How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA? I see Atmel, St micro, nxp, Texas instr, Freescale, Marvell - are they all selling the same stuff or is there any real difference? I see St has faster parts but Atmel has more of them. Is price and support all the same? Google doesn't seem to show any information anywhere on this, which is really shocking. I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on one company.
Compare ARM MCU Vendors
Started by ●September 1, 2010
Reply by ●September 1, 20102010-09-01
On Sep 1, 3:37=A0pm, "Dave Graffio" <wscra...@yahoo.com> wrote:> How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA? > > I see Atmel, St micro, nxp, Texas instr, Freescale, Marvell - are they al=l selling the> same stuff or is there any real difference? I see St has faster parts but=Atmel has more> of them. Is price and support all the same?Marvel has the fastest ARMs (previously xscale). But getting basic datasheet needs NDA (it was true sometimes ago) and they don't seems to be interested in supports of small users. Actel also supports hard and soft ARM cores with FPGA. Apple, Samsung and Qualcomm makes propriety ARMs. There are many others as well.> > Google doesn't seem to show any information anywhere on this, which is re=ally shocking. Because it's changing every day.> > I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on one compan=y. As needed.
Reply by ●September 1, 20102010-09-01
On 09/01/2010 03:37 PM, Dave Graffio wrote:> How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA?The same as for any other processor: study data sheets, look at manufacturer's sites, recall previous experience with that manufacturer, read EDN "processor roundups", etc.> I see Atmel, St micro, nxp, Texas instr, Freescale, Marvell - are they all selling the > same stuff or is there any real difference?There are a lot of different ARM cores, there are ways and ways or realizing cores, and there are a lot of different ways to build a microprocessor around a core. So yes, there are going to be big real differences.> I see St has faster parts but Atmel has more of them. Is price and support all the same?Not at all. In fact, price, support, and longevity are often what matters the most, and what you're going to get the least information on (except for today's pricing) from the vendors. Hence, it helps a lot to know the vendor's history, as that's really the only window you have onto their future.> Google doesn't seem to show any information anywhere on this, which is really shocking.Actually it's really typical. There's no "Consumer's Reports" for microprocessors -- the industry press makes its money on advertisement, so you're never going to see an article about XYZ Microprocessor Company having terrible delivery, or promoting a chip only to discontinue it, or whatever. That would cut the revenue stream right off.> I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on one company.I generally make decisions on a per-product basis. I put _weight_ on a company that I've had success with in the past (and a different kind of weight on companies that I've had bad experiences with), but it's rarely a make-or-break thing. Usually when I'm putting a processor on a board I look at everything that I need the board to do, then I look at how much external circuitry I can scrape off the board if I use any given processor with its peripherals. That gives me a price for the _whole board_; then I look at how much I trust the processor vendor to (a) do what they say they do and (b) still do it next year, then I make my decision. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com Do you need to implement control loops in software? "Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" was written for you. See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html
Reply by ●September 1, 20102010-09-01
On Wed, 1 Sep 2010 18:37:22 -0400, "Dave Graffio" <wscratch@yahoo.com> wrote:>How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA?One indirect method is to check out the variety of dev boards at places like http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/categories.php and http://microcontrollershop.com/. Certainly not the only qualifier but finding lots of dev boards, or finding none, could give some indication of both what's popular and what's obtainable. -- Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
On 9/1/2010 4:37 PM, Dave Graffio wrote:> How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA? > I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on one company. > >No two vendors make a pin-for-pin compatible ARM processor. So, how would you compare one chip to another ? Pick what you need for a given project and evaluate the company for service and price. (ie availability and overall cost ) What else are you going to use ?? h
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
On 02/09/2010 00:37, Dave Graffio wrote:> How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA? > > I see Atmel, St micro, nxp, Texas instr, Freescale, Marvell - are they all selling the > same stuff or is there any real difference? I see St has faster parts but Atmel has more > of them. Is price and support all the same? > > Google doesn't seem to show any information anywhere on this, which is really shocking. > > I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on one company. > >Have you tried talking to the distributors? My first thought on a question like this would be to ring an FAE at Arrow, EBV, Future, Silica, etc. (pick your own favourite). They should be able to tell you a bit about the pros and cons of the manufacturers, including technical issues, non-technical issues (prices, lead times), and non-public issues (future plans, reliability questions, etc.).
