On Sat, 20 May 2006, Gerhard Fiedler wrote:

> Peter wrote:
>
>>> OTOH (literally!) I don't see any real (readily available) alternatives
>>> for the 10F's. Maybe Microchip should look down, not up.
>>
>> But how low must one look before one starts having to use mask
>> programmed parts simply for lack of pins ? The 10F programming algorythm
>> is quite a piece as is.
>
> I think the idea of using 10F parts as replacements for dedicated chips is
> pretty attractive, but it hangs on two issues (and IMO none has to do with
> programming the memory).

The idea is that the next (?) generation of microcontrollers will likely 
have programmable embedded analog functions in them. Like SOT23-6 10F??? 
with plain opamp inputs, adc, dsp, dac. With standard SOT23 opamp 
pinout. Think 'mom, I shrunk the PsoC'. Now *how* do you program such a 
thing ?

> One is that there needs to be a variety of chips with the right on-board
> peripherals for the job. To be cheap and small, they probably can't have
> the whole selection of peripherals on-board, and so you need to be able to
> get the one that you need.

At the current level of things, I think that the question is, which BGA 
package will you use to implement everything you need using a single 
chip (decouling caps not included).

> The other is that developing custom firmware is expensive. This could be
> addressed by providing working modules for common applications. Not
> necessarily something they would have to provide, but something they could
> provide the infrastructure for it. If you're talking about replacing simple
> (but maybe more expensive or bigger) hardware solutions, this is an
> important part. Unless you're only looking at products that sell in the
> millions.

I only deal in small numbers. But I think I can see what is coming. I 
have been doing this for a while now. Firmware is always a problem and 
it is a bug source. I think that chip makers will start offering 
relatively complete code libraries soon. There is no other way to sell 
complex chips like usb and ethernet.

I 'studied' the enc28j60 and i discovered it can do all sorts of 
interesting things that only a high end machine will likely need. 
Promiscuous mode ? Autonomous retransmit ? Multiple ip addresses ? Who 
needs all this ? And who writes code to cover all the initialisations ? 
(and where to store it) ?

Peter
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