocessor vendors?
Most major vendors will be happy to assist you in porting code in some way. Some may even have in-house tools to do some of the porting for you. It depends upon your application and if you have written your code so that the drivers are separate and easy to separately manage.
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Does Intel make any 8051s anymore? It seems like everyone except Intel makes them these days.
BruceMcLaren
Nope, Intel stopped making the wonderful 8051s years ago.
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Many still use assembly, but C is valuable for quicker development and also if you work with multiple vendor products.
john.evans
True, C makes it easier to port your code to another microcontroller as opposed to assembly.
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Is C really the only or the most predominant language in use? What other languages are popular?
pashkoff
C is really the dominant programming language for microcontrollers. Some micros can also be programmed in C++. There are even a few Basic compilers out there.
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Does intel provide microntroller? If yes, why it is not popular?
Cmpatel
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Intel abandoned the microcontroller market long ago in favor of the microprocessor marketplace.
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Thank you for your attention today. Tune in the rest of this week for more of this exciting Continuing Education series.
Bill Giovino