How To Select The Right Micro-Controller

 

If you are into software or hardware engineering, one of the most daunting task for you is probably the selection of the right micro-controller for your product. While choosing your microcontroller you are not only required to consider the long and defined list of technical features, but you also have to take care of other factors like cost and lead-times. It is indeed tempting to kick start any new project from straight away choosing your microcontrollers, but the results of such rush can be disheartening. So before making the rational decision of choosing the right microcontrollers, these are some must follow and simple 10 steps which can ensure that the right selection.

1. List down the required hardware interface.

Make use of the general hardware block diagram to make a list of all the required external interfaces that will be supported by the microcontrollers. The basic two types of interfaces which will be listed here will be the communication interfaces like the peripherals such as USB, I2C, UART, SPI, and so on. These interfaces have a bigger effect oh how much amount of program space a microcontroller will require to support. Secondly the engineer requires to chalk out the interfaces like the digital inputs and outputs, the analog to digital inputs, the PWM’s, etc. These will define the number of pins required by the microcontroller.

2. Consider the Software architecture

The software architecture and requirements is another big factor effecting the selection of the  microcontroller. The weight of the processing requirements determines if you should choose am 80 MHz DSP or an 8 MHz 8051. Make notes of the requirements which can effect the decision like algorithms that require floating point mathematics, or high frequency sensors or control loops, estimates of how frequently these tasks are being run etc. These will help you make an estimation of how much processing power will be needed which will again effect the architecture and frequency of the microcontroller.

3.  Selecting the architecture

Once you are done with step one and two make use of the information to get an idea of what architecture will be required. Choose between 8 bit, 16 bit and 32 bit ARM core? You will find your answers between the application and the required software algorithms. Do keep in mind that you might need to add further features in the future. So if your features are just right for a 8-bit ARM core, you might want to consider a higher version.

4. Choosing the Right memory requirements

From the important requirements in the above steps, here we move to the critical requirements of a microcontroller. The Flash and the RAM are indeed two of the most critical components of any microcontrollers. Making sure that the product do fall short of the program space or variable space is indeed of the highest priority. There is nothing more painful then cutting down the features towards the end of  the designing. So always start with higher memory requirements and you might consider cutting it down in the future. Estimate how much flash and RAM will be required by making use of the software architecture and the communication peripherals included in the application and as we mentioned above do keep in mind that you might need to add features in the future.

5. Power constraints

Once you are done with selecting the right architecture and the memory its now time to step down to the market and get a list of micro-controllers matching your requirements. Start cut shorting the list by the power requirements of your device. Make sure you choose the low power parts if the device will be powered from the battery of the mobile.

6. Life cycle of the product

You are done with shortlisting the products that matches the above requirements, so now its time to consider how long of a life cycle are you planning for your product. If your product's life is 10 years, make sure that the manufacturer guarantees a 10 year availability of the micro-controller.

7. Look for a development kit

After considering all the above factors and almost ready with the selected alternatives, start to look for a development kit. These development kits helps you to play with and learn the inner functions of the controller. If the development kit isn't available, it is probably not the right choice.

8. Look out for compilers and tools

While after you have your development kit in hand, you are almost ready with the right micro-controller. But before you pay and leave back home, the availability of the compilers and tools is one last but a big and important factor to consider. Make sure that all required tools like the compilers, debugging tools and examples codes are already available. Without these the development process can get difficult, time taking and expensive.

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Constant Current AC Input Isolated LED Driver

Sponsored Product Highlight

Posted Nov 05th 2013

ROHM’s BP5875 is a constant current type (85-264VAC) LED driver capable of driving 25W(equivalent) LEDs. BP5875 is designed to be a more compact version of the BP5872. The IC features the same key advantages, including a thin form factor, dimming compatibility, harmonics standards compliance, universal input, and high efficiency operation, making it ideal for a variety of applications. BP5875 features an active filter method with built-in PFC circuit that increases the power factor to 0.99, enabling support for high frequencies as well as compliance with IEC61000-3-2.

ROHM’s isolated AC input LED driver series provides a thin form factor, harmonics standards compliance, universal input, high efficiency and options for analog or PWM dimming and power factor correction (PFC).

