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Dshoc
Associate
July 15, 2019
Solved

Hello, what is the best hardware configuration to implement the following project on drawing ? thanks.

  • July 15, 2019
  • 9 replies
  • 2109 views

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    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Best answer by Ozone

    Not too demanding, it seems. GPS is supposedly a serial interface, too.

    The only interface you won't find with all MCUs is ethernet, so this seems your main selection criteria.

    A F4 device could suffice, there are several eval boards available to test.

    I personally would start with the F4 discovery (+ BB extension), because it has an SPL-based demo webserver, not tainted by CubeMX.

    Keep in mind that Ethernet is critical - the "feeble" peripherals in common MCUs cannot buffer any signifcant number of frames, and will easily be overwhelmed in an average office network.

    If you want to dabble in ST's CubeMX is your decision. But read up about it before.

    From my experience, the individual requirements are not too difficult to implement, several examples are available. But balancing interrupt priorities and DMA streams to keep everything going and balanced will cost you some time and effort.

    9 replies

    Ozone
    Principal
    July 15, 2019

    Data rates and update cycles are missing. And possibly the required manipulations of the data.

    Usually has a significant impact on controller selection.

    Dshoc
    DshocAuthor
    Associate
    July 16, 2019

    hi , thanks for your answer , the ADC data sampling is at 1KHz for the 4 ADCs , and the bandwidth needed is about 250Kbps . no special manipulation on data .

    thanks again.

    Ozone
    OzoneBest answer
    Principal
    July 16, 2019

    Not too demanding, it seems. GPS is supposedly a serial interface, too.

    The only interface you won't find with all MCUs is ethernet, so this seems your main selection criteria.

    A F4 device could suffice, there are several eval boards available to test.

    I personally would start with the F4 discovery (+ BB extension), because it has an SPL-based demo webserver, not tainted by CubeMX.

    Keep in mind that Ethernet is critical - the "feeble" peripherals in common MCUs cannot buffer any signifcant number of frames, and will easily be overwhelmed in an average office network.

    If you want to dabble in ST's CubeMX is your decision. But read up about it before.

    From my experience, the individual requirements are not too difficult to implement, several examples are available. But balancing interrupt priorities and DMA streams to keep everything going and balanced will cost you some time and effort.

    Dshoc
    DshocAuthor
    Associate
    July 17, 2019

    thanks , it was very helpfull :folded_hands:

    Piranha
    Principal III
    July 20, 2019

    Ethernet is on a F1, F2, F4, F7 and H7 series. F1 is old and quite different. H7 ir new and even more different. F7 (and H7) has Cortex-M7 with dual issue pipeline and cache memory, which has it's requirements for code, if used. So that leaves F2 and F4, which both seem to be more than enough. If there are no additional requirements, I would go for F2, because it's significantly cheaper.

    waclawek.jan
    Super User
    July 20, 2019

    @Piranha​ ,

    > I would go for F2, because it's significantly cheaper.

    Is it? It must be some specific model/distributor/whatever-circumstance-influencing-price.

    I looked up STM32F207VGT6 versus STM32F407VGT6, Mouser, 100pcs - IMO a pretty representative garage-scale setting - and it's $10.7700 vs. $9.9000...

    JW