L.S.,
We are students at the University of Twente and we are doing a real-life case for a Dutch company. This company would like us to come up with newer (embedded) microcontrollers to replace the current ones used.
We are hoping to get any usable information of anyone here. Maybe someone has done comparable investigations or maybe someone could give us a hint to find more information. Below we will provide some information about the current microcontrollers and the conditions for a new controller.
*Current controllers: At the moment 8 and 16 bits microcontrollers, respectively the Philips 80552 (based on 8051) and the Philips XA, are used. These controllers provide a realtime machine control with a maximum response time of about 0,1 mSec and about 2000 events per second.One of the current trends is the increasing use of C++ on the 16 bits controller, which demands a lot of processor capacity. Another important thing is the increase of number of events in newer machines to more than
10000 per second.*Conditions for a new controller: We are trying to find a newer controller to cope with the trends specified above and (as many as possible of) the conditions stated below:
- Suitable for use with C++ (particularly in the lineary address area and with many data pointers);
- Availability of C++ cross-compilers and debug tools. E.g. GNU (no front-end C++ compiler);
- Usable with a RTOS (at the moment in use: CMX);
- Many I/O on the chip: o One or more I2c busses; o Multiple external interrupt inputs; o Two 8 or 10 bit AD converter/ DA converter or PWM .
- Preferably a small external bus, to avoid problems when routing prints and EMC problems.
- Possibly internal FLASH (minimal 1Mbyte) and/or RAM (minimal 256K). External is also acceptable. (at the moment in use: internal flash or OTP to place a "loader"-programme on board and to load a flash or monitor- programme);
- Cost-effective (maximum of about EUR20, to keep the price of the machines competitive).
Maybe someone can help us a little. Thanks in advance.
Kindest regards, René Bloemberg and Erwin Elling