PSoC 4 BLE: One-Chip Solution for the IoT - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2014, 04:25:29 pm
content: We at Cypress wanted to share our latest device for the IoT with the EEVblog community - presenting the PSoC 4 BLE!PSoC 4 BLE is a single-chip SoC that integrates the following:- ARM Cortex-M0 CPU up to 48 MHz- 256/32Kb, 128/16Kb Flash/SRAM (128Kb sampling now, 256Kb coming soon)- 2.4 GHz Bluetooth Low Energy Radio with Integrated Balun- 4 x Opamps (operational in Deep-Sleep Mode)- 2 x Comparators (operational in Deep-Sleep Mode)- 1 x SAR ADC 12bit, 1-Msps with 8-ch Sequencer- 1 x CapSense CSD block for touch-sensing- 4 x TCPWM (Timer/Counter/PWM) blocks- 2 x SCB (Serial Communication UART/SPI/I2C) block- 4 x UDB (Universal Digital Blocks, PLD-based programmable logic) blocks- 1 x Segment LCD block- 36 GPIO- Five low-power modes (Active, Sleep, Deep-Sleep, Hibernate, Stop Modes)A lot more information, including device datasheets, dev kits, and the related software tools for Cypress's new Bluetooth Low Energy solutions can be found here:www.cypress.com/BLEWe'd be happy to answer any questions about the new BLE chips, or anything PSoC in general!

author: Rory
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2014, 04:43:41 pm
content: This is a good step forward.When can we expect Wifi?

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 12, 2014, 05:30:33 pm
content: There isn't a PSoC with WiFi integrated today, but the PSoC platform is rapidly growing!Cypress's current focus with its ARM Cortex-M microcontroller-based PSoC products is on real-time, low-power applications for the IoT. This includes the ability to sense and control a variety of mixed-signal circuits with high accuracy and low latency.Bluetooth Low Energy today has several benefits over WiFi in terms of radio power consumption, connection latency and others, allowing for 'always-on' smart devices to run off small batteries while seamlessly embedding into the everyday physical objects around us, bringing them a step closer to the internet of Things.BLE's low power consumption has tradeoffs as well, the most obvious being datarate and throughput. By coupling the BLE radio with a Cortex-M0 processor, and adding the flexible programmable analog and digital blocks, PSoC 4 BLE aim to provide the right combination of processing horsepower and current consumption, with flexible and accurate sensor-interfaces. WiFi is very well suited for higher-end processors like the Cortex-M3, M4 and the newer -M7, and we will consider it. The PSoC platform is on an expansion curve. We now have 4 different processor architectures ranging from 8-bit 8081s to 32-bit Cortex-M3s. We update our product roadmaps frequently (http://www.cypress.com/events/?event=productroadmaps), and try to keep everyone informed of our plans for the near future!Edited for formatting

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 02:57:31 am
content: A lot of people are going to be happy with the external xtal one for the High frequency 24MHz and one for low frequency 32.768KHzHmm $50 for the dev kit with a PSoC and a PRoCand two other separate kit one for a remote and one more for a mouse with trackpads both and those last two with miniprog3, you are killing me well my wife willIf only you did develop a USB component for the PSoC4, instead of only available for the 3 and 5LP.Now to decide what to get, limited time bundle get 3 for the price of 2 would be awesome but probably is asking too much

author: nuno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 03:06:52 am
content: Quote from: miguelvpIf it's done in sw on AVRs running at 12MHz (low speed USB), I'm sure this can easilly be pulled from a PSoC4

author: true
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:45:06 am
content: Quote from: nuno on November 13, 2014, 03:06:52 amHe didn't say he wanted a total hackjob with a viral license. He wants a USB component. I second this.I am a bit mixed to disappointed in the announcement. Hopefully this IoT buzzword will die faster than others. My designs don't need Bluetooth right now, and when they will, I need more than this product provides. I was hoping for something else entirely to be announced, and your roadmap only shows NDA and development/concept or nothing for the parts I am interested in (analog PSoC4, improved digital PSoC4 and more flash, not a nearly hopeless PSoC4000). You haven't said any more than what the roadmap says that I can find, so no idea if any of it will be helpful in my designs.Hopefully others are more excited about this product than I am.

