PROP II Arrival ???

swampie777

When is the PROP II expected ( nearest guess) to appear?


Thanks,

Swampie777

Ale

Not again ! :-(

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Leon

Perhaps someone should organise a sweepstake.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Microcontrolled

At UPENE in August Chip sayed that it would be at least a year from then, but he sayed that he sayed the same thing last year.....

They say "Not again!" because there is always at least one of these threads on the top page.

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Mike Green

The general answer is "When it's ready". That's it. Parallax does not provide estimates or projections for new products. If you really want a guess, try "tomorrow" or "Christmas, 2012". They're both equally valid.

Post Edited (Mike Green) : 11/16/2009 6:21:39 PM GMT

StefanL38

As swampie did "only" 26 postings I'm pretty sure that the last discussion about PropII-releasedate was BEFORE
swampie joined the forum.

Chip discussed with the forum about the features of the PropII-Chip. But Parallax keeps on saying: it wil come when it's done
Parallax NEVER metnioned any release-date. There is NO serious release-date only rumors.

If you think about that the development of the Prop I took eight years. It will take some more time.
What I like about the propeller is that there has NEVER been detected a hardware-bug (like in most other microcontrollers)

So Parallax has the philosophy it is done when it is 101% bugfree. And this takes time. Enjoy the prop I or use a buggy ARM-core or whatever you like
(because the bugs look sooo nice and sweeet) )

best regards

Stefan

swampie777

Thanks for the kindness, Stefan. You're right, I am a late-comer to the Prop scene.

ErNa

But: there is hope. As Ken? posted: he will present features at Elektor event, features will be frozen that time. That gives hope.

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lonesock

Mike Green said...
The general answer is "When it's ready". That's it. Parallax does not provide estimates or projections for new products. If you really want a guess, try "tomorrow" or "Christmas, 2012". They're both equally valid.

In that case I guess "Wednesday", as I should have a 1 in 7 chance of being right. Or 1 in 5, assuming they won't release on a weekend.

[noparse][[/noparse]8^)

Jonathan

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lonesock
Piranha are people too.

JRetSapDoog

Funny that you should bring up this ever-popular topic, Swampie. I just saw a reference to it on an advance copy of a Fry's Electronics flyer...NOT. Seriously, though, while Parallax hasn't made any specific announcements about availability (as far as I am aware), they did mention that we're due for a "final" list of specifications sometime during the middle half of this month, if I recall correctly (couldn't find the link, but I believe it corresponds to a Parallax meet-up of some sort (Elektor?)). And such specifications would encourage the faithful. On the other hand, maybe they've recanted and decided that that would tip their hand to the competition, but I'm not sure that there is any competition for a user-friendly MPU as the order of the day seems to be ever-increasing complexity. Anyway, about "our" expectations, I don't think many here are expecting the Prop II to see the light of day before July or so of 2010 (and that is not an official timeframe, mind you). Parallax's Ken Gracey did muse that the UPEW meet-up at Parallax in late June of next year would be a great time to release (or announce) the Prop II, but he was seemingly just speculating on the fly. However, he's normally pretty conservative about the Prop II, so that could be a sign of significant progress being made. He has also "jested" recently about keeping Chip as free as possible to do Prop II design, which also seems like he's getting more confident (if one reads the tea leaves a certain way in a certain light under medication). And, recently, he was in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which is a bit too high-tech for just a PC board supplier. Perhaps it's a bit like foretelling the Second Coming and looking for signs. It's likely that there would be some tell-tale signs due to human nature (you know, like an IPO announcement, lol). Speaking of human nature, it's human nature to speculate, as well. Anyway, as has been said before, it would be kind of nice to get the pin-out or package specifics well in advance of the release. As for me, I'm just hoping to get that list of functional specs sometime soon (though we've been treated to quite a few already), perhaps with some bootup details.· Potentially relavant link:· Tentative dates for UPEW/UPENE.··

Post Edited (JRetSapDoog) : 11/16/2009 7:06:11 PM GMT

Leon

I don't think that there have ever been bugs in any released ARM core. Bugs in the peripherals are another matter, they tend to be quite common. XMOS chips appear to be bug-free, quite an achievement for devices that were designed from scratch by a very small team in two years.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Post Edited (Leon) : 11/16/2009 6:58:17 PM GMT

Mike Huselton

Leon,

I give in! What do you suggest as an XMOS development setup? Sparkfun? 4-core or 1-core?

