Hi everyone,

Ive only worked with the Atmel ARM variants, but im curious about
knowing your views on which ARM-based microcontroller is the most
popular..Plz enlighten me!

Regards

Mayank

> Ive only worked with the Atmel ARM variants, but im curious about
> knowing your views on which ARM-based microcontroller is the most
> popular..Plz enlighten me!

It's impossible to answer this. ARM cores are used in ASICs and ASSPs
all over the place. Modern USB flash memory drives - those little
pocket gumstick drives - even use ARM processors, and they are made by
the boatload. How many cellphones are there on the market? ARM is very
popular inside cellphone ASSPs. How many MP3 players on the market? ARM
is exceedingly popular inside MP3 player ASSPs.

No two of these devices use the same chip.

Okay...Lets put it this way..which ARM-based microcontroller is the
easiest to work with, the criterea for "easy" range from the way to
access internal components, example code availability, and the
existance of user groups etc.

-Mayank

> Okay...Lets put it this way..which ARM-based microcontroller is the
> easiest to work with, the criterea for "easy" range from the way to
> access internal components, example code availability, and the

The market is too fragmented to make a sensible determination here. I'd
probably say Philips chips have the best hobbyist visibility as
individual chips, but that doesn't really mean anything. XScale is used
in a lot more hobbyist projects, but not as chips; people buy modules.

"Mayank Kaushik" <p...@yahoo.com> wrote in message 
news:1...@o13g2000cwo.googlegroups.com...
> Okay...Lets put it this way..which ARM-based microcontroller is the
> easiest to work with, the criterea for "easy" range from the way to
> access internal components, example code availability, and the
> existance of user groups etc.

Probably the Philips LPC2000 family. The LPC2000 Yahoo group I formed is 
very active (1300+ members) and has lots of code and hardware designs 
available. Philips themselves recommend it to customers. 8-)


Leon
-- 
Leon Heller, G1HSM
http://www.geocities.com/leon_heller 

Mayank Kaushik wrote:
> Okay...Lets put it this way..which ARM-based microcontroller is the
> easiest to work with, the criterea for "easy" range from the way to
> access internal components, example code availability, and the
> existance of user groups etc.
> 

Maybe Philips LPC2000 or Atmel AT91.

-- 

Tauno Voipio
tauno voipio (at) iki fi

Mayank Kaushik wrote:
> Okay...Lets put it this way..which ARM-based microcontroller is the
> easiest to work with, the criterea for "easy" range from the way to
> access internal components, example code availability, and the
> existance of user groups etc.
>
> -Mayank

I think you need to be more detailed in what you want to do..
The AT91 peripherals are quite advanced so there is more to learn
but that makes them easier to use if you want to solve the hard problems.

If you want to run a serial port at very high speed,
it is easier to work with a controller that has advanced DMA + UART
features like the AT91 than a low end machine.without the performance
or the H/W support but where the UART can be descibed in 2-3 pages.

You will find plenty of examples for the AT91 peripherals
on the www.at91.com web site, where you can download
the AT91 CD.



-- 
Best Regards,
Ulf Samuelsson
u...@a-t-m-e-l.com
This message is intended to be my own personal view and it
may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Nordic AB

Hi Mayank,

based on the interest in the family, it is probably the LPC2000 from
Philips  (links for the Yahoo froum have already been posted.
There are forums for the Atmel SAM7, the OKI and some others as well
but Philips was the first to come out with a real simple ARM
microcontroller.  Atmel had big ARM devices for a long time but they
are not as popular as the small single chip devices.
So if you need an ARM with lots of external memory, have a look at
Atmel, OKI, Samsung, Sharp, etc.. If you want a single chip version,
Philips offers the best selection of small devices with 48 and 64-pins.

An Schwob

Mayank Kaushik wrote:
> Hi everyone,
>
> Ive only worked with the Atmel ARM variants, but im curious about
> knowing your views on which ARM-based microcontroller is the most
> popular..Plz enlighten me!
> 
> Regards
> 
> Mayank

An Schwob in USA wrote:
> An Schwob
>
> Mayank Kaushik wrote:
>> Hi everyone,
>>
>> Ive only worked with the Atmel ARM variants, but im curious about
>> knowing your views on which ARM-based microcontroller is the most
>> popular..Plz enlighten me!
>>
>> Regards
>>
>> Mayank

> Hi Mayank,
>
> based on the interest in the family, it is probably the LPC2000 from
> Philips  (links for the Yahoo froum have already been posted.
> There are forums for the Atmel SAM7, the OKI and some others as well
> but Philips was the first to come out with a real simple ARM
> microcontroller.  Atmel had big ARM devices for a long time but they
> are not as popular as the small single chip devices.