author: Laurynas
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 12:36:21 pm
content: Nice to have a Cypress representative hereThe most disappointing thing for me is amateur unfriendly packages.Please consider selling inexpensive prototype kits similar to current 4200/4100 kits, but as small as practical.

author: diyaudio
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 02:42:27 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 12, 2014, 04:25:29 pmPlease send Dave sample dev kits for the show, so we can see it action.

author: Spikee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 05:32:32 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvpCypress rep @ electronica told me it's coming, will take some time tho ...But Psoc 5LP are so cheap now (went down in price dramatically) that you might aswell go for that if you need it anytime soon.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:12:58 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvp on November 13, 2014, 02:57:31 amGlad we could get you to bother your wife with a shopping listWe do not have USB on PSoC 4 available today. However, we just dropped prices on Cortex-M3 based PSoC 5LP, which has USB, CAN, DFB, DelSigADC, so much more!USB is a core competency of Cypress technology, we have USB in several of our products. Contact your local Cypress Sales for information about the future PSoC 4 roadmap, they'll have more information to share with you under NDA around a PSoC 4 with USB.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:18:47 pm
content: Quote from: true on November 13, 2014, 07:45:06 amThe PSoC 4 platform is expanding rapidly! The focus of this release was to address the low-power wireless sensor demand from our customers, and BLE is the de facto choice for that. The next couple PSoC 4's planned are much moreanalogfocused. We have only scratched the surface of what the Continuous Time Blocks on PSoC 4 can be capable of. Lots more analog in the works!The PSoC 4000, while very light on features, hits a sweet spot between price/performance for a Cortex-M0 with really good CapSense, thats also extremely low-cost.Thanks for the great feedback! If you contact your local Cypress sale rep, they'll be glad to share more information with you.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:26:07 pm
content: Quote from: Laurynas on November 13, 2014, 12:36:21 pmWhy, Hello to you too!The two Modules (for PSoC 4 BLE or PRoC BLE) that are included as part of the $49 dev kit, will soon be available for purchase separately.Those modules are fully self-contained systems that include - the main chip with all IOs exposed, a tuned PCB antenna, power circuitry and easy access to programming pins. These are pretty small in size for a dev kit (27x43mm) and will becheap, we're shooting for < $10 each for these boards. Hook up some sensors, LEDs, and a coin-cell battery - and you have your complete BLE + Analog/Digital Sensing system ready to go! Did I mention these modules are also FCC-certified so you can sell them as your end product too?Image of the PSoC 4 BLE Development Module:

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:31:10 pm
content: Quote from: Spikee on November 13, 2014, 05:32:32 pmGlad you were able to meet us at Electronica. Did you get your free dev kit??

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:37:03 pm
content: Quote from: diyaudio on November 13, 2014, 02:42:27 pmWe'll send one to Dave, yes! Last time we met, he waswriting a book

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:40:19 pm
content: Wrong Dave, here is the only book he wrote:http://www.amazon.com/The-Internet-Dating-David-Jones-ebook/dp/B004MDLVAOYou want to send it to Dave Jones the owner of this blog & forum:www.eevblog.comhttps://www.youtube.com/user/EEVblog/videos

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 07:49:08 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvp on November 13, 2014, 07:40:19 pmHa! that miscommunication got a chuckle out of us, especially the bookWe'll get in touch withDaveand send him a copy of the dev kit, thanks for the tip!

author: ctz
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 09:41:47 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 13, 2014, 07:26:07 pmthis is really interesting. how soon is soon?

author: paulie
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 10:08:43 pm
content: On the topic of wishful thinking, in addition to allowing even low end devices like PSOC4 to run with a crystal, it would be nice if cheap dev boards (ie not $50-$100) had a real programmer instead of usb/serial adapter that don't work half the time. Or at least a functional serial bootlaoder. You know, like NXP, STM, and 3rd party clones.

