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Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave

From David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no>
Newsgroups comp.arch.embedded
Subject Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave
Date 2017-06-15 10:32 +0200
Organization A noiseless patient Spider
Message-ID <ohtgf6$ch2$2@dont-email.me> (permalink)
References <ohrsl0$1i36$1@gioia.aioe.org> <ohtbt5$vh5$1@dont-email.me> <9Eq0B.74561$7A4.41458@fx19.am4> <ohtena$7s5$1@dont-email.me> <ohtg3k$add$1@dont-email.me>

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On 15/06/17 10:25, Reinhardt Behm wrote:
> AT Thursday 15 June 2017 16:02, David Brown wrote:
> 
>> On 15/06/17 09:25, Tom Gardner wrote:
>>> On 15/06/17 08:14, David Brown wrote:
>>>> On 14/06/17 19:44, John Speth wrote:
>>>>> Hi folks-
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm hoping to tap into your various experiences to see if what I'm
>>>>> thinking is practical.
>>>>>
>>>>> Our customer has a device into which a Datakey is plugged to extract
>>>>> data stored in the device.  The Datakey is a really just a trade name
>>>>> for a SPI flash with ergonomic features that resemble a real key (see
>>>>> datakey.com).  Our customer would like to replace the Datakey with a
>>>>> new design that will transmit the data wirelessly instead of storing it
>>>>> to the Datakey SPI flash.
>>>>>
>>>>> We're proposing a design based on an MCU which will appear as a SPI
>>>>> slave flash device, store the data pumped to it from the customer's
>>>>> device, and forward it wirelessly.  I'm wondering if it's practical to
>>>>> accomplish it.  The firmware would have to be totally responsive
>>>>> temporally and in data content.  That sounds like a tough hill to climb
>>>>> that requires getting the interface just right, nearly perfect.  I see
>>>>> a lot of pitfalls that could make the effort a dead end.
>>>>>
>>>>> Does anybody have any success or failure stories to relate that would
>>>>> help us gauge the feasibility of the proposed design?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks - John Speth
>>>>
>>>> If you make sure you have a MCU with good slave SPI support and DMA,
>>>> then the actual SPI transfers should not be an issue (assuming a sane
>>>> SPI clock speed).  The cpu would then not be involved in the
>>>> back-to-back SPI moves at all.  Pretty much any Cortex M3/4 device
>>>> should cope fine.
>>>>
>>>> The key challenge is how to deal with the commands - the bits that need
>>>> some processing.  That will probably mean fast response to the first few
>>>> incoming SPI bytes via an interrupt function.  Your requirements here
>>>> will depend on the protocol, the clock speed, the processing time
>>>> required, etc.
>>>>
>>>> Write-style SPI commands are no problem - just buffer up the SPI command
>>>> and data with DMA as it comes in.  It's the read-style ones that are the
>>>> killer.  For very fast SPI interfaces, it is not uncommon that with a
>>>> read command, the first byte returned is a dummy byte - that gives you
>>>> the time to fill your DMA buffer with the real data for the reply.  But
>>>> not all SPI protocols use that, and they might have some reads that need
>>>> immediate response.  If you can get that under control, the rest should
>>>> be (relatively) easy.
>>>>
>>>> If you can't build this from a normal microcontroller because you need
>>>> too fast response, your options are FPGA (either as an assist to a
>>>> microcontroller, or with a processor in the FPGA) or perhaps an XMOS
>>>> microcontroller.  XMOS programming is a bit different from normal
>>>> microcontroller programming, but it will handle tasks like this easily.
>>>
>>> I'll just say that I find XMOS programming to be *very*
>>> easy compared to C+RTOS -- doubly so for a hardware engineer.
>>>
>>> The "RTOS" is in hardware => very low API learning curve :)
>>>
>>
>> XMOS programming is very easy for some things, but hard for other
>> things.  In particular, there is a limit to the scalability.  It starts
>> off easy splitting your work into lots of parallel tasks, putting them
>> each in threads, and everything is fine - until you run out of hardware
>> threads.  Then you end up destroying your structure to get a several
>> logically parallel tasks running in the same hardware thread, or running
>> a software RTOS in one hardware thread.  And when you have your multiple
>> high-speed interfaces working, you find you don't have enough ram left
>> for buffers.
>>
>> XMOS devices can be a lot of fun, and I would enjoy working with them
>> again.  For some tasks, they are an ideal solution (like for this one),
>> once you have learned to use them.  But not everything is easy with
>> them, and you have to think in a somewhat different way.
>>
>>> The programming model (CSP) is *very* simple and also
>>> comprehensive. It was invented in the 70s, and has stood
>>> the test of time.
>>
>> Yes, CSP is a great tool.  I was taught it by some of the folks behind
>> it.  (Tony Hoare himself was head of the department, but I didn't have
>> him as a lecturer.)
> 
> Just grabbing this thread.
> 
> XMOS sounds like something interesting to play with. 
> How good is the development environment? 
> Runs on Linux?
> 

Yes, it runs fine on Linux.  When I last worked seriously with XMOS
(which was when it was a relatively new company), I had a a fair number
of issues with the tools and, in particular, with the sample code.  My
understanding is that it has improved a good deal since then.  And there
is certainly no doubt that they are interesting to play with!

