The STM32 from ST Microelectronics is my favorite line of ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers.Īlthough numerous chip makers offer Cortex-M microcontrollers, my favorite by far is the STM32 series from ST Microelectronics. Some versions are available with a Floating Point Unit (FPU) and are designated with an F in the model number such as the Cortex-M4F. The ARM Cortex-M is a 32-bit architecture that is fantastic choice for more computationally intensive tasks compared to what is available from older 8 bit microcontrollers such as the 8051, PIC, and AVR cores.Īrm microcontrollers come in various performance levels including the Cortex-M0, M0+, M1, M3, M4, and M7. They instead design processor architectures that are then licensed and manufactured by other chip makers including ST, NXP, Microchip, Texas Instruments, Silicon Labs, Cypress, and Nordic. Microcontrollers from Microchip (including Atmel) may dominate the maker market but Arm dominates the commercial product market.Īrm doesn’t actually manufacture the chips directly themselves. They have been used in tens of billions of devices. If you regularly read this blog you’ll know that I’m a big fan of ARM Cortex-M microcontrollers.įREE GUIDE: Introduction to MicrocontrollersĪrm Cortex-M microcontrollers are easily the most popular line of microcontrollers used in commercial electronic products. It’s also an easy way to quickly access the component’s datasheet. When selecting a microcontroller (or just about any electronic component) I like to use an electronics distributor’s website like .ĭoing so allows you to easily compare various options based on a variety of specifications, pricing, and availability. Until you’ve mapped out everything that will connect to the microcontroller it’s impossible to select the appropriate microcontroller. Now that we have a block diagram we can better understand the necessary requirements for the microcontroller. Blocks in yellow are included in this initial tutorial. With a system-level design the focus is on the higher level interconnectivity and functionality. In engineering, a black box is an object which can be viewed in terms of its inputs and outputs but without any knowledge of its internal workings.
A system design treats each function as a black box When developing a new circuit design the first step is the high-level system design (which I also call a preliminary design).īefore getting into the details of the full schematic circuit design it’s always best to first focus on the big picture of the full system.ĭesigning the system consists mainly of two steps: creating a block diagram and selecting all of the critical components (microchips, sensors, displays, etc.). Step 3 – Printed Circuit Board (PCB) Layout Design.
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