author: Spikee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 11:37:26 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 13, 2014, 07:31:10 pmFree kit where ? , sadly i was not offered one except those small psoc 4200/4300 boards but I already have loads of those.I might as well order one but with shipping and the "long" wait times I cant incorporate the chip in my latest design...Quote from: paulie on November 13, 2014, 10:08:43 pmWhile the Miniprog 3 cost some money it is certainly worth it. And when you don't need it need it anymore you can get most of the money back by selling it on ebay.And if you are really committed you can build your own as the designs and the hex file (maybe also code?) is available at Cypress.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 13, 2014, 11:50:16 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 12, 2014, 04:25:29 pmOk, I'll bite.When is Cypress going to support a *native* Linux PSOC development environment?

author: Spikee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 12:00:03 am
content: Quote from: MarkL on November 13, 2014, 11:50:16 pmNever unless they port their framework to something else than .net (or whatever they are using).But a VM will make it possible for you to use. And if you are really determined you could make a diy version of it in QT to make it cross platform compatible .... but that is quite a lot of work compared to just running it in an VM.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 12:04:44 am
content: Once you export the project to keil or eclipse you can keep on developing in whatever you want.PSoC Creator support for Linux? probably never, but the compiler and deployment can be done from anywhere if you know how to do it.You can even use an MCU to program the PSoC if you follow the programming requirements.Edit: once you have the hex file you can just use python and one of those $4 prototype boards to program a PSoC:https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/psoc-examples/msg522556/#msg522556Full info (but windows based):https://www.eevblog.com/forum/microcontrollers/psoc-examples/msg522554/#msg522554But once you have the prototype board configured you can use any OS to program a chip via python on any OS you choose.Edit 2: Keil uVision has support for Cypress PSoC chips, not sure if their Linux version supports them as well, and it even supports the miniprog 3 if you have the drivers for windows, I know you can program the PSoC chips with some other programmers but you will have to lookup the details

author: Spikee
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 12:10:47 am
content: And if you really don't want to pay the reasonable amount for the MiniProg3 you could just buy an cheap JTAG programmer on ebay and use that to program the chip.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 12:15:49 am
content: Quote from: Spikee on November 14, 2014, 12:10:47 amActually the MiniProg3 is included in the remote controller BLE devkit for $50 and also in the mouse Ble dev kit as well for $50, so tempted, it's worth it just for the MiniProg instead of having to use my modified kitprog running in a pioneer.But all that said, It would be interesting to hear from Cypress what plans they have for Linux or other OS's as MarkL asked.

author: Rory
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 01:34:28 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on November 14, 2014, 12:15:49 amThat is a pretty good deal in these kits, the miniprog3 lists alone for $89!

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 02:20:35 am
content: Quote from: ctz on November 13, 2014, 09:41:47 pmThe dev kits are available for order already.The separate modules should be available for order next month.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 02:22:27 am
content: Quote from: paulie on November 13, 2014, 10:08:43 pmthanks for the feedback, and point taken.we understand that the community likes the low-cost board, but wants a real programmer on those - we'll factor that in for our next kits.we're also try to fix the whole programming issue by developing a low-cost programmer, you know, fix that $89 miniProg3.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 02:24:55 am
content: Quote from: MarkL on November 13, 2014, 11:50:16 pmSadly, native Linux is probably not going to happen with PSoC Creator in the near-med future. The tradeoff between adding new features to the current toolset vs porting to another platform is keeping our hands tied on the former. We've got our kind customers working-around this with VMs and other methods, as other users have mentioned.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 02:26:59 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on November 14, 2014, 12:04:44 amTHIS. For users willing to take a couple work-arounds, the path is definitely there.Now we realize this is far from optimal, but at least it lets us continue to focus on building the next generation of chips and adding more features to the current Creator IDE, while still letting users benefit from the current technology.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 02:29:24 am
content: Quote from: miguelvp on November 14, 2014, 12:15:49 amA good deal, indeed!As mentioned in other places, we're also working on developing a reduced-cost programmer so we can nip the $89 miniprog3 problem in the bud.Official line on native linux support, unfortunately, is still no at this point. We continue to focus our software resources on tool feature development.