XMOS & Prop & ARM might be a killer combo. I have 10 Prop Proto boards and 3 ARM Coridium boards. Or my brain might explode

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JMH

Post Edited (James Michael Huselton) : 11/16/2009 8:36:53 PM GMT

Leon

The four-core XMOS XC-1 is nice and easy to use, but doesn't have any flash memory. The XC-2 has a four-core device and Ethernet connectivity. The XK-1 is nice for robotics and distributed processing. The SFE board has room for a DIL Propeller on the prototyping area, which would keep Parallax happy, but it has a couple of problems. It might make more sense than combining a Propeller and FPGA, as someone is doing, as the XMOS chip can replace an FPGA in many applications. One or two cogs could be programmed as XMOS link engines.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Mike Huselton

Leon,

That was my thinking - use the Prop for video, comms, etc. and make the XMOS a high-speed experimental area. XMOS tools are free and I am inspired by Andre's Chameleon work.

I don't want to hijack this thread, so I may PM or email you to carry on this discussion.

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JMH

Cluso99

There have been a lot of software developments on the Prop I this year. The Prop I features certainly have not been fully exploited yet.

The Prop II, when it arrives, will not be a replacement to the Prop I. It is a different chip, far more powerful but uses a lot more power.

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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)
· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm

Luis Digital

XMOS has a good chip: 400MIPS x $7.50

That rivals the Propeller I also have other versions that would compete with the Propeller II, but they lack something, like magic.

Parallax should give some new information on the Propeller II (on Christmas or New Year) because it is a relief for those of us waiting for years.

Meanwhile other companies such as FriendlyARM are becoming increasingly popular. No doubt they have a good product.

Meanwhile I will use two Propeller for my next project.

pacman

my prediction for the prop II..

It will be predominately 'almost' black in colour and be released on a day with a 'y' in it's name...

and then when my predictions become true I'll sue Parallax for a chip a week for a year....

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=================
The future is in our hands.
Which way to the future?
=================

Post Edited (pacman) : 11/17/2009 9:00:12 PM GMT

Unknown

Luis Digital said...
XMOS has a good chip: 400MIPS x $7.50

Their development kit is $1,000 and their cheapest development board is $99.· I wouldn't know where to get started.

Leon

SparkFun has a $50 XMOS XS1-L1-64 board, but you need a $50 XTAG-2 to go with it.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Post Edited (Leon) : 11/17/2009 10:23:16 PM GMT

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Okay, so how did yet another Propeller thread get hijacked to be about the XMOS? I'm sure there must be a venue for that.

-Phil

Baggers

Leon, are the XMOS forums really that bad? but I guess most forums are compared to this great forum [noparse]:)[/noparse] ( Thanks ALL!! )

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http://www.propgfx.co.uk/forum/·home of the PropGFX Lite

·

Leon

I responded to this statement "Enjoy the prop I or use a buggy ARM-core or whatever you like". After pointing out that ARM cores don't have bugs I mentioned that no bugs have been found in XMOS silicon, which seemed worth saying. James should have PM'd me with his questions about XMOS, but my idea of combining a Propeller and an XMOS chip on the same board brought back some relevance to this thread.

The XMOS forums are very similar to this one, and several people like me who use both chips are active on both.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Luis Digital

I have spoken elsewhere about the Propeller, so I see no problem in talking here about other micros.

I think that by talking about another microcontroller does not make much difference.
Or some of you change your PC to a Mac that easy?
I think not.

Our conversations simply show that we love the Propeller and look forward to the new version.
I'm already saving to buy several. I hope they are cheap. xD

Leon

FWIW, Parallax aren't very keen on other chips being discussed on this forum. However, I've mentioned some aspects of the XMOS architecture here that have given them some ideas, and they have thanked me for it in a PM.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Cluso99

Leon: The fact is that everytime something is mentioned you refer to the XMOS chip. Please refrain from any more about the XMOS chip - go discuss it on the XMOS forum!

