Introducing PSoC 4 L-Series: Now with 256kb Flash, and twice the analog and digi - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 04:37:22 pm
content: The new PSoC 4 L-Series expands the ARM Cortex-M0 based portfolio with even more integrated peripherals. Highlights include:- 48MHz ARM Cortex-M0 with 256kb Flash/32kb SRAM- DMA Controller- Upto 98 GPIOs- USB FS2.0 Peripheral- 2 x CapSense blocks- 4 x Opamps- 2 x Comparators- 1 x 12-bit SAR ADC- 8 x Universal Digital Blocks- 8 x Timer/Counter/PWM Blocks- 4 x Serial Comm. Blocks- 2 x CAN 2.0 controllers- 1.71 - 5.5 V operationThere's also an exciting new development board for this chip, the L-Series Pioneer Kit which features the world's first DUAL-ARDUINO-SHIELD board. Take advantage of those 98 GPIOs! More here:http://www.cypress.com/documentation/development-kitsboards/cy8ckit-046-psoc-4-l-series-pioneer-kit(in stock next week)The new L-Series devices are supported in the latest PSoC Creator release, available for download here:www.cypress.com/PSoCCreator

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 06:07:31 pm
content: So... why are there so many new chips using the M0 and M0+ cores these days? Does it have particularly favorable licensing or something? It's sort of an ugly core; I'd much rather have an M3 or M4 core by the time I get to 256k flash...

author: autobot
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 06:59:36 pm
content: CypressPsoc - will we see something like the L family(analog/digital peripherial rich) coming with bluetooth ? that would be very interesting.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 07:07:04 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on January 25, 2016, 06:07:31 pm5LP (Cortex M3) uses 15.5mA in active mode at 48MHz4L (Cortex M0) uses less power at 12.8mA in active mode at 48MHz.Pricing is another factor, M0's are way cheaper.For some applications the M0 is more than plenty at a reduced price.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 07:38:32 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on January 25, 2016, 06:07:31 pmThe ARM Cortex-M0 cores provide a good combination of the 3Ps - performance, power, and price.Cypress does also have CM3 (PSoC 5LP) and CM4 (FM4) cores in other products for higher processing performance - depends on what you'd need for your application.A lot of designs just need the extra Flash and don't warrant a higher-power/performance core, hence the options available. Especially with the programmable hardware peripherals around PSoC, the dependency on the core is reduced with a lot of functions offloaded to hardware peripherals.

author: richardman
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 07:39:47 pm
content: If a vendor wants to compete in a market segment where 8/16 bit chips are strong, then M0/M0+ are compelling because the pricing can be much lower. OTOH, if you are looking at 64K or up, then the pricing for 64K+ AVR are high and in that case, M3/M4 start to make more sense.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 07:44:22 pm
content: Quote from: autobot on January 25, 2016, 06:59:36 pmNot specifically on the L-family, but we've got new Bluetooth products on the roadmap for this year.. stay tuned for public announcements shortly!Ever since we first made the PSoC 4 BLE, we've introduced new variants every quarter since (PSoC 4 BLE 128k, PSoC 4 BLE 256k, PSoC 4 BLE thin-CSP, PSoC 4 BLE 4.2, etc...)more atwww.cypress.com/BLE

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 07:46:47 pm
content: Quote from: richardman on January 25, 2016, 07:39:47 pmjust as an FYI - we recently also introduced a Cortex-M0+ MCU with up to 560kb Flash! Perfect for those times where you just need the extra memory headroom but do not want to pay for a CM3/4 core.

author: nctnico
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 09:33:28 pm
content: How much RAM? Large flash doesn't do much inless there is also lots of RAM.

author: poorchava
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 09:57:12 pm
content: I can't really agree with that. There are projects which don't need much processing power as such, but have very convoluted UI or other thing that needs a lot of raw data.Sent from my HTC One M8s using Tapatalk.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 25, 2016, 10:04:09 pm
content: Quote from: nctnico on January 25, 2016, 09:33:28 pm256kb Flash / 32kb SRAMa majority of our chips have an 8:1 Flash:SRAM ratio (some exceptions of course)

author: Harvs
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 08:08:28 pm
content: Is there a public timeline on when they'll be available? Both dev boards and reels of parts. I can find anything on the cypress site.

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 10:04:17 pm
content: Quote from: westfw on January 25, 2016, 06:07:31 pmM0 now is royalty free, you need to pay 40K one time license. I actually think M3 doesnt really make much sense anymore, becuase of the M4F is getting so cheap, and you are paying for the peripherals and memory anyway. I made a quick lookup, and there was 4% difference at a unnamed Italian-French manufacturer's M3 and M4 otherwise identical micro.That being said, I think I will find a good reason to try the PSOC at work.

author: Muxr
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 28, 2016, 11:03:03 pm
content: M0 is the most interesting part to me. Most of the stuff I use it for could be done with an 8 bit micro, so M0 offers much more capability than I need already. It's cheap and versatile. Like the ultra low power versions for battery applications.

author: andyturk
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2016, 03:11:01 am
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on January 28, 2016, 10:04:17 pmWow! Really?Smart move by ARM. That'll go a long way towards dislodging the 8051 as the least common denominator architecture.

author: CypressPSoC
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2016, 04:46:20 am
content: Quote from: Harvs on January 28, 2016, 08:08:28 pmthe development boards should be available online next week.the part reels should be available online in the next 4 weeks.

author: autobot
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2016, 02:59:59 pm
content: >> the part reels should be available online in the next 4 weeks.Great!Any info about pricing, even rough info ?

author: tszaboo
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2016, 10:39:46 pm
content: Quote from: andyturk on January 29, 2016, 03:11:01 amI agree. I hate to see all these wierd 8 bit architectures, including the 8051, being used. I hope at some point all these wireless SOCs, and ASICs finally can include something sensible.

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 29, 2016, 10:57:21 pm
content: Quote from: NANDBlog on January 29, 2016, 10:39:46 pmHow about MIPS32 on this little $11 gadget running linux:http://hackaday.com/2016/01/27/cheap-wifi-devices-are-hardware-hacker-gold/Got one on the way.

author: dannyf
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2016, 12:45:41 am
content: QuoteFor this application, the mcu mostly configures the onboard cpld and direct traffic after that. Not much else is needed.

author: Corporate666
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 30, 2016, 01:03:28 am
content: Quote from: CypressPSoC on January 25, 2016, 07:46:47 pmWhat part are you referring to with 560k flash? I looked at the Cypress website and didn't see anything under PSoC4 or PSoC4BLE chips - they all topped out at 256k. Didn't see anything under PSoC5 either. Very curious to check out this chip

author: miguelvp
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2016, 01:14:50 am
content: That would be their FM serieshttp://www.cypress.com/products/fm0-s6e1b-series-arm-cortex-m0-ultra-low-power-mcu

author: Neganur
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: January 30, 2016, 05:39:25 am
content: Seems the FM has been "coming soon" for a while now. Hopefully it won't take this long for the 4L to show up in the shop.

author: westfw
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: January 30, 2016, 01:25:31 pm
content: BTW: I'll admit to being very happy to see M0 part with more flash. When the early PSoC4 chips came out, I was really worried about their small flash sizes.