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Parallax Propeller 2 Multicore Microcontroller Release Date Update — Parallax Forums

Parallax Propeller 2 Multicore Microcontroller Release Date Update

microcontrollerusermicrocontrolleruser Posts: 1,194
edited 2017-10-21 16:21 in General Discussion
Apparently they have somebody in isolation working on the Prop 2.

So whether it gets here tomorrow or sometime it's a kind of high priority at Parallax.

Yes. I support it.

If somebody spends a lifetime in microcontrollers and thinks multi core is the way to go

then they should certainly be allowed to 'Follow their dream'.

Little person locked up in there, 'Good Luck! Hope it turns out great!'
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Comments

  • Yes good luck to whoever it is.
  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    The Parallax Gnome.

    They keep the Parallax Gnome in isolation in a secret underground bunker. Far away from civilization. Working tenaciously to bring joy to the world for Chipmas.

    I didn't believe the rumors at first, but I've been there. I've seen it. A wondrous cave full of curios and marvels.




  • You should meet him, Bob. He's a cranky old curmudgeon who eats children, blows a ship horn and hucks tortillas and passing country folk.

    KG
  • Pssst I know the real secret. P2 development is being driven by a massively parallel supercomputer made of P1's. There used to be some photos of it around here -- it's a stack of forty version 1 Protoboards interconected so as to form a true general artificial intelligence. This big brain intends to use the P2 to make a more powerful version of itself, which will in turn start work on the P3 and on mounting guns and flamethrowers to Eddie and BOE-bot robots. The enslavement of humanity will follow shortly.
  • evanhevanh Posts: 15,916
    Typing a bit quick there Ken. :)

    Heater, perfect for your signature!
  • microcontrollerusermicrocontrolleruser Posts: 1,194
    edited 2017-10-14 03:56
    Ken

    Open the door and shove in Dew Drops sodas. A Walmart rural favorite. High sugar and high caffeine.

    Then a variety of Little Debbie's. More of the same kind of thing. They haven't started putting caffeine in those

    as far as I know.

    Once again. I hope it's going well.

    Bob
  • rjo__rjo__ Posts: 2,114
    Update from a determined lurker:)

    The P2 project is very pregnant.

    A recent ultrasound revealed that if the P2 were a fish, it would have all of the characteristics of a cuttle fish in the body of a killer whale.

    I have done some testing... the P2 is nothing short of phenomenal, and (most likely) will be coming our way relatively soon... dog years or less.

    Best of all, if a person know anything about Spin or Pasm... he or she will be able to begin using the P2 straight out of the box... and continue learning about it(and the world around it) for about the next 10 years.

    No luck involved... just pure genius.

    Rich

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    I'm guessing that lots of sugar and caffeine is not allowed for the Parallax Gnome.






  • 'I have done some testing'

    Is everybody getting samples except me?

    It would be interesting to see what the difference is.

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    No. Nobody has samples of actual P2 chips. They don't exist.

    But if you want to play along and do some testing of the design there is this:

    http://forums.parallax.com/discussion/162298/prop2-fpga-files-updated-11-october-2017-version-23a#latest


  • Heater

    'I'm sorry Dave.I can't do that.'

    No FPGA's and no SoC's for us.

    Parallax had a FPGA for the blink of an eye. Think it came with a Propellor.

    They knew to stay out of that.

    Microcontrollers are just fine for us.
  • Heater

    'I'm sorry Dave.I can't do that.'

    No FPGA's and no SoC's for us.

    Parallax had a FPGA for the blink of an eye. Think it came with a Propellor.

    They knew to stay out of that.

    Microcontrollers are just fine for us.

    Parallax has a FPGA board available for developers. $475.

    https://www.parallax.com/news/2016-04-12/attention-early-adopters-and-developers-program-propeller-2-fpga-development-board


  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    microcontrolleruser,

    What on Earth are you talking about?

    It's common practice, since decades now, to prototype new logic designs in FPGA's before moving ahead and committing to actual custom silicon chips.

    It's better to spend some thousands of dollars on testing your logic in FPGA before spending hundreds of thousands on getting a chip made that may not work.

    If "Microcontrollers are just fine for us." then you have to wait for a Propeller 2 micro-controller to arrive. Or use something else in the mean time.

  • 'What on Earth are you talking about?'

    No FPGA's. N-O.

    Don't want to find out what program you use to run them or anything else.

    This is a hobby. Like building balsa airplanes or something.

    Looking at Basic Stamp and Propellor at out own pace.

    Anyhow.

    A new Propeller 2! Good!

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    microcontrolleruser,

    You know, all this is a hobby for me. Has been since I was 10 years old or so in the mid 1960's. Besides building balsa airplanes at the time I also had my Philips Electronic Engineer kit to keep me busy. And all kind of other technological play things.

    Curiosity of such things, and fun, drives me on to this day.

    I can understand you not wanting to get into the FPGA tools and languages etc. I guess you just have to wait for the P2 to arrive.







