[HN Gopher] 10-cent CH32V003 RISC-V MCU offers 2KB SRAM, 16KB fl...
       ___________________________________________________________________
        
       10-cent CH32V003 RISC-V MCU offers 2KB SRAM, 16KB flash, SOP8 to
       QFN20 packages
        
       Author : picture
       Score  : 27 points
       Date   : 2022-10-22 20:41 UTC (2 hours ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.cnx-software.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.cnx-software.com)
        
       | metadat wrote:
       | Will LCSC sell me a single $6.76 board?
       | 
       | https://lcsc.com/product-detail/Microcontroller-Units-MCUs-M...
       | 
       | Amazing the CPU is priced at $0.10 and clocked 2-3x higher than
       | the Macintosh computers I grew up using.
       | 
       | The available memory on these is a lot less than those old macs,
       | though. They tended to have 4-32MB of RAM and 40-120MB discs.
       | 
       | Anyone know if this thing can run a simple Python app?
       | 
       | e.g. https://wiki.python.org/moin/EmbeddedPython
       | 
       | My guess is there probably isn't sufficient memory. Curious what
       | the development workflow consists of for these boards. The lack
       | of a network or display output port seems a tad limiting.
        
         | exar0815 wrote:
         | Not knowing for this particular device, but generally for MCUs?
         | 
         | Install a manufacturer-specific toolchain, often based on some
         | minimally changed Eclipse IDE and gcc, Write your software in
         | as old a C dialect you can, sprinkle some generous helping of
         | assembly in.
         | 
         | To know which registers to use, dig through thousands of pages
         | of documentation, some more, some less helpful. Most functions
         | are just accessible by flipping bits in specific registers.
         | 
         | Afterwards, build the software and flash it with a dongle on
         | it, then run the code.
         | 
         | For debugging, you mostly have SWD or JTAG which allows you to
         | poke and change at all registers and any memory, and stop the
         | code when and wherever you want.
         | 
         | Which is desperately needed, as most MCUs are riddled with
         | weird edge cases and undocumented behavior.
         | 
         | Source: Development on ATmega, STM/SPC
        
         | unwind wrote:
         | No, it cannot run Python. Even MicroPython [1] requires 16 KB
         | of RAM, and probably at least 8 times more flash (code space)
         | than this chip has.
         | 
         | This is an embedded microcontroller, not a general-purpose
         | computer. You program it in C, and poke registers to make
         | things happen.
         | 
         | Edit: forgot link.
         | 
         | [1]: https://micropython.org/
        
         | [deleted]
        
       | downvotetruth wrote:
       | CPU - 32-bit RISC core with 16-bit address registers
       | 
       | Memory - 64KB ECC RAM
       | 
       | would seem more interesting?
        
         | metadat wrote:
         | Why is that? What can you do there compared to this lil' guy?
        
           | downvotetruth wrote:
           | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/64K_intro & C64 code
        
             | metadat wrote:
             | Got it. Does this also imply the requirement of a display
             | output?
        
               | downvotetruth wrote:
               | Display might be remotable, but would benefit from higher
               | frequency & the vector extensions.
        
       | rasz wrote:
       | WCH sells a ton of general purpose microcontrollers and
       | microcontrollers disguised as single purpose peripheral chips.
       | For example all USB to UART chips are 8051 inside. Same for "USB
       | Controllers" like CH375 http://www.wch-
       | ic.com/products/categories/63.html?pid=1 used in https://www.lo-
       | tech.co.uk/wiki/Lo-tech_ISA_USB_Adapter Afaik all WCH chips to
       | ~2020 were 8051 cores. They started experimenting with ARM and
       | RISC-V two years ago https://special.wch.cn/en/mcu/
       | 
       | Edit: btw the company might even started as a bootlegger doing
       | counterfeit FTDI serial converters.
        
       ___________________________________________________________________
       (page generated 2022-10-22 23:01 UTC)