hi all,
I'm used to use microchip controllers (Professional software engineer), but because I need higher calculation speed, I have to move to arm processors.
For that reason I'd like to start with a starter kit.
I'd like to experiment with Ethernet, LCD, USB, RAM, Uart , i2c and spi.
Because of realtime tasks, I'd like to program the controller completely myself, without os. Is this possible?
Does someone have an opinion about the RiOT board? Or would the IOTboard of IBM/Arm be a better start (However its 250dmips is too slow for the project)?
'Mustc I use Linux or could I use own C code as main platform?
Can, for example, a raspberry pi or something else also be realtime programmed, or am I depended of Linux ?
Are there libraries like Microchip delivers example codes?
I have compared some books, but what book should be a good guide for me as noob in the world of ARM?
Hopefully you can help me give a good start with ARM this way. Thanks a lot.
John
Great answer from Goodwin.
From a hardware viewpoint a quick tip which may help.
You specifically mentioned Ethernet and LCD functionality.
This already starts to restrict your choices and you said you don't want to go down the Linux route if you don't need to.
Most likely this will dictate that you will need an M4 (or if you need even higher performance an M7).
STM32L4 family is new and a very nice choice. There is a nice "ST MCU finder" app available for smartphones.
Plenty of options available also from NXP and Atmel (now part of Microchip).
All of the suppliers will offer a software library including things like TCP/IP etc.
Lastly you may also want to take a look at FreeRTOS.
Hope this helps.
Hi, Ive bought STs m7691I discoveryboard. 70 euros from Farnell.
ST has cubeM as IDE, but we also have Keil and others.
From my experience I know sometimes free software like compilers isn't always a good choice, however sometimes payed version are even worse.
What IDE works 'flowly' and flexible?
Are there IDEs with realtime compiling / precompiling?
Which compiler is reliable, but also well tested, so I can use it professionally later on?
What is the quality of debugging with the M7? Does live debugging and break points work well, or is it buggy?
And are there good code profiles available, maybe good free ones to start with?
For now I just want to 'play' to gain experience, but the main purpose is to see if this one beats not only PIC32MZ' performance, but also to see if we can build code as easy as we're used to.
And another important question: what about bugs in IDEs and compilers. Like we're used with Microchip to immediately open a support ticket and most of the time get support from their site within 24u, is such possible in the new ARM situation too?
I'm surprised to get such good help so fast. Thanks a lot for that! As you see I'm just finding out what I need to make a good start with the ARM controllers.
Thanks again, John
I don't have the expertise or stature needed to answer your questions accurately. I'll just give some toolsets which might be able to meet your criteria. I suggest that you gather more information about these products.
∙ ARM Development Tools
∙ IAR Embedded Workbench Tools for ARM
∙ Atollic TrueSTUDIO
∙ Rowley Associates CrossWorks
∙ Mentor Graphics Sourcery CodeBench (no Cortex-M7 in Supported Processors)
For ARM's own software development tools you can post questions in Software Development Tools.
Your experience about free and paid software is generally applicable to all software development tools regardless of the target architecture.