[Thumbgps-devel] in search of a better microcontroller

[Thumbgps-devel] in search of a better microcontroller

[Dave Taht]

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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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Re: [Thumbgps-devel] in search of a better microcontroller

[tz]

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While looking for other things, I came across this.

http://www.suntekstore.com/goods-14004282-enc28j60_ethernet_lan_module_for_arduinoavrlpcstm32.html

Ethernet for under $10.  Send a udp packet at pps?
 On Mar 26, 2012 8:53 PM, "Dave Taht" <dave.taht@gmail.com> wrote:

> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thumbgps-devel mailing list
> Thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/thumbgps-devel
>
>

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Re: [Thumbgps-devel] in search of a better microcontroller

[Patrick Maupin]

I like the LPC3131.  It has enough internal memory to run Nuttx as
well.  The only problem is it's hard to prototype because it's BGA
only.  But Olimex has a cheap dev board.

Pat

On Mon, Mar 26, 2012 at 7:53 PM, Dave Taht <dave.taht@gmail.com> wrote:
> 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
>
> _______________________________________________
> Thumbgps-devel mailing list
> Thumbgps-devel@lists.bufferbloat.net
> https://lists.bufferbloat.net/listinfo/thumbgps-devel
>