So, what are the chances that Atmel will bring out an ATmega648 or ATmega1288. Direct drop-in replacements for the 328 and it's kin with 64K or 128K of flash. Doubling up on the other memory resources would also be cool.
I have a few existing projects that I can no longer expand because of program space limits with the 328. My only solution as it is is to re-build them with a larger chip. Not something I'm looking forward to.
Have Atmel ever expressed any appetite for this concept?
Could make a 40-pin to 28-pin adapter and plug in a 1284 chip for 4x memory expansion.
That might actually work for one case, but not the rest. Not sure it would be worth the trouble for the one where it would work though. We'll give it some thought, thanks.
Can't believe though that others would not be interested in this. I half expected there would a big response. After all, there must be multiple millions of Arduinos and compatibles out there. That woudl reason enough for Atmel to consider adding the chip to their line-up. However, if no one sees the need, that explains the lack of an ATmega648 I guess.
They aren't going to make one just for little ol' me.
I design in 1284Ps a lot often for 2nd serial port and often for more IO without having to resort to more chips (shift registers, etc).
128K memory & 16K SRAM has been way more than enough for me.
http://www.crossroadsfencing.com/BobuinoRev17/
This is an example - needed 2 serial (RS232 & USB) and 18 relays (when started, later scaled back a little)
1284P fit the bill perfectly. '324 might have been enough even. I wrote enough code to show that everything worked, don't know how big the code ended up in the end.
Could do it as surface mount adapter to make it smaller too. Use two rows of surface mount adapters on the bottom of the card to meet the 328 footprint, the 7mmx7mm leadless part would fit in the width of a 328DIP, is much smaller than the 12mm x 12mm TQFD part.
Couple of 5mm x 5mm packages too, too small for me!
Have Atmel ever expressed any appetite for this concept?
The customers have to express. Simply issue an order for ie. 5million pieces of it and you will get it within a few months..
