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Groups > comp.arch.embedded > #26809
| From | David Brown <david.brown@hesbynett.no> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.arch.embedded |
| Subject | Re: MCU mimicking a SPI flash slave |
| Date | 2017-06-16 13:21 +0200 |
| Organization | A noiseless patient Spider |
| Message-ID | <oi0eo5$2fr$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | (2 earlier) <9Eq0B.74561$7A4.41458@fx19.am4> <ohtena$7s5$1@dont-email.me> <gLr0B.74079$O06.57510@fx43.am4> <ohtpct$91f$1@dont-email.me> <ohuv1i$nlc$1@dont-email.me> |
On 15/06/17 23:46, rickman wrote: > David Brown wrote on 6/15/2017 7:04 AM: >> On 15/06/17 10:41, Tom Gardner wrote: >>> On 15/06/17 09:02, David Brown wrote: > > I think that depends on the design. Perhaps you are familiar with the > GA144 with 144 processors at a cost of around $0.10 per CPU. They took > a similar route with NO dedicated I/O hardware other than a SERDES > receiver and transmitter pair. > > It is expected that all I/O would be through software. Along that line > the chip boots through one of three I/O ports, async serial, SPI serial, > a 2 wire interface and I believe there is a 1 wire interface but I'm not > certain. Three of the CPUs can be ganged to form a parallel port/memory > interface, two CPUs with 18 bits of I/O and the third 4 bits. All of > this is controlled by software. > > I find the device has significant limitations overall, but certainly > with a peak execution rate of 700 MIPS there is a lot of potential. > Much like no one focuses on the idea that using the 4 input LUT of an > FPGA as an inverter is excessively wasteful, the GA144 with its 10 cent > CPUs gets us out of the thinking that using a CPU as a UART is wasteful. > > Not trying to be negative, but I see the $2 cost of an XMOS CPU as being > excessive and wasteful. Heck, you can buy complete MCU devices for a > fraction of that price. I had a little look at the GreenArrays website for the GA144. It appears to be pretty much a dead company. There is almost nothing happening - no new products, no new roadmaps, no new software, no new application notes. It is a highly specialised device, with a very unusual development process (Forth is 50 years old, and it looks it - and these devices use a weird variant of Forth). I think it would be a very risky gamble to use these devices for a real project, even though there is a lot of interesting stuff in the technology. > > >>> XMOS does provide some techniques (e.g. composable >>> and interfaces) to reduce the sharpness of the cliffs, >>> but not to eliminate them. But then the same is true >>> of ARM+RTOS etc etc. >> >> Yes, there are learning curves everywhere. And scope for getting things >> wrong :-) XMOS gives a different balance amongst many of the challenges >> facing designers - it is better in some ways, worse in other ways. >> >>> >>> I wouldn't regard XMOS as being a replacement for >>> a general-purpose processor, but there is a large >>> overlap in many hard-realtime applications. >>> >>> Similarly I wouldn't regard an ARM as being a >>> replacement for a CPLD/FPGA, but there can be >>> an overlap in many soft-realtime applications >>> >>> The XMOS devices inhabit an interesting and important >>> niche between those two. >> >> Agreed. > > The question is whether it is worth investing the time and energy into > learning the chip if you don't focus your work in this realm. Certainly - working with XMOS means thinking a little differently. But it is not /nearly/ as different as the GA144. > Personally I find the FPGA approach covers a *lot* of ground that others > don't see and the region left that is not so easy to address with either > FPGAs or more conventional CPUs is very limited. If the XMOS isn't a > good price fit, I most likely would just go with a small FPGA. I saw > the XMOS has a 12 bit, 1 MSPS ADC which is nice. But again, this only > makes its range of good fit slightly larger. If you have lots of experience with FPGA development, it is natural to look to FPGAs for solutions to design problems - and that is absolutely fine. It is impossible to jump on every different development method and be an expert at them all - and most problems can be solved in a variety of ways. > > >>>> 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. >>> >>> Yes, but the learning curve is very short and >>> there are no unpleasant surprises. >>> >>> IMNSHO "thinking in CSP" will help structure >>> thoughts for any realtime application, whether >>> or not it is formally part of the implementation. >>> >> >> Agreed. > > I prefer Forth for embedded work. I believe there is a Forth > available. Available for what? The XMOS? I'd be surprised. > I don't know if it captures any of the flavor of CSP, mostly > because I know little about CSP. I did use Occam some time ago. Mostly > I recall it had a lot of constraints on what the programmer was allowed > to do. The project we were using the Transputer on programmed it all in C. > Occam has its own advantages and disadvantages independent of the use of CSP-style synchronisation and message passing. I have looked at Forth a few times over the years, but I have yet to see a version that has changed for the better since I played with it as a teenager some 30 years ago. The stuff on the GA144 website is absurd - their "innovation" is that their IDE has colour highlighting despite looking like a reject from the days of MSDOS 3.3. Words are apparently only sensitive to the first "5 to 7 characters" - so "block" and "blocks" are the same identifier. (You would think they would /know/ if the limit were 5, 6 or 7 characters.) Everything is still designed around punch card formats of 8 by 64 characters. I can appreciate that a stack machine design is ideal for a small processor, and can give very tight code. I can appreciate that this means a sort of Forth is the natural assembly language for the system. I can even appreciate that the RPN syntax, the interactivity, and the close-to-the-metal programming appeals to some people. But I cannot understand why this cannot be done with a modern language with decent typing, static checking, optimised compilation, structured syntax, etc.
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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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