If they had any sense, they'd make a dsp that matches well to C compilers, and add support for it to gcc. Instant cult following. That's how atmel got where they are with AVRs, but only by accident because a hobbyist added support to gcc, as well as a few other cheap compiler vendors. If that were to stop, i'm sure gcc/msp430 would take its place.
That is dsPIC/PIC30 - but it's running several years late.
pete
-- pete@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas" HMHB
I am glancing over Digikey's catalog, looking at several vendors of MPU chips. I am aware of Microchip, Amtel, TI, Cypress, and others. It's a little confusing, even for a hobbiest. Since I have no history, I'd like to pick a vendor with a solid future and inexpensive development.
Gcc/Amtel is inexpensive (of course), but how smooth and solid is the developer environment, e.g. how easy is it to debug in circuit?
How good is the MSP430? I see indicators of strong interest, but I don't know the current or future trends.
If Microchip is heading for "interesting times", then perhaps I should looke elsewhere. OTOH MPUs are Microchip, but TI could drop the 430 and not even sneeze.
O P I N I O N S P L E A S E
Please share your thoughts and opinions about this. Many of you have a good sense of the future and know what really matters most in project development and learning.
Thanks in advance.
The major drawbacks of the MSP430 series (I've used it in about a dozen projects) are:
- No 5V versions and IO not 5V tolerant.
- No versions with external bus- although there are versions with plenty of RAM and flash, it would be nice to hook it up to some fast peripherals.
- The FLL clock oscillator requires a PhD and a brain the size of a small planet just to read the documentation.
- The built in reset isn't very reliable. Always use a separate reset IC- I use MCP100.
And that's it. Everything else about it is wonderful. The GCC port is pretty reliable, the serial download works beautifully (haven't had much luck with JTAG, largely because the GNU driver is flaky under Windouch), lots of powerful peripherals, lots of programming examples in both C and assembler, active support groups.
Paul Burke
That's definitely a drawback.
The msp430 has a single address space of 64k - there is not much left over on the chips with large flash and ram. The single address space is *very* nice, and part of what makes the chip far more "C friendly" than the AVR. If you can get away with a bit lower speed, you can make a databus out of normal port pins - of which the msp430 has plenty.
Indeed - a few simple examples would make things a lot easier! But once you've got it figured out, you can do nice things like use the internal (low power, low cost, low accuracy) oscillator to provide the main high-speed clock, and use a 32kHz crystal (low power, low cost, high accuracy - but low speed) to continually calibrate the internal oscillator.
Most of them have quite big holes. Only the ones with 20-odd K of RAM fill up the address space at all. And most fast peripherals only want a few K (mine wanted 4k).
Yes, I was brought up with a single 64k space, 6800s through to 6809s. Wouldn't want to change that. (except to make it a 1M linear address space, but that's next year)
That's the drawback. Just can't stand the low speed, ended up using the horrid 89C51RD2 and pouring power over it. I just want some of these spare pins optionally made into a bus.
Paul Burke
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