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
"David Brown" wrote...> On 02/09/2010 00:37, Dave Graffio wrote: >> How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the USA? >> >> I see Atmel, St micro, nxp, Texas instr, Freescale, Marvell - are they all selling >> the >> same stuff or is there any real difference? I see St has faster parts but Atmel has >> more >> of them. Is price and support all the same? >> >> Google doesn't seem to show any information anywhere on this, which is really >> shocking. >> >> I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on one company. >> >> > > Have you tried talking to the distributors? My first thought on a question like this > would be to ring an FAE at Arrow, EBV, Future, Silica, etc. (pick your own favourite). > They should be able to tell you a bit about the pros and cons of the manufacturers, > including technical issues, non-technical issues (prices, lead times), and non-public > issues (future plans, reliability questions, etc.).Yes, but I'm looking for other perspectives as well. Rich Webb's criteria of looking at the variety of development boards looks brilliant and a distributor won't tell you that. It seems to me that the more 3rd party development boards there are for a part, the more popular that part is, right? I've had people shoo me away from NXP because they are not reliable. Linnix is right, if you're not high volume Marvel wants nothing to do with you. Freescale focuses on their own proprietary 32-bit. ST and Atmel have the lowest power. TI has Luminary's Cortex which I've been told is lower quality to everyone else.
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
On 02/09/2010 15:54, Dave Graffio wrote:> "David Brown" wrote... >> On 02/09/2010 00:37, Dave Graffio wrote: >>> How do you compare ARM MCU manufacturers for a project in the >>> USA? >>> >>> I see Atmel, St micro, nxp, Texas instr, Freescale, Marvell - are >>> they all selling the same stuff or is there any real difference? >>> I see St has faster parts but Atmel has more of them. Is price >>> and support all the same? >>> >>> Google doesn't seem to show any information anywhere on this, >>> which is really shocking. >>> >>> I am wondering if I should move between them or standardize on >>> one company. >>> >>> >> >> Have you tried talking to the distributors? My first thought on a >> question like this would be to ring an FAE at Arrow, EBV, Future, >> Silica, etc. (pick your own favourite). They should be able to tell >> you a bit about the pros and cons of the manufacturers, including >> technical issues, non-technical issues (prices, lead times), and >> non-public issues (future plans, reliability questions, etc.). > > Yes, but I'm looking for other perspectives as well. Rich Webb's > criteria of looking at the variety of development boards looks > brilliant and a distributor won't tell you that. It seems to me that > the more 3rd party development boards there are for a part, the more > popular that part is, right? > > I've had people shoo me away from NXP because they are not reliable. > Linnix is right, if you're not high volume Marvel wants nothing to do > with you. Freescale focuses on their own proprietary 32-bit. ST and > Atmel have the lowest power. TI has Luminary's Cortex which I've been > told is lower quality to everyone else. >Energy Micro has the lowest power ARM devices, as far as I know. I haven't used them myself for comparison. Freescale are coming out with a whole new Cortex M4 family that looks very interesting.
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
A really great part is the Cypress PSOC5 which gives a great deal of flexibilty because of its configurabilty. Unfortunately it appears to be made of pure unobtanium. --------------------------------------- Posted through http://www.EmbeddedRelated.com
Reply by ●September 2, 20102010-09-02
"antedeluvian" wrote...>A really great part is the Cypress PSOC5 which gives a great deal of > flexibilty because of its configurabilty. > > Unfortunately it appears to be made of pure unobtanium. >Not true. I've heard it's being designed by the engineering firm of Tuttle and Dunsel. (Capt, Retired)
