Hi So, considering going the Cortex Mx route for project with new microcontrollers at our firm. Has anyone a feeling/information about the development speed of the ARM Cortex Mx series vs the rest of the industry? Meaning, that potentially the same core strategy for the ARM, licensing to toher manufactors mean that they may have faster development speed that others (Microchip, Renesas, whoever not using ARM) Cheers Klaus
ARM Cortex Mx vs the rest of the gang
Started by ●May 30, 2017
Reply by ●May 30, 20172017-05-30
What I meant to say was that maybe ARM Cortex has potentially faster releases of new devices and a more rapid platform for launching new devices Cheers Klaus
Reply by ●May 30, 20172017-05-30
On 5/30/2017 5:11 AM, Klaus Kragelund wrote:> Hi > > So, considering going the Cortex Mx route for project with new > microcontrollers at our firm. > > Has anyone a feeling/information about the development speed of the ARM > Cortex Mx series vs the rest of the industry? > > Meaning, that potentially the same core strategy for the ARM, licensing to > toher manufactors mean that they may have faster development speed that > others (Microchip, Renesas, whoever not using ARM)Are you concerned with "number of different part numbers"? Or, number of different *cores*? I.e., are you looking to gauge how quickly the product family evolves (towards increased "capability")? Or, diversifies (towards increased "variety")?
Reply by ●May 30, 20172017-05-30
klaus.kragelund@gmail.com wrote:> What I meant to say was that maybe ARM Cortex has potentially fasterreleases of new devices and a more rapid platform for launching new devices In my opinion, most work for a new uC must be done with the peripherals. The Cortex M core is the same with different manufactureres, but the peripherals are not... -- Uwe Bonnes bon@elektron.ikp.physik.tu-darmstadt.de Institut fuer Kernphysik Schlossgartenstrasse 9 64289 Darmstadt --------- Tel. 06151 1623569 ------- Fax. 06151 1623305 ---------
Reply by ●May 30, 20172017-05-30
Klaus Kragelund wrote on 5/30/2017 8:11 AM:> Hi > > So, considering going the Cortex Mx route for project with new microcontrollers at our firm. > > Has anyone a feeling/information about the development speed of the ARM Cortex Mx series vs the rest of the industry? > > Meaning, that potentially the same core strategy for the ARM, licensing to toher manufactors mean that they may have faster development speed that others (Microchip, Renesas, whoever not using ARM)I'm not sure how useful such a comparison would be other than between the ARM CM and a few of the lesser popularity processors like the Blackfin for example. Other lines of embedded processors seen to be moving right along and keep up with the rest of the industry just fine. One thing to keep in mind is that while there are many makers of ARM processors, there is only one company doing significant development that is used by the many makers of ARM chip, ARM! So I don't see where they are any more prolific than anyone else. Look at the MSP430. It targets a broad segment of the market and offers many, many options with more added continuously. I'm not sure anyone offers more variety than Microchip does with the various PIC offerings. -- Rick C
Reply by ●May 30, 20172017-05-30
On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 4:31:48 PM UTC+2, Don Y wrote:> On 5/30/2017 5:11 AM, Klaus Kragelund wrote: > > Hi > > > > So, considering going the Cortex Mx route for project with new > > microcontrollers at our firm. > > > > Has anyone a feeling/information about the development speed of the ARM > > Cortex Mx series vs the rest of the industry? > > > > Meaning, that potentially the same core strategy for the ARM, licensing to > > toher manufactors mean that they may have faster development speed that > > others (Microchip, Renesas, whoever not using ARM) > > Are you concerned with "number of different part numbers"? Or, number of > different *cores*? > > I.e., are you looking to gauge how quickly the product family evolves > (towards increased "capability")? Or, diversifies (towards increased > "variety")?I was actually thinking about how much resources ARM has to develop new cores due to their rising marked share, versus the non-ARM vendors And whether more resources has shown that ARM in fact has a tendency to be more agressive and release new improved cores faster than the non-ARM core developers. ARM licenses new cores to many vendors, where as non-ARM core vendors typically must pay just for their own core Cheers Klaus
Reply by ●May 31, 20172017-05-31
On Tue, 30 May 2017 14:32:42 +0000, Uwe Bonnes wrote:> klaus.kragelund@gmail.com wrote: > >> What I meant to say was that maybe ARM Cortex has potentially faster > releases of new devices and a more rapid platform for launching new > devices > > In my opinion, most work for a new uC must be done with the peripherals. > The Cortex M core is the same with different manufactureres, but the > peripherals are not...Yup. You could probably toss any core in the middle, and the work would still be to talk to the stuff attached to it. -- Tim Wescott Wescott Design Services http://www.wescottdesign.com
