Migration from Freescale

[abhijit]

Posted on March 25, 2015 at 07:58

Hello

I have been using Freescale 8-bit for all of my projects.My most used device was 

https://www.google.co.in/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CB0QFjAA&url=http://cache.freescale.com/files/microcontrollers/doc/ref_manual/MC9S08MP16RM.pdf&ei=5VUSVfSVLZOIuASFioJw&usg=AFQjCNF-irCVnmlL6oAjZiAVptCglPwDew&bvm=bv.89184060%2cd.c2E

It is a feature rich MCU with5v8nos 16-bit PWM timers with dead band insertion and complementary & combine channels.Programmable delay block for automatic ADC triggering.RTC,ADC,8-bit timerPGAHigh speed comparator - 3nosThis device is now mature and there is limited stock henceforth.I was advised to shift to Kinetis.Very powerful series with M0/M4 cores and most features i need.Since this will be a big shift for me, i am exploring other Manufacturers.STM32 seems to be very lucrative with aggressive pricing.Can someone suggest any good STM32 part with features i noted above?Also what is the learning curve , with tools etc and with the IDE?What kind of support is provided in terms of libraries?Please guide

[childresss]

Posted on March 25, 2015 at 20:52

I prefer STM32's to Freescale M0+ and M4's because ST's device documentation is excellent. Freescale's is not (IMO).

The HAL library and CubeMX are great tools for ST. Better by far than Kenitis Design Studio.   IAR is my preferred IDE/compiler and CubeMX flows directly into IAR.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Posted on March 25, 2015 at 21:22

32-bit ARM can be pretty steep for a lot of 8-bit users, especially 8051 guys used to SFR. Architecturally ARM is very clean, like the old Motorola MC68K. Get one of Joseph Yiu's Cortex-Mx books. Get the ARM TRMs (Technical Reference Manual). For assembler, Mazidi or Gibson.

IDE's are always a headache, pick one you like, or seems the most familiar compared to ones you've used before. The DISCO/NUCLEO boards are really cheap, have built in debugger hardware, and make for a good starting point.

[AvaTar]

Posted on March 25, 2015 at 21:32

The HAL library and CubeMX are great tools for ST. Better by far than Kenitis Design Studio.

Can't leave this standing. CubeMX is a point-and-click tool, (IMHO for the superficial one's,) to counter competitor effords like KinetisDesignStudio (Freescale) and Dave (Infineon). But most important, it's far from mature - say buggy. Just look around here for complaints and bug reports. If you don't mind, try the Standard Peripheral Library, with features example programs for almost all peripherals. BTW, I once evaluated a FRDM-K64F board (Kinetis M4), and was shocked to find out that one third of the MCU peripherals had a mere 8-bit register interface, and another third a mixed 8/16-bit interface. That speaks IMHO of a hasty copy-and-paste design, ripping off existing peripherals from 8-bit cores. But perhaps that has to do with the ongoing acquisition of Freescale by NXP (or Samsung) ...

[childresss]

Posted on March 26, 2015 at 01:24

Re comment about bugs in CubeMX... Are you saying a bug in CubeMX itself, or the HAL code it uses?

In using these things 3 UARTS, one in DMA Two SPIs, one in DMA A few timers ISR callbacks. I've found one semi-but in an esoteric area. I've not used FSMC or stuff in the STM32F42xx, just '41xx. ST warns that the older Standard Peripherals Library is depreciated. I have to predilection for using it, no historical love of it. So for a new product, I thought it best to go with the HAL. So far, it's good. It's not the code I'd write, but good enough and less that I have to muck with. I've been very pleased with the time savings it brings, esp. in a team project.

[AvaTar]

Posted on March 26, 2015 at 11:44

Re comment about bugs in CubeMX... Are you saying a bug in CubeMX itself, or the HAL code it uses?

In using these things 3 UARTS, one in DMA Two SPIs, one in DMA A few timers ISR callbacks. I've found one semi-but in an esoteric area. Others on this forum might disagree, as the number of complaints and bug reports show. For hobbyists or small projects,the choice between SPL and Cube might be a matter of taste. But customers with >100k devices per year have other metrics. And I know of no one who seriously considers the cluttered Cube code. If ST wants to tackle the still strong 8 bit market where Microchip's PIC and the 8051 rule, code size (which implies Flash size) does matter. These are projects were fractions of cents spent on hardware make a difference. And these companies are the one's who finally butter ST's bread.