I’ve done a series of posts on steps that the Renesas RX microcontroller (MCU) design team took to maximize code density, thereby minimizing system memory requirements, Today, let’s look at some benchmarks based on actual applications that demonstrate the code-density advantage.
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Any number of microcontroller (MCU) applications require fast response to internal and external interrupts. For example, real-time control applications such as motor control require immediate response to internal MCU peripherals such as timers and external events such as user controls. The Renesas RX MCU architecture offers interrupt response that meets the most demanding of applications and includes an architectural feature called a fast interrupt function that can further accelerate response to a specified internal or external interrupt source.
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Tagged flash memory, interrupt handler, interrupt response time, interrupt service routine, ISR, maury wright, memory access speed, renesas mcu, renesas rx, renesas rx mcu, zero wait state
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According to iSuppli, independent software vendors will play an important role in the growing market for touch screens in mobile and desktop PCs. They predict that the global market for touch screens modules that are used in these devices will soar to 117.9 million units in 2010, up to 15.8 million in 2010. Read more.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is working with Qualcomm, NASA, and a number of mobile handset manufacturers to produce next generation smart phones that could minimize casualties associated with some kinds of terrorist attacks.
The project, called “Cell-All,” one day hopes to place environmental sensors in nearly all mobile handsets. When a phone detects a threat—from sarin gas for example—it will notify its owner and inform the Department of Homeland Security about the danger.
The Cell-All solution uses a semiconductor-like environmental sensor which reacts to various airborne poisons. These reactions, which will likely be manifested as a change in physical color, will be read by an embedded CMOS image sensor and analyzed on the phone’s processor or on a discrete device.
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I’d like to get your opinion on something
For this Viewpoint I’m looking for your perspective. I can’t figure out why companies make so many versions of things.
A while ago I was looking for a countertop microwave oven and went to the GE Web site. GE makes 33 versions of countertop microwaves. Just countertop, not built-in. Why so many? OK, there are different colors. GE makes 12 versions of white countertop microwaves. And, yes they vary in volume from 1 to 2 cubic feet and in power from 800 to 1200 W but still you could easily get away with three models instead of 12.
And any good EE tries to keep the BOM of a new design at a minimum so parts don’t have to be priced, purchased, shipped, stocked, and assembled. So why so may models? It has got to be expensive to keep up all the bill-of-materials and assembly methods and instruction manuals and so forth.
And it’s true of most things. Microprocessors? I can’t imagine how many total versions of 8-bit MCUs Microchip has. I didn’t ask them (as they might think this is a negative story), but I’m sure it is thousands. The Digi-Key Web site has 8,656 items under Microchip microcontrollers. Every time I cover a new MCU they have 8 or 10 or more versions with 64 K of flash rather than 128 K, or a 10-bit A/D instead of a 12-bit, or three USB ports rather than two. So they have to handle all these part numbers in their databases and in whatever printed literature they still produce. Is it unnecessary complexity?
When I was a kid, I wondered why GM made the same car over four or five times with a Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and maybe Cadillac nameplate. Of course, as of recently they don’t, with the death of Pontiac and Olds. But, they said it cost ‘em a billion dollars to develop a new model. Seems like a waste of effort and money to make lots of versions of the same thing to me. I guess this is the marketing/branding class I didn’t take in college. – Jim Harrison
Market research firm IDC Energy Insights (www.idc-ei.com) recently predicted that the utility-scale (100 kW+) PV inverter market will continue a 60% annual growth in the North American market for at least the next three to five years. According to their report, the dramatic growth of solar PV installations throughout Europe and Asia indicates that the North American utilities industry should be prepared to embrace the PV revolution in a significant manner. The report evaluates ten vendors of utility-scale inverter products for the North American market, including Advanced Energy (AE), General Electric (GE), Ingeteam, KACO, PV Powered, Satcon, Schneider Electric/Xantrex, Siemens, SMA, and Solectria.
One finding was that the inverter market is undergoing rapid evolution. Vendors have been investing heavily in R&D for several years and the fruits of those efforts are manifested in new models that boast higher efficiency, better reliability, and greater control.
Meanwhile, IMS Research (www.imsresearch.com) of England reported that global inverter shipments reached 3.1 GW in Q1 2010 – the largest first quarter total for the industry, and the second highest quarterly result on record.
PV Research Director Ash Sharma commented, “Although Q1’10 presented some incredible results for inverter suppliers, with shipments up more than 300% year-on-year, sequentially shipments fell in all regions, including Germany.” Total global inverter shipments were 3.7 GW in Q4 2009, some 16% higher than Q1 2010. Part of that downturn was due to a shortage of inverters. – Jim Harrison
I’ve focused on the topic of optimized instruction encoding repeatedly recently because it’s a big story in terms of the code-density advantage that the Renesas RX microcontroller (MCU) architecture offers over competing MCUs. I’ll be sharing some details of that advantage in a future post just as I did in the performance benchmarking area recently.
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