Reply by ●May 31, 20172017-05-31
Tim Wescott wrote on 5/30/2017 11:07 PM:> On Tue, 30 May 2017 14:32:42 +0000, Uwe Bonnes wrote: > >> klaus.kragelund@gmail.com wrote: >> >>> What I meant to say was that maybe ARM Cortex has potentially faster >> releases of new devices and a more rapid platform for launching new >> devices >> >> In my opinion, most work for a new uC must be done with the peripherals. >> The Cortex M core is the same with different manufactureres, but the >> peripherals are not... > > Yup. You could probably toss any core in the middle, and the work would > still be to talk to the stuff attached to it.I think there is some loss of understanding of the question. ARM and every other embedded CPU company is constantly working to improve their CPUs to provide the maximum performance available from present technology as best suits the applications of their customers. This is not the same as designing new SoCs which vary in the memory size or peripherals on chip. There is a TON of work that goes into optimizing CPU designs which is a *MUCH* bigger effort than designing some peripherals. Often the same peripherals used on the old family are used on the new family. The only real task is the interconnection. You are very much trivializing the effort that goes into optimizing a CPU architecture. That is why ARM has such a wide range of CPU performance traded off against CPU size and power consumption. They have taken the time and effort to provide good solutions at many points. -- Rick C
Reply by ●May 31, 20172017-05-31
On Tue, 30 May 2017 08:07:08 -0700 (PDT), Klaus Kragelund <klauskvik@hotmail.com> wrote:>ARM licenses new cores to many vendors, where as non-ARM core >vendors typically must pay just for their own coreI think you may have misunderstood the direction of licensing: vendors making ARM compatible chips pay ARM for that privelege. ARM has boat loads of money. George
Reply by ●May 31, 20172017-05-31
On 5/30/2017 8:07 AM, Klaus Kragelund wrote:> On Tuesday, May 30, 2017 at 4:31:48 PM UTC+2, Don Y wrote: >> On 5/30/2017 5:11 AM, Klaus Kragelund wrote: >>> Hi >>> >>> So, considering going the Cortex Mx route for project with new >>> microcontrollers at our firm. >>> >>> Has anyone a feeling/information about the development speed of the ARM >>> Cortex Mx series vs the rest of the industry? >>> >>> Meaning, that potentially the same core strategy for the ARM, licensing >>> to toher manufactors mean that they may have faster development speed >>> that others (Microchip, Renesas, whoever not using ARM) >> >> Are you concerned with "number of different part numbers"? Or, number of >> different *cores*? >> >> I.e., are you looking to gauge how quickly the product family evolves >> (towards increased "capability")? Or, diversifies (towards increased >> "variety")? > > I was actually thinking about how much resources ARM has to develop new > cores due to their rising marked share, versus the non-ARM vendorsAns: lots! ARM is the 800 pound gorilla. The old/established vendors totally botched the embedded market; look at all the effort AMD/Intel spent trying to one-up each other in the desktop market (despite being smaller than the embedded!) Of course, there have been many cases of leaders successfully shooting themselves in BOTH feet -- so, "past performance is not a predictor of FUTURE performance"... <grin>> And whether more resources has shown that ARM in fact has a tendency to be > more agressive and release new improved cores faster than the non-ARM core > developers. > > ARM licenses new cores to many vendors, where as non-ARM core vendors > typically must pay just for their own coreBecause ARM wants licensees to WANT their cores (i.e., "products"), you can probably assume they will keep a sharp focus on the needs of The Market -- the *whole* market, not just a niche (that some other vendor might have become complacent addressing). And, freed from the "investment" in designing/evolving *cores*, licensees can add value with novel peripherals (incl mixed mode) that a *single* "core+peripheral" vendor might not be capable of addressing with their limited product development resources. But, I think you overlook a more significant issue -- that of tools/support. If you are the *only* vendor making a particular product, then ALL of the tools for that product (and support) tend to originate with you. You have to *inspire* third parties to make an investment in YOUR market. Those parties have to gamble on your level of commitment to that market -- will you suddenly opt to abandon a particular product line in favor of some other, yet undisclosed? If you're the only supplier of 2A03's, how likely are you to invest in a state-of-the-art toolchain -- for your likely CAPTIVE customer?? How likely are third parties going to be to try to one-up your offering -- for that captive customer?? So, you have to question the motivation for your query: are you just looking to hitch your wagon to the firm that is most likely to develop the most *novel* product? most performant? cheapest? easiest to develop? etc.