PIC verses ARM Cortex M3

[Lston]

I am looking to getting into PIC programming but I really prefer C++.I read about the limitations of PIC Lite which haa no PWM functions, file size limits and limited processor support and for just a little more than the cost of PIC PRO you could get a C compilier. The code required for interfacing to a LCD or touch LCD is too great I would like more managed code thats why I am now looking at Microsoft .NET micro with a Luminary Micro Stellaris 32 bit ARM based Cortex M3. http://www.luminarymicro.com/
http://www.arm.com/pdfs/IntroToCortex-M3.pdf
The MCU's alone range from $2.18 US to $11.93.
$10.27 for :
64K flash; 8KB Sram,2 UARTS,I2C,GPIO,SSI,watchdog timer,brownout reset,LDO voltage regulator,6 PWM,6 CCP
The developers kits range from $49.00 to $379 for a AC induction motor kit.
These kits also come with CodeSourcery (GNU), and IAR but I don't think they support Windows, only Linux.
http://www.mouser.com/catalog/630/158.pdf

Does anyone have experence with these here?
I just realized 64Kb flash is small but I'am sure they have other models.

[Lston]

It looks like the Cortex M3 maxes out at 128KB right now but there are plans for 512KB +.(Page 3)
http://www.st.com/stonline/products/...rstm320607.pdf
Acording to Microsoft, .NET Micro requires 250-520Kb.
(Page 3)
http://www3.hermia.fi/mp/db/file_lib...rk-March07.pdf
So it looks like it will be awhile before this is a option but it would be great to have some managed code for LCD touch screens and keypads.
.Net Micro is a free download and works with Visual studio which is not free.

[routerman]

I just realized 64Kb flash is small but I'am sure they have other models.

64K is huge for a microcontroller !

What would you need larger for ?

[phomann]

Originally Posted by routerman 64K is huge for a microcontroller ! What would you need larger for ?

The last time I head a statement like that was from Bill Gates when he released the PC

He questioned why anyone would need any more memory than 640KB on a PC

Where are we now 2GB of ram and it's still not enough.

Cheers,

Peter.

[CountZero]

Also take a look at atmel AVR: www.avrfreaks.net

Free GCC compiler is just one advantage...

With 32bit processors(even in 16bit thumb mode) eats away codespace faster so you cant directly compare 64K on a ARM with 64K on a PIC or AVR.

[Horsedorf]

I've been using the LM3S811 for a while now and I LOVE it. It's fast, the tools are good (Using IAR which runs under windows, though I'll be switching to GNU tools pretty soon) and you don't have to decide which functions you want to loose when you decide to use a PWM or a timer or etc. All you loose are GPIO pins. The pin counts are low, making them (relatively) easy to work with when soldering.

As for managed code..well.. that's what public domain libraries are for, and since these devices are relatively new, there really is not a lot of freeware/shareware code out there for them yet. HOWEVER, you might look into uCOS (They call is micro-cos, I call it mu-cos. which *MAY* have a bunch of shared libraries for it that might do some of what you want. Otherwise, well.. Be a hero! Write some code and give it to us!

Honestly though, between pics and arms, i MUCH prefer the arm, mostly because I detest the page boundaries in ram and code space in the pic processor that I have to work around when writing code in assembler. (Though that is rare, it still happens for me) Although most of what I do is in C.

Good luck!

[FunnyNYPD]

Since the ARM are getting cheaper and cheaper, I do think to switch some of my PIC project to ARM.

[Horsedorf]

Originally Posted by FunnyNYPD Since the ARM are getting cheaper and cheaper, I do think to switch some of my PIC project to ARM.

One of the things I neglected to mention was the quality of the tools available. The GCC toolset is available for the arm cortex and does a MUCH much better job than the available pic C compilers. The least expensive Pic C compiler is... broken. In some pretty horrible ways, like doing crazy things with name spaces for interrupt handlers. It was a matter of using a global variable in both the interrupt code as well as the foreground routine. it simply would not let me do that. At all.

I don't know if gcc compiles for pic's. I sort of doubt it. But I could be surprised!

Horsedorf

[FunnyNYPD]

For PICs, I use HI-tech C compilor (about $800-1000), we also pay ($200) for service and updates every other year. Expensive but Very good products.

They also sell ARM compilor, I am still thinking about buying a Hi-tech ARM compilor, any one get some experience?

[Horsedorf]

Originally Posted by FunnyNYPD For PICs, I use HI-tech C compilor (about $800-1000), we also pay ($200) for service and updates every other year. Expensive but Very good products. They also sell ARM compilor, I am still thinking about buying a Hi-tech ARM compilor, any one get some experience?

Sorry, can't help you there, just have experience with the Gnu tool chain.

Horsedorf