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Links to other interesting threads:

· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBlade,·RamBlade,·SixBlade, website
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: CPUs Z80 etc; Micros Altair etc;· Terminals·VT100 etc; (Index) ZiCog (Z80) , MoCog (6809)
· Search the Propeller forums·(uses advanced Google search)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm

Peter Jakacki

It is amusing though that THIS is the forum where such things get discussed

Many many years ago here in Australia we used to humorously refer to the new British immigrants as "whinging Poms" (we love em). Why? because they would proceed to tell us how much better things were back home but then this begged the question "If things were so good back home, why did you leave to come here (and stay)?"

In my experience the activity in an area of interest indicates where the area of interest is (self explanatory). This may sound dumb but it means that we shouldn't be at all worried about the "Poms whinging", as the fact that they are here in this forum says it all. All we have to say is "it's your shout for another beer mate!" and let em buy the rounds, that is, all refreshing contributions are welcome.

@Leon, maybe you should have a permanent link in your sig pointing to the XMOS site. You could have a little British flag avatar with "XMOS, the best chips in the world".
Hmm, now I'm hungry for some chips n beer.

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*Peter*

Leon

I've actually decided to interface a Propeller to an XMOS chip - putting my money where my mouth is, I suppose. I'll use SPI initially, and then try a two-wire XLink. The ultimate interface would be a five-wire XLInk, transferring a 32-bit word in one chunk. I'll design a little PCB for the QFP Propeller, that will be interfaced to an XMOS XC-1 board via a 20-way SIL header that I've already mounted on it for easy expansion, although only a few of the connections will be used. It'll make a very neat little unit. As I said earlier, this combination probably makes more sense than using an FPGA with a Propeller. It'll have about the same raw performance as the Propeller II.

Leon

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Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM

Post Edited (Leon) : 11/18/2009 3:31:07 AM GMT

waltc

I don't see why certain thin skinned posters are getting their digital knickers in a twist, if not baring fangs, over the fact that another member simply proposed including a Prop and another micro on the same board.

I'd suggest these posters grow up and realize you're talking about some frigging piece of silicon for god sakes like it was yer mom who needed protecting. They are tools nothing more. Whether they be Z-80's, AVR's, PIC's, Coldfires, they're merely means to a end. Emotional attachment to a given brand just doesn't make sense.

Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)

Walt, the depth of one's dermal tissue is secondary to the fact that Parallax is paying for the server and bandwidth for this forum; so keeping on topic is just a matter of discretion and good manners. Yet, be that as it may, Leon's intriguing proposal to combine the Prop and XMOS in a marriage of convenience to unite warring royal dynasties is a stroke of international diplomacy that bears watching. I wish him success with his endeavor to avert W.W. III!

-Phil

Mike Green

Other than the specifics of the processor, what's different about what Leon has proposed from what Andre' has just completed ... combining a PIC24 or an Atmega processor with a Prop? In one case, that includes Arduino compatibility which opens up its use in a large educational market.

Peter Jakacki

waltc, these posters have been on the forum along with Leon for quite some time so they know each other, they are friends (mostly), there's no need to insult or get indignant about any perceived injuries. I know Leon from other forums and it is a bit of a joke on this forum that if we say cheese, Leon says XMOS, if we say chalk, Leon says XMOS (don't change Leon). None of us have any problem with discussing other processors to a point, remembering this forum is not our private property, we are "guests" so we consider the host and don't go wrecking the carpet.

I think Andre was jumping on the Arduino platform perhaps with using an AVR, never my first, second, or third choice. I have used small peripheral processors with the Prop and the Prop with an ARM7 chip etc. What Leon proposes with an XMOS instead of an FPGA appeals to me as I prefer the far more flexible nature of a CPU over any configurable logic. None of us expect the Prop I to be able to handle everything, it is after all a "microcontroller" (could've fooled us).

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*Peter*