There's a whole forum about the Propeller 2. It will happen, but it's impossible to guarantee when. Some months ago, the chip mask information was sent to the fab which produced some test chips which didn't work. On examination, there were some mistakes made. In the analysis that followed, there were some excellent changes made to the chip that will result in a much more powerful and useful Propeller. You can read all about it in the Propeller 2 forum. The next fab run I think is in March for delivery of test chips a few weeks later. At that point, it all depends on how the test chips behave.
Thanks Mike,
I read over the threads but quickly found there was volumes of information that I have no time to weed through. I suppose I am inpatient.
If what you say is correct then we are looking at another year minimum. I need to find a micro and figured the prop II was going to fit my needs. Dang it.
I was afraid of this. I am going to be needing a faster, better chip than the amazing propeller. Its a tough pill to swallow but I cant wait another year and longer at least on this project.
thanks again
Last I heard the PII design was going of for a "shuttle run" (Think prototype or test run) in April next year. In the mean time the design has been undergoing heavy rework with a lot of input from forum members. We hope than shuttle run proves successful. In that case perhaps the P2 is available in eight months to a year from now. God forbid it fails, then we have no idea what happens.
In short, live for now and find an existing device you need for your project. Perhaps a P1 or two.
What are your requirements? Perhaps we can make suggestions. I hate to say it here but the XMOS multi-core micro-controllers are sort of Prop like, lots of cores, lots of I/O, tuned for real-time operation.
My project requires a footprint of 22.5 mm in radius.
It needs to contain 80 LED's, accelerometer, barometer, thermisistor, Real time clock, optical sesnor, and communications with supporting resistors etc.
I have it all squeezed onto the PCB with the propeller but the propeller is lacking I/O. Supporting hardware would be needed yet I literally have no further room on this multi-layer PCB. The silkscreen is a big hurdle as well. It must not be interfered with so most parts are on one side.
Are the 80 LED's in a circle around it?
You don't need a more powerful mcu, just a led driver/multiplexer as it would be a waste to dedicate 80 pins to 80leds.
Well, depending on how the LEDs need to be used, one possibility might be 'charlie plexing' them. I believe that would consume only 9 (or is it 10) pins, and no other chips outside of the P1. Probably enough pins left over to interface the other functions. Also, by the description offered, I presume this is a small battery powered device, and that would not likely be a fit for a P2.
The Propeller-driven LED clock on the wall - the one that I wake up to every morning - has 210 LEDs and is driven by five Prop pins and ground. Two pins (CLK and DATA) drive a shift register for column selection and the other three pins are demuxed to provide row addressing. The whole thing is refreshed 380 times per second, way below the flicker threshold of human vision. And it could easily be refreshed faster.
Thanks everyone but its more complicated than this I need speed / memory and more i/o pins I cant keep using additional hardware on this particular project.
Pulled this off a pic taken from 20' away, but it gives some idea anyway. Fiddled a lot with the font and ultimately used a 4x7 array for numerals. Perhaps the clock's most salient point is that its tic is synchronized with UTC to within some crazy small interval. The LEDs are old-fashioned GaAs.
My project requires a footprint of 22.5 mm in radius.
It needs to contain 80 LED's, accelerometer, barometer, thermisistor, Real time clock, optical sesnor, and communications with supporting resistors etc.
I have it all squeezed onto the PCB with the propeller but the propeller is lacking I/O.
What do the 80 LEDs need to do ? - IO is not usually the limit on Drive of LEDs, unless you want to avoid multiplex for some rare reason ?
What drive mA/refresh speeds do the LEDs need.
Supporting hardware would be needed yet I literally have no further room on this multi-layer PCB. The silkscreen is a big hurdle as well. It must not be interfered with so most parts are on one side.
You mean the LEDs and Silkcreen/Legends are on one side, and the parts are on the other side ?
Reach
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I read over the threads but quickly found there was volumes of information that I have no time to weed through. I suppose I am inpatient.
If what you say is correct then we are looking at another year minimum. I need to find a micro and figured the prop II was going to fit my needs. Dang it.
A few of us have been running P2 on Terasic FPGA boards, this is a great way to get a head start on when silicon does arrive.
thanks again
Last I heard the PII design was going of for a "shuttle run" (Think prototype or test run) in April next year. In the mean time the design has been undergoing heavy rework with a lot of input from forum members. We hope than shuttle run proves successful. In that case perhaps the P2 is available in eight months to a year from now. God forbid it fails, then we have no idea what happens.
In short, live for now and find an existing device you need for your project. Perhaps a P1 or two.
What are your requirements? Perhaps we can make suggestions. I hate to say it here but the XMOS multi-core micro-controllers are sort of Prop like, lots of cores, lots of I/O, tuned for real-time operation.
It needs to contain 80 LED's, accelerometer, barometer, thermisistor, Real time clock, optical sesnor, and communications with supporting resistors etc.
I have it all squeezed onto the PCB with the propeller but the propeller is lacking I/O. Supporting hardware would be needed yet I literally have no further room on this multi-layer PCB. The silkscreen is a big hurdle as well. It must not be interfered with so most parts are on one side.
You don't need a more powerful mcu, just a led driver/multiplexer as it would be a waste to dedicate 80 pins to 80leds.
Well, depending on how the LEDs need to be used, one possibility might be 'charlie plexing' them. I believe that would consume only 9 (or is it 10) pins, and no other chips outside of the P1. Probably enough pins left over to interface the other functions. Also, by the description offered, I presume this is a small battery powered device, and that would not likely be a fit for a P2.
Cheers,
Peter (pjv)
Do you have a picture of your clock?
Pulled this off a pic taken from 20' away, but it gives some idea anyway. Fiddled a lot with the font and ultimately used a 4x7 array for numerals. Perhaps the clock's most salient point is that its tic is synchronized with UTC to within some crazy small interval. The LEDs are old-fashioned GaAs.
What do the 80 LEDs need to do ? - IO is not usually the limit on Drive of LEDs, unless you want to avoid multiplex for some rare reason ?
What drive mA/refresh speeds do the LEDs need.
You mean the LEDs and Silkcreen/Legends are on one side, and the parts are on the other side ?