[Thumbgps-devel] in search of a better microcontroller

[Dave Taht]

Since 'plain jane' is coming along nicely, I've been amusing myself with
what it would take to do 'sexy sadie'
(not my final choice for a name btw!)

I wanted to combine at least two functions into the usb stick, they would
be:

* gps/time with supercap backup
* other sensor support (wind cups, precipitation, barometer, etc)
* some sort of direct output signal (can bus? spi bus? don't know yet)
* randomness/entropy generator

While my initial choice for the former two features would be the ublox
device already discussed, I haven't pursued the possibility of being able
to modify their firmware to do what I want. I should contact them I
guess... but I'm wagering that gaining access to that firmware will be
difficult, so interfacing with a cheaper gps device (e.g plaine jane) and
adding a microcontroller to it seems like the best option.

The problem is I'd like to find something capable of 480Mbit transfers.

The first microcontroller I picked (the atmel) seems to be near end of life
and only does 12Mbit, so I went looking for the sexy and new (a lot of
those!), and stumbled across this one:

http://media.freescale.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=196520&p=irol-newsArticle_print&ID=1671968&highlight=

I couldn't help but laugh when I saw:

"Linear 4 GB address space that removes the need for paging, reducing
software complexity and ensuring a more 8-bit-like user experience"

Yea, that 8 bit-like user experience. That's what I want in a 32 bit 4GB
capable architecture.

The last phrase was removed from the official site later, after whoever
wrote the pr release came down off of whatever he/she was smoking.

http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?code=KINETIS_L_SERIES&tid=van%20LSERIES

This chip is WAY too new to consider using, but it is a sign of things to
come. Still trying to find a sane 480Mbit USB interface that's under 10
bucks...

-- 
Dave Täht
SKYPE: davetaht
US Tel: 1-239-829-5608
http://www.bufferbloat.net
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