STM32 capabilities

gabriel.arnautu · ‎2019-12-24

Hi,

I would like to move my project to STM32 from another MCU.

There are some requirements that I have to comply with and I would like to know if STM32 is a good idea or not.

I need to be able to flash the firmware using USB without an USB to UART converter and have a secure way of flashing the firmware (like secure bootloader).

Also, the MCU should send some data to a PC, but it is binary data and I want the communication to be as fast as possible and reliable. I was using UART to USB before and the highest bit-rate that I could go up to was 115200. Anything more than that had the potential to send wrong bytes. So I would like the data transfer to be done using the same USB as for firmware update.

Also, how is the SDK for it? I have never used it before and I am not sure how all the environment works.

Regards,

Gabriel

Pavel A. · ‎2019-12-24

A short answer is that all what you need is possible, with a right model of STM32.

For details, find a ST sales office in your area and discuss with them.

> Also, how is the SDK for it? I have never used it before and I am not sure how all the environment works.

*This* is a great question. It really depends on your previous experience. What is that another MCU - another ARM or something 16-bit?

If the latter, prepare for a steep learning curve, or hire a sherpa (consultant).

For the environment, there's a choice of Eclipse, Keil MDK, IAR/Segger and few other options (makefile + your favorite editor to Microsoft's Visual Studio).

Are you familiar with one of these?

-- pa

S.Ma · ‎2019-12-24

Well, use STM32F723 which has a USB HS interface so speed won't be an issue.

It's the component used in STLinkV3-Mini with USB interface

gabriel.arnautu · ‎2019-12-25

I have experience with ESP32 and some others 8 and 16-bit.

I would like to have a free environment if possible. I know Keil is not free for example. I don't mind using makefile.

With my previous ESP32, I was using esp-idf and it make things very easy. For STM32, I am not sure what options I have in terms of SDK.

gabriel.arnautu · ‎2019-12-25

I was more thinking to a Cortex-M4F and a 96MHz frequency