author: nuno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 02:56:00 am
content: I think PSoC4 is a very good at its "range" and has potential to be a generic chip. There are however just a very few small things I would like to see to make it a really fantastic chip, so I'm taking the oportunity here:1) Ability to connect a crystal "directly" for system clock. Looks like the BLE already addresses this so it's promissing for further down the road. I would like, however, to not see it "crippled" to 24MHz (a configurable multiplier would be nice, quadruple the crystal clock freq even going beyhond chip limit and have a programmable divider (actually already there, if memory serves well); let people get creative).2) Add "the missing bit" to the 7-bit DAC, or better, add 2 bits to each DAC.3) Double the UDB number (4 -> 8 ).A DIP version would be nice but not essential; these days even an hobbist can solder a 28pin SSOP.I see lots of potential for creativity on these chips, and from what I've seen around so far, I think that what can be done with them is still very under-explored. The crystal clock point above is a deal breaker to many applications. The other 2 points can double or triple the creativity potential of the chip.

author: MarkL
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 12:38:32 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 14, 2014, 02:24:55 amI've read about the VM approach, but that still requires the overhead of installing and maintaining a second operating system. And the other piecemeal proposals that have been posted still need the GUI design tools running on windows.What I'm reading between the lines in your reply is that the Linux community isn't important enough.What about support for Wine/Crossover?

author: jeremy
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 01:19:44 pm
content: This looks extremely interesting, especially for the price. Does PSoC creator support c++ yet?

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 14, 2014, 03:26:39 pm
content: Quote from: jeremy on November 14, 2014, 01:19:44 pmNever officially as far as I know but you've been able to use c++ for quite a while:http://www.mbedded.ninja/programming/microcontrollers/psoc/using-cplusplus-with-psoc-creator

author: andyturk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2014, 01:40:49 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 14, 2014, 02:29:24 amBLE + PSoC looks interesting. It's somewhat similar to the nRF51822, but with more analog capability. One issue that pops up in nRF development is that if you're running the "soft device" (what Nordic calls their BLE firmware) it basically takes over the mcu, handling all interrupts directly and then vectors off to application code for stuff it doesn't care about.The Nordic soft device consumes roughly 40% of the RAM and flash available on the silicon, not to mention a significant portion of the available cpu cycles. Once consequence is that the effective ADC sample rate is greatly reduced on the nRF when Bluetooth is active.So, how much of the M0's RAM and flash does the Cypress BLE implementation absorb, and what's the max ADC sample rate when BLE is active?

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2014, 01:47:05 pm
content: Quote from: Spikee on November 14, 2014, 12:00:03 amIf it is .net code, Microsoft opensourced .net now at the recent Connect(); conference:http://tirania.org/blog/archive/2014/Nov-12.htmlThe plans is to provde .net for Linux and OS-X, not sure yet how this will happen, if it will be the full framework, or parts.

author: nuno
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 15, 2014, 01:55:43 pm
content: Quote from: jeremy on November 14, 2014, 01:19:44 pmHow important is C++ in a device this size?

author: hli
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 16, 2014, 11:43:28 pm
content: Quote from: andyturk on November 15, 2014, 01:40:49 pmBuilding one of the simpler examples (in debug mode) gives me:Flash used: 86959 of 131072 bytes (66,3%).SRAM used: 13420 of 16384 bytes (81,9%). Stack: 2048 bytes. Heap: 1024 bytesFor release mode the flash usage goes to toFlash used: 78311 of 131072 bytes (59,7%).The RAM usage calculation is known to be sometimes too pessimistic, though. The data sheet for the BLE component gives no figure on the RAM or flash usage, as it should normally.