It would be interesting to know how You measure this.

There are plenty of customers which are using the AT91 microprocessors,
but most of those customers do not use newsgroups and does not use Yahoo.
The download the AT91 CD which has plenty of examples
or frequent other distribution lists like the arm-linux kernel list.
Many I meet get those lists, but seldom make an entry.

From a market point of view, single chip micros always
have higher volume than the external bus micros, so I expect
the volume for the SAM7 to grow nicely.

I think it would be interesting to measure how many will switch from
the SAM7 to the Philips and how many will switch in the other direction.

The AT91SAM7 is just about to enter production but we have already stolen
quite a few Philips designs.

> So if you need an ARM with lots of external memory, have a look at
> Atmel, OKI, Samsung, Sharp, etc.. If you want a single chip version,
> Philips offers the best selection of small devices with 48 and
> 64-pins.

If you look at a matrix of part you will notice that Philips has more
devices
but the range of Atmel flash parts is wider.


48 PIN PARTs
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
32kB                        AT91SAM7S32
64 kB
128 kB
LPC2104/5/6

64 PIN PARTS
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
32kB                                                              LPC2131*
64kB                        AT91SAM7S64            LPC2132*
128kB                      AT91SAM7S128          LPC2114
256kB                      AT91SAM7S256          LPC2124
512kB                      AT91SAM7S512*        LPC2138*

64 PIN PARTS WITH 2 X CAN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
128kB                                                            LPC2119
256kB                                                            LPC2129

64 PIN PARTS WITH 2 X CAN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
256kB                                                            LPC2194

'*' not available yet, LPC213x is close though if I understand things
correctly.


100 PIN PARTS WITH 2 X CAN
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-------------
256kB                       AT91SAM7A3


SMALLEST PART - TQFP48 LOWEST COST
Atmels smallest part is a 48 pin part with 32 kB Flash and 8 kB SRAM
Philips smallest part is a 48 pin device with 32 kB part and 16 kB SRAM
Atmel should win round for lowest cost

SMALLEST  PART - TQFP48 MOST MEMORY
Atmel has the AT91SAM7S32 with 32 kB + 8 kB SRAM
Philips has the 128 kB LPC210x family - This is a 128 kB with 16/32/64kB
SRAM
Philips wins the round.

SMALLEST  PART - TQFP48 Analog
Atmel has the AT91SAM7S32 with ADC
Philips 48 pin parts do not have ADC onboard
Atmel wins the round

LARGEST PART FLASH MEMORY
Atmels largest part in 64 TQFP is 256 kB Flash with 64 kB SRAM
(AT91SAM7S256)
Atmels pincompatible AT91SAM7S512 is some time away.
but also have BGA with 512kb/2 MB Flash and 256 kB SRAM.
This is a dual chip package and does not have so many features though
Philips largest announced part is LPC2138 w 512kB Flash and 16 kB
Atmel wins the round if BGA is acceptable, otherwise Philips (when
available)

LARGEST PART SRAM MEMORY
Atmels largest part in 64 TQFP is 256 kB Flash with 64 kB SRAM
(AT91SAM7S256)
Philips has a single part with 64 kB SRAM and this has 128 kB Flash
The larger parts have less memory. Even the LPC2138 w 512kB Flash has 32 kB
It is even for 32 kB/64kB Flash
Philips wins the 128 kB Flash
Atmel wins the 256 kB Flash

PERFORMANCE
Philips has an 128 but wide flash bus running at 20 MHz
Atmel has a 32 bit wide flash bus running at 30 Mhz
Philips has higher performance in ARM mode
Atmel has higher performance in Thumb Mode
If you really need the performance, the AT91RM3400 will outperform
the LPC by executing from its 96 kB SRAM at zero waitstates. This will need
an external SO-8 dataflash
If you can afford the 30-40% increase in code size incurred by the ARM mode
then Philips is your choice. If not, go for Atmel.
If you accept external memories, the peripherals of the AT91SAM7s
series (except the analog) is available in the AT91RM9200 at 200 MIPS.

I/O
Atmel has a 100 pin TQFP series single chip.
Philips soes not have a 100 pin single chipper.

PERIPHERALS
Atmel peripherals are generally more advanced, coming from ARM9 chips.
This means they can handle more complex problems



-- 
Best Regards,
Ulf Samuelsson
u...@a-t-m-e-l.com
This message is intended to be my own personal view and it
may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Nordic AB

"Ulf Samuelsson" <u...@a-t-m-e-l.com> wrote in message
news:3...@individual.net...
> I think it would be interesting to measure how many will switch from
> the SAM7 to the Philips and how many will switch in the other direction.