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Thread

MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave John Speth <johnspeth@yahoo.com> - 2017-06-14 10:44 -0700
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-06-14 16:30 -0700
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-14 21:54 -0400
    Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 08:01 +0100
      Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-15 12:13 -0400
        Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 18:01 +0100
          Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-15 16:52 -0400
            Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-15 23:37 +0200
              Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-15 18:15 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-16 09:25 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-16 13:52 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-18 22:56 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 00:21 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 09:02 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 08:36 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 14:47 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 09:23 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 15:34 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-20 00:16 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 09:49 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-20 22:44 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-21 12:10 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-21 12:40 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-21 18:19 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-21 14:34 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-21 21:41 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-21 17:14 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave edward.ming.lee@gmail.com - 2017-06-21 13:54 -0700
            Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 23:33 +0100
              Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-15 23:12 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-16 07:05 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-16 02:27 -0400
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tim Wescott <seemywebsite@myfooter.really> - 2017-06-14 23:17 -0500
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 08:03 +0100
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-15 09:14 +0200
    Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 08:25 +0100
      Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-15 10:02 +0200
        Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Reinhardt Behm <rbehm@hushmail.com> - 2017-06-15 16:25 +0800
          Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-15 10:32 +0200
            Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Reinhardt Behm <rbehm@hushmail.com> - 2017-06-15 21:48 +0800
          Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 10:09 +0100
        Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 09:41 +0100
          Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-15 13:04 +0200
            Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 12:31 +0100
              Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-15 14:20 +0200
            Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-15 17:46 -0400
              Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-16 13:21 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2017-06-16 13:55 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-16 16:34 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2017-06-16 15:40 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 00:47 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2017-06-21 15:47 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-21 19:15 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2017-06-21 15:50 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-21 19:16 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2017-06-21 18:00 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-22 11:24 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-22 12:12 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-16 14:22 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 03:15 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 00:54 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 10:30 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave albert@cherry.spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der Horst) - 2017-06-19 12:54 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 13:49 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 09:28 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 09:19 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 16:23 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-19 23:57 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 12:36 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-20 08:20 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2017-06-19 14:44 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave albert@cherry.spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der Horst) - 2017-06-19 21:39 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Cecil Bayona <cbayona@cbayona.com> - 2017-06-19 14:59 -0500
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave albert@cherry.spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der Horst) - 2017-06-20 09:25 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Cecil Bayona <cbayona@cbayona.com> - 2017-06-20 11:50 -0500
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2017-06-20 12:37 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-19 22:59 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-20 00:12 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com> - 2017-06-20 10:25 +0300
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 10:44 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave dp <dp@tgi-sci.com> - 2017-06-20 02:36 -0700
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-20 11:25 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com> - 2017-06-20 13:49 +0300
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-20 12:54 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com> - 2017-06-20 16:09 +0300
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-20 15:24 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-20 17:46 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 22:28 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-21 00:58 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-21 13:08 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 16:28 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 12:58 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 12:57 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Dimiter_Popoff <dp@tgi-sci.com> - 2017-06-20 14:19 +0300
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 16:19 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2017-06-20 12:12 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 16:48 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Gerry Jackson <gerry@jackson9000.fsnet.co.uk> - 2017-06-20 21:16 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-20 23:15 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Gerry Jackson <gerry@jackson9000.fsnet.co.uk> - 2017-06-21 07:30 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-21 12:54 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> - 2017-06-21 19:29 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-21 15:05 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-21 21:34 +0100
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave "Elizabeth D. Rather" <erather@forth.com> - 2017-06-21 18:04 -1000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave albert@cherry.spenarnc.xs4all.nl (Albert van der Horst) - 2017-06-22 10:26 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-22 11:56 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave stephen@mpeforth.com (Stephen Pelc) - 2017-06-22 09:20 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Wasell <from_usenet@wasell.eu> - 2017-06-22 14:02 +0200
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-22 11:59 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-22 11:58 -0400
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave anton@mips.complang.tuwien.ac.at (Anton Ertl) - 2017-06-22 08:19 +0000
                Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-19 09:53 +0100
        Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Tom Gardner <spamjunk@blueyonder.co.uk> - 2017-06-15 10:16 +0100
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave John Speth <johnspeth@yahoo.com> - 2017-06-15 13:56 -0700
    Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-06-15 14:41 -0700
      Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave John Speth <johnspeth@yahoo.com> - 2017-06-15 15:08 -0700
        Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Don Y <blockedofcourse@foo.invalid> - 2017-06-16 11:34 -0700
    Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave rickman <gnuarm@gmail.com> - 2017-06-15 18:20 -0400
    Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave edward.ming.lee@gmail.com - 2017-06-21 07:58 -0700
  Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave Walter Banks <walter@bytecraft.com> - 2017-06-19 12:23 -0400

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