Mixed Signal Microcontrollers - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: Hiemal
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2025, 07:52:46 pm
content: Is ST going to come out with any new mixed signal microcontrollers anytime soon... They're getting a lot of competition from other companies.Gigadevices has the GD32G553.https://www.gigadevice.com/product/mcu/high-performance-mcus/gd32g5xx-seriesARM Core M33, clocked at 216 MHz, has a SLEW of incredibly useful DSP related peripherals (there's an FFT coprocessor?!) configurable logic, and fast ADCs. HRTimer @ 145 ps resolution.Microchip with the new dsPIC33AK series.Not ARM based, Microchip uses their own proprietary core clocked at 200 MHz, double and single precison FPU, 5 ADCs that can (supposedly) churn out 40 MSPS each. HRTimer @ 86 ps resolution.Nuvoton with KM1M7xx series.https://www.nuvoton.com/products/microcontrollers/arm-cortex-m7-mcus/Core M7 clocked in at 160 MHz. Double and single precision FPU. 5 MSPS ADCs. HRTimer @ 208 ps. This is probably the most comparable to the STM32G474.Infineon with their new PSOC Control C3M serieshttps://www.infineon.com/products/microcontroller/32-bit-psoc-arm-cortex/32-bit-psoc-control-arm-cortex-m33-mcu/psoc-control-c3mCore M33 clocked at 180 MHz. Single 12 MSPS ADC. HRTimer @ 80 ps resolution.Geehy, with their GD32R501 series.https://geehy.com/product/fifth/g32r501DUAL Core M52 @ 250 MHz, Arm HELIUM, 3 3.45 MSPS ADCs, flexible logic blocks, and HRTimer @ 150 ps resolution.And of course the various offerings from TI in their C2000 series.The G474 came out in 2019; I'd really love for them to show that there's SOMETHING in the works that's updated...I'm going to be learning how to use the dsPIC33AK because that ADC speed is insane for what you pay for, but I'm not overly looking forward to it because I'll have to learn a new toolchain, dev environment, and documentation style compared to ST's, which I feel quite comfortable with.

author: PCB.Wiz
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 14, 2025, 11:32:24 pm
content: There is also AT32F435/7 from ARTERY, claims 288MHz on the timers.12b DAC, 5.33Msps ADC, but I'm not sure it has high resolution PWM?What would be nice is high resolutioncapture

author: uer166
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2025, 05:52:42 am
content: Quote from: PCB.Wiz on July 14, 2025, 11:32:24 pmYeah the base clock is more important than the "HR" resolution, capture or not. I use the ST HRTimers because of flexibility, not because of the analog delay line crap.If they made a Cortex-M55 with timer/ADC bus running at 400MHz that would be unstoppable!

author: NorthGuy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2025, 02:45:22 pm
content: Quote from: Hiemal on July 14, 2025, 07:52:46 pmNot a MIPS core. Microchip use their own core.

author: Hiemal
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2025, 04:35:03 pm
content: Ah, thank you. I'm not sure where I thought I read it was MIPS based.I updated the original post.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 15, 2025, 04:37:01 pm
content: The MIPS cores are only for the PIC32 line.

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2025, 12:34:18 am
content: During the virus thing a few years ago I was looking at the "STSPIN" uC's from ST. These things had a lot of integration specifically for motor controllers. Included in the STSPIN32F0 is:SMPS circuit for the uC voltage, max input was 45V or so, just add inductor and chicken fodder.Opamps for amplifying shunt resistor voltages.FET drivers (600mA Source / Sink).Bootstrap diodes12V LDO for the FET drivers.

author: uer166
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2025, 06:01:56 pm
content: Quote from: Doctorandus_P on July 16, 2025, 12:34:18 amToo bad they're tailored for BLDC where the frequencies and control loops are much slower than even modest DSMPS by 10x.. I would love something like that but with a higher base clock.

author: hans
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 16, 2025, 06:22:11 pm
content: There is also the STSPIN32G4. 170MHz M4 + FPU, 2x 12-bit ADC 4MSPS, 4x 12-bit DAC, Unfortunately it integrates the G431 chip, not the one with HR timers.I designed a three phase low-voltage motor driver board a few months back, and I opted for seperate MCU and driver instead. I figured that I'd rather have that flexibility (yet have higher driver integration) than optimize BOM count, cost or size..I ended up picking the STM32H725 which drives 3 motors (which is still more CPU horsepower than a single G4).

author: Doctorandus_P
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: July 17, 2025, 09:40:40 pm
content: Quote from: uer166 on July 16, 2025, 06:01:56 pmYes, but I've also seen some designed for multi phase power supplies, and those tend to have the high resolution timers.I'd guess that the market for uC's is pretty much saturated. How much combinations of timers, uarts, SPI channels and flash / RAM size can you make? ST allone claims to have over 3000 variants, which seems quite silly to me. Apparently there are quite a lot of dies that are used for multiple IC's. Then you get IC's with twice as much flash as stated in the datasheet, and when enough of them are being sold, they create a new set of masks to make more chips, but with only the specified amount of FLASH.But for the rest. In the last few years all sorts of extra's are being added to uC's. From small programmable logic blocks to bigger FPGA blocks, state machines such as with the RP2040, analog circuits such as opamps and PGA's. Dual core uC's are also becoming more common. I don't really keep up to date with what's happening in the market, but I'm still sort of curious what other manufacturers are doing too.