I, for one, would never use a Philips, since it has no memory protection
scheme.

Meindert


> The AT91SAM7 is just about to enter production but we have already stolen
> quite a few Philips designs.
>
> > So if you need an ARM with lots of external memory, have a look at
> > Atmel, OKI, Samsung, Sharp, etc.. If you want a single chip version,
> > Philips offers the best selection of small devices with 48 and
> > 64-pins.
>
> If you look at a matrix of part you will notice that Philips has more
> devices
> but the range of Atmel flash parts is wider.
>
>
> 48 PIN PARTs
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -------------
> 32kB                        AT91SAM7S32
> 64 kB
> 128 kB
> LPC2104/5/6
>
> 64 PIN PARTS
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -------------
> 32kB                                                              LPC2131*
> 64kB                        AT91SAM7S64            LPC2132*
> 128kB                      AT91SAM7S128          LPC2114
> 256kB                      AT91SAM7S256          LPC2124
> 512kB                      AT91SAM7S512*        LPC2138*
>
> 64 PIN PARTS WITH 2 X CAN
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -------------
> 128kB                                                            LPC2119
> 256kB                                                            LPC2129
>
> 64 PIN PARTS WITH 2 X CAN
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -------------
> 256kB                                                            LPC2194
>
> '*' not available yet, LPC213x is close though if I understand things
> correctly.
>
>
> 100 PIN PARTS WITH 2 X CAN
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
--
> -------------
> 256kB                       AT91SAM7A3
>
>
> SMALLEST PART - TQFP48 LOWEST COST
> Atmels smallest part is a 48 pin part with 32 kB Flash and 8 kB SRAM
> Philips smallest part is a 48 pin device with 32 kB part and 16 kB SRAM
> Atmel should win round for lowest cost
>
> SMALLEST  PART - TQFP48 MOST MEMORY
> Atmel has the AT91SAM7S32 with 32 kB + 8 kB SRAM
> Philips has the 128 kB LPC210x family - This is a 128 kB with 16/32/64kB
> SRAM
> Philips wins the round.
>
> SMALLEST  PART - TQFP48 Analog
> Atmel has the AT91SAM7S32 with ADC
> Philips 48 pin parts do not have ADC onboard
> Atmel wins the round
>
> LARGEST PART FLASH MEMORY
> Atmels largest part in 64 TQFP is 256 kB Flash with 64 kB SRAM
> (AT91SAM7S256)
> Atmels pincompatible AT91SAM7S512 is some time away.
> but also have BGA with 512kb/2 MB Flash and 256 kB SRAM.
> This is a dual chip package and does not have so many features though
> Philips largest announced part is LPC2138 w 512kB Flash and 16 kB
> Atmel wins the round if BGA is acceptable, otherwise Philips (when
> available)
>
> LARGEST PART SRAM MEMORY
> Atmels largest part in 64 TQFP is 256 kB Flash with 64 kB SRAM
> (AT91SAM7S256)
> Philips has a single part with 64 kB SRAM and this has 128 kB Flash
> The larger parts have less memory. Even the LPC2138 w 512kB Flash has 32
kB
> It is even for 32 kB/64kB Flash
> Philips wins the 128 kB Flash
> Atmel wins the 256 kB Flash
>
> PERFORMANCE
> Philips has an 128 but wide flash bus running at 20 MHz
> Atmel has a 32 bit wide flash bus running at 30 Mhz
> Philips has higher performance in ARM mode
> Atmel has higher performance in Thumb Mode
> If you really need the performance, the AT91RM3400 will outperform
> the LPC by executing from its 96 kB SRAM at zero waitstates. This will
need
> an external SO-8 dataflash
> If you can afford the 30-40% increase in code size incurred by the ARM
mode
> then Philips is your choice. If not, go for Atmel.
> If you accept external memories, the peripherals of the AT91SAM7s
> series (except the analog) is available in the AT91RM9200 at 200 MIPS.
>
> I/O
> Atmel has a 100 pin TQFP series single chip.
> Philips soes not have a 100 pin single chipper.
>
> PERIPHERALS
> Atmel peripherals are generally more advanced, coming from ARM9 chips.
> This means they can handle more complex problems
>
>
>
> -- 
> Best Regards,
> Ulf Samuelsson
> u...@a-t-m-e-l.com
> This message is intended to be my own personal view and it
> may or may not be shared by my employer Atmel Nordic AB
>
>