Features

• Universal input
• Analog dimming function built in
• Eliminates the need for external circuitry
• Compact design: 65 × 130 × 19.2mm

Dual Low-Side Ultrafast MOSFET Drivers

Sponsored Product Highlight

Posted Nov 06th 2013

The IXDD604/IXDF604/IXDI604/IXDN604 dual high-speed gate drivers are especially well suited for driving the latest IXYSMOSFETs and IGBTs. Each of the two outputs can source and sink 4A of peak current while producing voltage rise and fall times of less than 10ns. The input of each driver is virtually immune to latch up, and proprietary circuitry eliminates cross conduction and current “shoot-through.” Low propagation delay and fast, matched rise and fall times make theIXD_604 family ideal for high-frequency and high-power applications.

The IXDD604 is a dual non-inverting driver with an enable. The IXDN604 is a dual non-inverting driver, the IXDI604 is a dual inverting driver, and the IXDF604 has one inverting driver and one non-inverting driver. The IXD_604 family is available in a standard 8-pin DIP (PI), 8-pin SOIC (SIA), 8-pin Power SOIC with an exposed metal back (SI), and an 8-pin DFN (D2) package.

Features

• 4A Peak Source/Sink Drive Current
• Wide Operating Voltage Range: 4.5V to 35V
• -40°C to +125°C Extended Operating Temperature Range
• Logic Input Withstands Negative Swing of up to 5V
• Matched Rise and Fall Times
• Low Propagation Delay Time
• Low, 10μA Supply Current
• Low Output Impedance

Combined Smartphone And Tablet Factory Revenue To Exceed Entire Consumer Electronics Market This Year

     In a dramatic sign of how consumer tastes have shifted to new, more exciting wireless products, global factory revenue for smartphones and tablets this year will rise to become larger than revenue for the entire consumer electronics (CE) market—the first time this has ever occurred.

      Worldwide original equipment manufacturer (OEM) factory revenue for media and PC tablets and for 3G/4G cellphones—a category dominated by smartphones—will amount to $354.3 billion in 2013, according to the Application Market Forecast Tool (AMFT) from IHS Inc. (NYSE: IHS). 

      This will be 3 percent more than the $344.4 billion for OEM factory revenue for the CE market, a broad category that includes hundreds of product types, including televisions, audio equipment, cameras and camcorders, video game consoles and home appliances. The massive CE market historically has dwarfed the tablet and smartphone segment, with CE 30 percent larger just last year.

         The attached figure presents the IHS history and forecast of OEM factory revenue for all types of tablets and 3G/4G cellphones; factory revenue is defined as the total OEM dollar value of all branded devices or equipment in a market. The figure starts in 2007, the year that smartphone shipments surged due to Apple Inc.’s introduction of the first iPhone. The figure also presents the boom in revenue during 2010, the year that Apple kicked off the media tablet market with the introduction of the initial model of the iPad.

"Consumer demand for smartphones and tablets has been flourishing in the past few years while sales growth for CE products has languished in the doldrums,” said Randy Lawson, senior principal analyst for semiconductors at IHS. “The fact that these two product categories are on their own able to generate more OEM factory revenue than the entire CE market illustrates the overwhelming popularity of smartphones and tablets. Meanwhile, the CE market has gone flat, with many of the major product types experiencing either low growth or declines in revenue during the past six years.”

“Consumers simply are finding more value in the versatility and usefulness of smartphones and tablets, which now serve as the go-to devices for everything from phone calls, to photography, to navigation, to media playback, to fitness tracking. Because of this, smart mobile platforms are displacing sales of CE products such as digital still cameras, camcorders, GPS and media players.”

The mobile blitz

The rise of the smartphone and tablet markets has been remarkable, with OEM factory revenue expanding by a factor of nearly nine to $354.3 billion in 2013, up from $41.2 billion in 2007. Revenue this year will rise by a robust 31 percent.

However, the fast pace of growth is slowing, with revenue in 2014 increasing by only 18 percent to reach $418.6 billion. And with CE factory revenue declining in 2014, smartphones and tablets will expand their revenue lead dramatically, rising to a 22.2 percent advantage compared to the entire consumer electronics market. This gap will continue to widen and will reach nearly 35 percent in 2017.

Consumer blues

In contrast, consumer electronics OEM factory revenue has been flat during the past few years, growing by slightly less than 1 percent from 2007 to 2013.

Of the 20 distinct CE product segments tracked by IHS, 14 will suffer a decline in their compound annual growth rates (CAGR) from 2007 through 2013. Some large product segments like LCD TVs are seeing growth in their revenue during that period. Even so, the CAGR for LCD TVs will be less than 10 percent, representing a major slowdown from the 83 percent rise seen during the previous six-year period from 2001 through 2007—the era of the global flat-panel TV replacement wave.