thoughts on PSOCs?

Hi - I ran into PSOCs a little while ago - and I'm having trouble figuring out *what* exactly they are... Cypress calls it a "mixed signal array" - which is a term that I'm not very familiar with. They say it has a microcontroller, along with a number of configurable "elements" (that can be set to be ADCs, DAC, timers, PWM, etc.) But my understanding of a microcontroller is that it essentially is a microprocessor with a number of devices already built in - so what exactly is the difference here? Sorry - I'm sure this is a really simple question - I guess I'm just getting confused by the terminology. Regards,

-Michael Noone

Reply to
Michael Noone
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figuring

array" -

Basically they provide a way for you to make a mixed-signal ASIC in small quantities, optionally flash-reconfigurable.

Example: someone I know is using one of these devices to replace an EOLed ASIC that generates and decodes DTMF.

number of

Sorry -

A microcontroller has a fixed peripheral set. You can't affect the way those peripherals are interconnected. In a pSOC you can (at burn time) establish internal wiring between analog modules. You can also in some cases choose pin to function mappings. A pSOC is essentially an _analog_ FPGA.

Reply to
larwe

Conceptually, they are microcontrollers with a configurable array of analogue functions.

Leon

Reply to
Leon Heller

Both close but not quite.

You have a bunch of analog an digital "Blocks". They can be configured (or reconfigured) at runtime. It gives you flexibility to choose you own mix, or change it depending on what you need at differt points in the program. You can download the design kit. Look at

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. Not that it is not the perfect solution to every problem. So make sure it suits you need before starting.

Reply to
Neil Kurzman

Hi Michael,

Before embarking on PSoC just make sure you can live with the performance of the offered on-chip devices. Often available modules such as opamps are rather slow, have large offsets and sometimes common mode may not include ground.

So far I haven't been able to tolerate these kinds of limitations in any of my designs and ended up having 'to roll my own'.

Regards, Joerg

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Reply to
Joerg

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