4 ms·

Introducing the next-generation of 8-bit megaAVR MCUs

5 points by mmastrac 12y ago

mmastrac 12y ago
One of the really interesting things from article that Atmel is doing here is releasing very low-cost eval boards for the new chips: http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500404;c:100113#tc:description http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500404;c:100113... http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500392;c:100113#tc:description http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500392;c:100113... Also happy to see improved internal RC-oscillator support. I had to jump through some hoops to self-calibrate my project [1] for 9600 baud serial. If there's one thing I'd ask from Atmel, it's that they release a low-cost, multi-core AVR. Right now there's a lot of timer juggling if you want to do more than one thing at once, and a second core would drastically improve that. [1] https://github.com/mmastrac/gpsclock/blob/master/displaydriver/calibrate_serial.c https://github.com/mmastrac/gpsclock/blob/master/displaydriv...
- pdknsk 12y ago
  The very low cost evaluation boards almost make up for not providing DIP packages.
  - mmastrac 12y ago
    Yeah, that's one thing that irked me here. I imagine that Adafruit and/or Sparkfun and/or Chinese resellers on eBay will fill the void and we'll end up with a dip-like breadboard. From the datasheet, it looks like they've explicitly dedicated those four extra pins to I/O, so I imagine this means there will never be a DIP equivalent. Is a sign that DIP packages are on the way out?
    - swamp40 12y ago
      DIPs have been dead for a long time, with only a few exceptions. Replacement parts, hobbiest markets, and some optocouplers with huge spacing requirements are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. RoHS requirements were one of the final nails in the coffin, but even before that the material costs were really eating into profit margins - especially for the larger microcontrollers. For the older standard parts, I think RoHS requirements forced die redesigns, and manufacturers didn't want to pay for an obviously dead trend, so a lot of old packages got dropped then.

5 points by mmastrac 12y ago

One of the really interesting things from article that Atmel is doing here is releasing very low-cost eval boards for the new chips: http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500404;c:100113#tc:description http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500404;c:100113... http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500392;c:100113#tc:description http://store.atmel.com/PartDetail.aspx?q=p:10500392;c:100113... Also happy to see improved internal RC-oscillator support. I had to jump through some hoops to self-calibrate my project [1] for 9600 baud serial. If there's one thing I'd ask from Atmel, it's that they release a low-cost, multi-core AVR. Right now there's a lot of timer juggling if you want to do more than one thing at once, and a second core would drastically improve that. [1] https://github.com/mmastrac/gpsclock/blob/master/displaydriver/calibrate_serial.c https://github.com/mmastrac/gpsclock/blob/master/displaydriv...

pdknsk 12y ago
The very low cost evaluation boards almost make up for not providing DIP packages.
- mmastrac 12y ago
  Yeah, that's one thing that irked me here. I imagine that Adafruit and/or Sparkfun and/or Chinese resellers on eBay will fill the void and we'll end up with a dip-like breadboard. From the datasheet, it looks like they've explicitly dedicated those four extra pins to I/O, so I imagine this means there will never be a DIP equivalent. Is a sign that DIP packages are on the way out?
  - swamp40 12y ago
    DIPs have been dead for a long time, with only a few exceptions. Replacement parts, hobbiest markets, and some optocouplers with huge spacing requirements are the only ones I can think of off the top of my head. RoHS requirements were one of the final nails in the coffin, but even before that the material costs were really eating into profit margins - especially for the larger microcontrollers. For the older standard parts, I think RoHS requirements forced die redesigns, and manufacturers didn't want to pay for an obviously dead trend, so a lot of old packages got dropped then.