8 bits is dead, long live 8 pins

For those who like the Attiny85 but need some more grunt, how about the new LPC800, 32-bits in a DIP8 package (and others)

Surely this has to be a hobbyist's dream.

The only down side (and it can be a biggy in some applications) is no ADC, but there is this, 3 USARTs, 2 SPI, and an I2C interface with USART and I2C driver in ROM so they don't use any flash memory. 30Mhz with no crystal, CRC engine, boot loader in ROM, 16k flash and 4k RAM, full debugging support, yada yada yada.

I think I'm in love.

System:

  • ARM Cortex-M0+ processor, running at frequencies of up to 30 MHz with single-cycle multiplier and fast single-cycle I/O port.
  • ARM Cortex-M0+ built-in Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC).
  • System tick timer.
  • Serial Wire Debug (SWD) and JTAG boundary scan modes supported.
  • Micro Trace Buffer (MTB) supported.
    Memory:
  • Up to 16 kB on-chip flash programming memory with 64 Byte page write and erase.
  • 4 kB SRAM.
  • ROM API support:
  • Boot loader.
  • USART drivers.
  • I2C drivers.
  • Power profiles.
  • Flash In-Application Programming (IAP) and In-System Programming (ISP).
    Digital peripherals:
  • High-speed GPIO interface connected to the ARM Cortex-M0+ IO bus with up to 18 General-Purpose I/O (GPIO) pins with configurable pull-up/pull-down resistors.
  • GPIO interrupt generation capability with boolean pattern-matching feature on eight GPIO inputs.
  • Switch matrix for flexible configuration of each I/O pin function.
  • State Configurable Timer (SCT) with input and output functions (including captureand match) assigned to pins through the switch matrix.
  • Multiple-channel multi-rate timer (MRT) for repetitive interrupt generation at up to four programmable, fixed rates.
  • Self Wake-up Timer (WKT) clocked from either the IRC or a low-power, low-frequency internal oscillator.
  • CRC engine.
  • Windowed Watchdog timer (WWDT).
    Analog peripherals:
  • Comparator with external voltage reference with pin functions assigned or enabled through the switch matrix.
    Serial interfaces:
  • Three USART interfaces with pin functions assigned through the switch matrix.
  • Two SPI controllers with pin functions assigned through the switch matrix.
  • One I2C-bus interface with pin functions assigned through the switch matrix.
    Clock generation:
  • 12 MHz internal RC oscillator trimmed to 1 % accuracy that can optionally be used as a system clock.
  • Crystal oscillator with an operating range of 1 MHz to 25 MHz.
  • Programmable watchdog oscillator with a frequency range of 9.4 kHz to 2.3 MHz.
  • 10 kHz low-power oscillator for the WKT.
  • PLL allows CPU operation up to the maximum CPU rate without the need for a high-frequency crystal. May be run from the system oscillator, the external clock input CLKIN, or the internal RC oscillator.
  • Clock output function with divider that can reflect the crystal oscillator, the main clock, the IRC, or the watchdog oscillator.
    Power control:
  • Integrated PMU (Power Management Unit) to minimize power consumption.
  • Reduced power modes: Sleep mode, Deep-sleep mode, Power-down mode, and
    Deep power-down mode.
  • Power-On Reset (POR).
  • Brownout detect.
  • Unique device serial number for identification.
  • Single power supply.
  • Available as SO20 package, TSSOP20 package, TSSOP16, and DIP8 package.

Preliminary data sheet.

http://www.nxp.com/documents/data_sheet/LPC81XM.pdf


Rob

Oh dear

I only speak Arduino language :frowning:

No EEPROM, ADC, PWM, only 18 IO and memory the size of a 168?
Seems a bit lacking compared to a '1284 even if it does run a little faster.

Yes but compare it to any other DIP8 processors. I'm a big fan of the 1284, in fact I'm about to make a board with one, but it is 40/44 pins.

On the LPCs you can use flash for non-volatile storage, not as good as EEPROM I guess but usually good enough. Lack of an ADC is strange these days.

I only speak Arduino language :frowning:

My LARD framework should fix that, if I ever get it finished that is :slight_smile:


Rob

Depends on the application I guess. I've never had a need to go that small. And if I did, I doubt I'd be doing tons of processing, probably just a little smart IO for a sensor.

My main WOW for this is that it means DIP packaged ARM uP will remain available at least for a while longer. Long live the DIP package. :wink:

Lefty

Yeah, that's two DIP ARMs available now, a promising sign.


Rob

Economy driven chip evolution and 100's of newly opened niches?

100's of newly opened niches

I think so. For example you could design your own small peripheral chips. Of course you can do that with a Tiny as well but this has more grunt.

The other day we had someone wanting 12 (I think) hardware serial ports. We suggested UARTs and co-processors, but the only real co-processor option was the Tiny2313 because the other small chips don't have UARTs, or I2C or real SPI.

This would have been a good option.


Rob

But it's only available in an 8-pin DIP??!! :-o With all that capability a lot of it will necessarily go unused with only 8 pins. OK I guess if the price is right but it seems a bit of a shame...

Yes it would have been nice to have the 16 and 20-pin versions in a DIP as well. Go figure.


Rob

Wow, missed this the first time through. They don't mention quantity, but even if that's at 1000 copies, it ought to still be very affordable in quantities of 1-10. Definitely one to watch for, good catch!

Pricing for the LPC810 starts at $0.39 USD.

Welcome to the world of 32-bit 555 timers :slight_smile:


Rob

4004 must be spinning in his grave...

Man I remember getting a 4004 data sheet as a promo, I read it and couldn't for the life of me see how these microprocessors things could be useful for anything.

Wrong :slight_smile:

Still at least I didn't put all my money into buggy-whip shares.


Rob

Still at least I didn't put all my money into buggy-whip shares.

Yep, not like the S&M business ever took off :wink:

S&M...is that anything like M&Ms? I like them.


Rob

Yeah - only more leathery 8)

at least I didn't put all my money into buggy-whip shares.

I remember the first time I looked at a web browser (having already been involved with the networking industry for 10+ years by then.) "Oh, this is just an easier UI to cover things like FTP that I already know how to use; I can safely ignore it." :slight_smile: Wrong.

Graynomad:
Man I remember getting a 4004 data sheet as a promo, I read it and couldn't for the life of me see how these microprocessors things could be useful for anything.

Wrong :slight_smile:

Still at least I didn't put all my money into buggy-whip shares.


Rob

That's nothing. I met the two Steve guys, Jobs and the Woz, in the mid 70s up in Rohnert Park. They were travelling around the Bay Area trying to sell/raise interest in their original Apple (1) populated PCB. They showed if off mounted is a homemade wood box, and a user had to supply their own keyboard and TV monitor. I looked it over and said this thing/these guys are going no where! Talking to him, I thought Woz was a real nice guy, a real nerd/hacker from the old school, but Jobs was even then was looking for something that would 'show me the money', that came through pretty clearly even back then.

Lefty