author: dferyance
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 17, 2014, 06:52:35 pm
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on November 13, 2014, 07:26:07 pmThe modules sound really nice, but do you know if Cypress or some other 3rd party has plans for a smaller SMT-based module? Something like the form-factor of the RFDuino or Bluegiga modules? RFDuino has a cool design of using a SMT module but also mounting it to a DIP breakout.My BLE dev-kit is due to arrive tomorrow and I am looking forward to it. I do a lot with both PSoc and BLE, it makes sense to finally combine the two in one chip.I am glad Cypress has listened to concerns over the MiniProg3 price. If it wasn't for your cheap bootloadable 4200 modules I wouldn't have ever evaluated PSoc. I now have the MiniProg3 and it is a great little programmer but I wouldn't have started with it. That really is the only thing in the way of people trying out your platform. Otherwise, you have a great selection of dev-kits and a free IDE. A while back I tried out the STM32 and was surprised at how much harder it was to get going compared to PSoc.

author: vvanders
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2014, 03:19:44 am
content: Got my kit today and would love to play around with it, however the directions on upgrading the firmware are quite crap.Plugged in the dongle and CySmart said firmware was out of date. Guess I made the mistake of upgrading the firmware default button on PSoC programmer because now I can't get CySmart to recognize anything. Anyone hit something similar?

author: vvanders
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 21, 2014, 03:25:01 am
content: Scratch that, got it back by putting it in "service mode" and then uploading firmware via bootloader host tool. Directions are buried in page 113 of the User guide for those interested.

author: vvanders
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2014, 05:11:35 am
content: Yeah, running the latest firmware, no errors just failed to enumerate in CySmart.

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2014, 11:10:28 am
content: Got this kit today, what is the difference between Proc BLE and Psoc BLE?, the pioneer board itself now have only and 5LP, I wonder if that is wired up differently than the previous Pioneer kits so one can use the 5LP directly?, or is everything wired up directly to the sub-modules, so all headers on the pioneer comes from those?

author: hli
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: November 22, 2014, 11:40:26 pm
content: Quote from: neslekkim on November 22, 2014, 11:10:28 amThe PRoC BLE is the cheaper and less-capable brother of the PSoC. Its missing the UDBs and some of the analog stuff (e.g. no OpAmps IIRC). Its intended for devices that don't need all the advanced capabiolities but are price sensitive (the example given by Cypress are wireless mouse and remote controls). OTOH it comes with pre-defined components for such solutions, so there should be less programming involved (did not try that though).Quote from: neslekkim on November 22, 2014, 11:10:28 amYou can always look up the schematics if you want, they are in the user guide. AFAICS the PSoC5 still acts as programmed, and probably comes with a boot loader. All external headers should be routed from the modules.

author: Evi
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 22, 2015, 10:58:55 am
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on 14 November 2014, 00:26:07Quote>The dev kits are available for order already.The separate modules should be available for order next month.It is very interesting, but yet none available. Would you be kind to keep us informed as the modules will be available?

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2015, 07:21:38 am
content: Well,The CY5672 PRoC™ BLE Remote Control Reference Design Kit (RDK)http://www.cypress.com/?rID=102638and the CY5682 PRoC™ BLE Touch Mouse Reference Design Kit (RDK)http://www.cypress.com/?rID=102637Lost their list price (was $49 I believe) and included a miniprog 3.Also waiting in news about the CY8CKIT-059 PSoC® 5LP Prototyping Kithttp://www.cypress.com/?rid=108038At least that one still shows the price at $10.I wonder if the disappearance of the price means they are going to charge more for those two PRoC kits that include the MiniProg3

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2015, 08:19:52 am
content: And as soon as I typed that, now they have pre-orders on the CY8CKIT-059 PSoC® 5LP Prototyping Kithttp://www.cypress.com/?rid=108038So I pre-ordered 4 of themToo bad that they only use FedEx so the minimum shipping was $12 within the US. Still happy to pay for that.I do however still would like to get my hands on the CY5672 PRoC™ BLE Remote Control Reference Design Kit (RDK)http://www.cypress.com/?rID=102638

author: neslekkim
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: March 07, 2015, 02:01:47 pm
content: Quote from: miguelvp on March 07, 2015, 08:19:52 amChecked now, and I have to pay $25 for shipping, last time when I ordered those -49 sticks, it was $15 for 4..Hope it will show up at Farnell soon..

author: ez24
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: April 06, 2016, 07:54:15 am
content: Any updates to any of this ? Interesting readingthanks