Req: Microcontroller Recommendation
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From: Veekster on 11 Feb 2010 17:38 Hello my most esteemed colleagues, I'm designing a sensor interface circuit that has gain and filtering options that need to be set by latching a parallel set of bits. I want to control this remotely with a serial interface of some type (to reduce conductor count). I'm thinking I need a simple microcontroller with a serial interface (usart?) to do this easily. Additionally, a microcontroller with a sleep mode that shuts down the clocks would enhance low noise measurement performance, so that's a requirement. Ideally it would wake up on serial interface activity. Would you geniuses care to recommend a simple microcontroller (or an alternate approach) that would do the job? The simple tinyAVR and PIC controllers seem to have too many peripherals and are overkill, but maybe that's no big deal. We're only building ~1000 of these.
From: linnix on 11 Feb 2010 17:42 On Feb 11, 2:38 pm, Veekster <to.vic....(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hello my most esteemed colleagues, > > I'm designing a sensor interface circuit that has gain and filtering > options that need to be set by latching a parallel set of bits. How many bits?
From: rickman on 11 Feb 2010 19:35 On Feb 11, 5:38 pm, Veekster <to.vic....(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hello my most esteemed colleagues, > > I'm designing a sensor interface circuit that has gain and filtering > options that need to be set by latching a parallel set of bits. I > want to control this remotely with a serial interface of some type (to > reduce conductor count). I'm thinking I need a simple microcontroller > with a serial interface (usart?) to do this easily. > > Additionally, a microcontroller with a sleep mode that shuts down the > clocks would enhance low noise measurement performance, so that's a > requirement. Ideally it would wake up on serial interface activity. > > Would you geniuses care to recommend a simple microcontroller (or an > alternate approach) that would do the job? > > The simple tinyAVR and PIC controllers seem to have too many > peripherals and are overkill, but maybe that's no big deal. We're > only building ~1000 of these. If you want to turn off all clocks to the MCU, how will you wake it up again when your conversion is done? I had a friend who worked at a high end audio company and they put the digital and analog on separate modules with the digital in its own metal box. No clocks came out of the box other than configuration signals which did not transition when audio was being used. BTW, the audio was all audio, no ADC/DAC. I think that is the upper end of sensitivity to noise in consumer apps. What are you trying to do with this design? I suspect that pretty much any MCU will do the job for you as long as it has enough I/ O signals. Rick
From: Jim Stewart on 11 Feb 2010 20:57 Veekster wrote: > Hello my most esteemed colleagues, > > I'm designing a sensor interface circuit that has gain and filtering > options that need to be set by latching a parallel set of bits. I > want to control this remotely with a serial interface of some type (to > reduce conductor count). I'm thinking I need a simple microcontroller > with a serial interface (usart?) to do this easily. > > Additionally, a microcontroller with a sleep mode that shuts down the > clocks would enhance low noise measurement performance, so that's a > requirement. Ideally it would wake up on serial interface activity. > > Would you geniuses care to recommend a simple microcontroller (or an > alternate approach) that would do the job? > > The simple tinyAVR and PIC controllers seem to have too many > peripherals and are overkill, but maybe that's no big deal. We're > only building ~1000 of these. You can't get any smaller than a Tiny AVR or a PIC. Also consider the NXP LPC111x line. True 32-bit registers and math can be useful, particularly if you like assembly language. In any case, take some time and pick the product that will serve you for the long haul so that you won't have to set up and learn a new toolchain next time you need a little controller.
From: -jg on 11 Feb 2010 23:23
On Feb 12, 11:38 am, Veekster <to.vic....(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hello my most esteemed colleagues, > > I'm designing a sensor interface circuit that has gain and filtering > options that need to be set by latching a parallel set of bits. > Would you geniuses care to recommend a simple microcontroller (or an > alternate approach) that would do the job? Since almost any core will do what you ask, you might want to refine it by define of what ADC precision you need, and what package. That can then help define the device. eg So14/So16 are an emerging package area in small uC, that are easy to handle, and have low PCB impact. If 10bADC are enough, Silabs have just added some So16 variants. if 12b is needed, your choices thin out, but TSSOP20 parts give 12b ADC's If you also need 12b DACs then something like the ADuC7023 ? |