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[on:]

I was looking over the Atmel website and noticed that there is now available a newer
ATmega328P /// a 32k version 28-pin dip...

It seems to be identical to the ATmega168 pin-out wise...

Another thing I noticed is that arduino uses the ATmega168, but noticed that there
is a "P" version... ATmega168P

What's the difference between the 168 and the 168P... they seem identical...

But, what I would like to know most... is, could the Arduino Decimilia Board and software
also support the newer 32k version ... the ATmega328P

Sure would be nice to jump up to 32k and 2k sram...
I'm already bumping near the 16k limit...

Any gurus out there that could advise and also make this work????

thanks!

[Reply #1 on:]

the 328 will be out in 2008, probably feb/march. i expect that arduino will support this chip.
P just means DIP part Er, looks like it means something else, maybe some core revision. probably not a big deal.

[Reply #2 on:]

think I now know what the "P" stands for...
"P" = PicoPower version...

Trying to find out as of when the chip would be available???
From the Atmel site it seems to be in production????

[Reply #3 on:]

I hate that about the chips. There is no way to easily compare them.
You have to dive in to the datasheet for each and compare individual figures until you find whats different.

A Atmel chip comparison page would be invaluable.

[Reply #4 on:]

The P-suffix "picopower" feature set is described somewhat here: http://www.atmel.com/products/avr/picopower/Default.asp

Quoting:

The key elements are:
- True 1.8V Supply Voltage
- Minimized Leakage Current
- Sleeping BOD
- Ultra Low Power 32 kHz Crystal Oscillator
- Digital Input Disable Registers
- Power Reduction Register
- Clock Gating
- Flash Sampling

I should note that the Arduino core firmware is not currently set up to utilize even the more primitive power saving modes available on the current AVR cpus, so the "picopower" aspects are not likely to be so interesting as the doubling of flash, ram, and eeprom...

None of the 28-pin picopower AVRs are showing up at (digikey, mouser, etc) and the atmel page says "by the end of 2007", so I suspect Limor's "sometime in 2008" is a good estimate, unless you're a major player...

[Reply #5 on:]

I hate that about the chips. There is no way to easily compare them.
You have to dive in to the datasheet for each and compare individual figures until you find whats different.

A Atmel chip comparison page would be invaluable.

This page is pretty good... http://www.avrfreaks.net/index.php?module=Freaks%20Devices&func=viewDev

It doesn't provide chip-to-chip comparison, but you have all the features listed in a single page for each chip.

[Reply #6 on:]

A Atmel chip comparison page would be invaluable.

This?

[Reply #7 on:]

A combination of both those pages would probably be the best.
Neither is ideal by them selves.

[Reply #8 on:]

yum! samples just arrived for me

[Reply #9 on:]

Oh sure!  Rub it in our faces!!  

[Reply #10 on:]

Heh.  I've never felt motivated to try to get samples out of Atmel, but it's nice to know that people who deserve them DO get them!

[Reply #11 on:]

I had to talk to an Atmel Sales rep anyway, who confirmed the Atmega328 is expected in production quantities for 2008 Q3 (so only a little later than LadyAda's ball-parking).

[Reply #12 on:]

Any news to know if it's compatible with the 168 ?

[Reply #13 on:]

It took us about 5 hours to modify and test a code move from the Atmega168 to Atmega328P for another project; 4.5 hours of that was testing. We really just chose the '328 in AVRStudio, make'd, and I think we had to change one memory constant.

If you're not using the picopower bits (which the Arduino isn't), it's really just a 168 with more flash, ram, and eeprom.
I expect the Arduino code would require a modified bootloader (IIRC the bootloader address moved to the new top of ram location) and a new chip definition to use all the extra memory.

Testing the 328 with Arduino is on my todo list, it's just not at the top yet  :-/

[Reply #14 on:]

ive ported the bootloader, seems fine...but until they're available for purchase it aint much use