Re: [gentoo-embedded] OT: HiTech-C question

[wireless <wireless@tampabay.rr.com>]

Previously you wrote:

> It's not a realistic spec for any microcontroller. Please try again,
> with more care. You can get most of what you want in a single package
> but not all of it. Unless of course you make your own.. Take an Actel
> M1A3P250 with an ARM Cortex-M1 hardcore, then you could easily fit
> all those peripherals in one package.

Oh sure it is, but not in the 32 bit world.

> M1A3P250 starts at $11.99 at Future Electronics. (MOQ=180, was 90 before)
> But maybe you'll be able to put something else on the board into the
> FPGA to balance that extra cost.

yes, 32 bit and dsp processors have come way down on price.
But, when  you look at building a complete embedded system,
those high end processors eat you alive on external
component count  and manufacturing costs.  That board I just
spec'd cost less that $30 to manufacture, with a PIC and
every thing else that I did not require, like molex
connectors  and such.


> As you see, part cost is no problem for ARM, but you'll need more
> than one component for your project however you do it.

PRECISELY!; a 32 bit part can never compete with a micro if
specs are tight and cost/power requirements are astringent,
which most are. Certainly anything that is manufacutured in
lots of 10 or more, every penny counts and cost reduction
rules the decision process, never what some employee or
consult "likes". They (32+) only compete when you actually
need all those mips and mops, which is rare for the vast
majority of uP based products.

Don't believe me, just do a little research into the
numbers, not the (dollar) values, of those little 8/16 bit
parts. Fairchild and such won't even talk to you about
anything less than 1M in qty per quarter. For large
companies, those (8/16)uP are sub $1, for qty 10k or
more....... Some companies sell uP for pennies, just
to get the supply contract for the passives and such
on really large deals.

8/16 STILL rules the world and dominates the economics of
embedded. Granted 32 bit cores that run linux are very cool
and preferred by most embedded folks, but, that's a very
small number of design wins with big quantity (cell phones
for example), compared to their mature brethren (8/16).
There are millions of design wins each year, STILL, for 8/16
bit micros....

and yes, I like ARM very much, particularly in areas of
low power design, relative to intel or amd.


James