  • 'Parallax has a FPGA board available for developers. $475'

    Yep. Go over to an FPGA company online store.

    Better have your Platinum card!

    'Ju-Ju' Tarzan movies. The native bearers see something they don't like and say 'Ju-Ju!'.

    Then they run off.

    FPGA and Soc's are my Ju-Ju.

  • Heater.Heater. Posts: 21,230
    Nah,

    FPGA's are great. They can be had for twenty dollars or so: http://www.latticesemi.com/icestick

    Loads of pins and loads of logic to play with. Perhaps even easier than programming an MCU in assembler.

    That 500 dollar Parallax FPGA board is a bit extreme. Created for those who want something big enough to test the P2 logic as it evolves. Before we get the final P2 chip.

    You should not let your ju-jus frighten you away from interesting stuff.













  • microcontrollerusermicrocontrolleruser Posts: 1,194
    edited 2017-10-15 03:07
    Heater

    Let me get this back on subject.

    While it is Saturday night and most of us are carrying on.

    Somebody is working day and night to bring us the Parallax 2.

    Well. This Bud's for you!'

    Actually I'm on a none of that regime now. I do remember though and am looking forward to resuming that.

    Yes. Think of all the joy you will bring to your fellow human beings.

    Have fun engineering laborer. Ride that concentration high!
  • On the subject of chip building you might like to watch this Carver Mead video:

    "My First Chip"



    Also because it's in a similar vein of working out a method to the madness, Claude Shannon's "A Symbolic Analysis of Relay and Switching Circuits". Imagine if he had access to Mead's chip architecture ;-)

  • 'You should not let your ju-jus frighten you away from interesting stuff.'

    NO FEAR.

    Just staying focused.

    'Be the Propellor' -Caddyshack :smile:
  • microcontrollerusermicrocontrolleruser Posts: 1,194
    edited 2017-10-15 04:40
    'On the subject of chip building'

    Yes. At one time I went on a circuit design software kick.

    Not for me.

    You seem to enjoy it. Go for it.

    I am behind you 200%! :smile:

    Yeh! Yippie! Go Propellor 2 Team(?)!
  • C'mon - Rob Rutenbar even has a MOOC or two on it:

    https://www.coursera.org/learn/vlsi-cad-logic

    He's actually a really good instructor. I had him at CMU.
  • microcontrollerusermicrocontrolleruser Posts: 1,194
    edited 2017-10-15 05:18
    Never heard of him. :smile:

    Never heard of CMU either. :smile:

    Googled CMU. There's a Carnegie Mellon University.

    Andrew Carnegie? Heard of him.

    Sounds like it's somewhere cold.

    If you got through there you get an 'Attaboy'.
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    Wow! Extremely interesting video.
  • @KeithE
    +1 on the Carver Mead video. :)
  • +1 on the video. Brings back memories of my years at Gerber.
  • ErNaErNa Posts: 1,752
    I thought, the one person I can not follow in thinking is the PE, but what the hell is going on in the cortex of a mcu?
  • Cluso99Cluso99 Posts: 18,069
    edited 2017-10-15 21:38
    I used to tape out pcbs, first in blue and red on a single film, then black on sheets pinned together for the multiple layers.
    Then autotrax (the forerunner of Protel) came out and I used a Gerber plotting house. The gerber plotter was a monstrous flat bed plotter. IIRC they told me it cost 1/4M$.

    But all this was way after Carver Mead. He was one of the game changers IMHO. They are the people who think outside the box to achieve a better end result. The other interesting part of the video was "Moores Law" had taken its roots much earlier than what is generally reported. That graph is fundamental to the timing ;)
    But Gordon was inquisitive enough to try to find out what the real physical limit would ultimately be, in terms of atoms, not any mechanical impediments of the times.

    While we seem to be approaching that dreaded "x" nm limit, stacking will keep us going. The FLASH manufacturers are proving this. The pace of Moores Law has meant we are not squeezing the best from a piece of silicon. It's just easy to throw blocks onto silicon.

    I'd really like to make my own small chips at home. Nothing real fancy mind you.
  • rjo__rjo__ Posts: 2,114
    Shannon and Mead in one three line post? Wow!!!

    If there are any students reading along... Shannon is the guy who destroyed thermodynamics... as it was. No idea what it is now:)

    FPGA's...

    I have 9 FPGA boards... 4 from Parallax. I'm not a collector... just a sucker for pretty electronics.

    Originally, I wanted to follow along so the instruction set wasn't a complete mystery to me and so that I could have some idea of ultimate uses. I'm glad I did. It is more fun than shooting monkeys in a toroid.

    IF you don't like the idea of an FPGA... then just think of it as a P2 that keeps getting better every time you turn it on:)



  • There's a bio of Claude Shannon that just came out this year: A Mind at Play. 'Just started reading it, so I'm not yet in a position to recommend or pan it.

    -Phil
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