LoRa controller

[rohith krishnan]

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 11:45

Hi,

I need a controller for my new project.Following are my main requirements.

-> The controller that supports Linux OS. Does it need any external DRAM?

-> We should be able to connect Bluetooth antenna.

-> It needs good SPI performance, speed up to 8 MHz, low-latency driver

->needs communicate to Ethernet controller and also needs UART for GPS and serial communication.

Is there any controller that can satisfy these requirements

?

If NO, please recommend a controller with all the functionalities mentioned above (Linux,2 UARTs, SPI and Ethernet controller) except the Bluetooth antenna(so that we could use Bluetooth module instead of antenna).

#lora

[AvaTar]

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 17:35

-> The controller that supports Linux OS. Does it need any external DRAM?

You cannot run a real Linux on a Cortex M4 - there is no MMU. The existing ucLinux is just a stopgap solution. It consumes most of Flash space and performance - fine for experiments, but not for commercial applications.

Dropping the 'Linux' requirement, a STM32F4 or F7 could easily fulfill the other requirement. But you need the check for the required bandwidth before. Neither Ehternet nor UART or Bluetooth (-> Modem => UART) require an OS like Linux. And bare-metal applications use to have very low latencies, compared to OS-based one's.

Insisting on Linux, I would start with Cortex A5 boards (or similar) and upwards. And with 'similar', I mean also non-ARM processors/controllers.

Is there any controller that can satisfy these requirements

?

Just use ST's selection tool on the website. Any M4/M7 with ethernet interface will probably do, but there is a price tag attached.

[AvaTar]

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 18:02

Does the lwip stack not fulfill your requirements ?

It does not require an OS, especially not Linux.

Do you have any recommendation and what should be the specs of Flash and DRAM?

You can check here:

http://www.emcraft.com/

[rohith krishnan]

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 17:53

Hi,

I need to run full linux on the controller so that I could run TCP/IP stack. Do you have any recommendation and what should be the specs of Flash and DRAM?

Thanks

Rohith 

[rohith krishnan]

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 18:12

Hi,

I want to go with full linux, otherwise it will be limiting in case of any future implementations.

Thanks

Rohith

[Tesla DeLorean]

Posted on January 18, 2017 at 20:01

Not sure why we are doing your due diligence work here, but perhaps you could look at something like a Beagle Bone or Raspberry Pi (or host of similar Pi type board and modules)

[AvaTar]

Posted on January 19, 2017 at 09:30

... perhaps you could look at something like a Beagle Bone or Raspberry Pi (or host of similar Pi type board and modules)

Or something non-ARM, like an Intel Edison board. That depends on your toolchain/environment preferences as well.

I still see no need for a full-blown OS here.

Not sure why we are doing your due diligence work here, ...

+1