18F25J11 RTCC & remappable pin options

[rmteo]

I started using PIC24/dsPIC33 (in particular the PIC24F's for their rich peripheral set) 2 years ago and am really pleased with their power and flexibility - they are pretty much all I use these days. I have used PIC18's occasionally due to the excellent Swordfish compiler which isn't available yet for the 24-bit core devices. They only time I used a PIC16 in the last 2 years was when the app called for a small physical package and settled on an 8-pin MSOP.

[Bruce]

Which compiler are you using for the PIC24F's ?

[rmteo]

If you wan't to stay with BASIC (like me), I believe your only option for now is mikroBASIC Pro for dsPIC. Otherwise, there is the free C30 compiler from MicroCHIP. Also, Dave Barker says that he is working on a 24-bit version of Swordfish.

[Bruce]

I have the free version of C30 - so I'll probably start with that. How do you like the
mikroBASIC ?

I actually prefer C to BASIC. Do they have a version of C that supports this PIC? And,
do you consider it better than C30?

[rmteo]

I have been using mikroBASIC since I started with the PIC24/dsPIC33. mikroBASIC is closer to C than most any BASIC out there - with the exception of Swordfish. Realistically, there is nothing you can't do with mikroBASIC that can be done with C. There is a mikroC for dsPIC but I cannot comment on it as I am not a C user.

[Bruce]

Thanks for the feedback. I did try mikroBASIC several years back, and when comparing the
code it produced to PBP & Proton, it totally sucked. Especially compared to Proton.

Perhaps I should try it again, but I really do prefer C to BASIC - so I might give the mikroC
compiler another look. That one wasn't exactly up to par the last time I tried it either.

Swordfish totally rocks, but I'm a tad concerned about it being supported in the near
future, and it's really depressing that it only supports the 18F series & needs that USB
dongle.

My work requires me to get things out like yesterday, and I can't/won't pay full
boat for a replacement dongle in a pinch .. when it craps-out.

Proton rocks too, but I'm not into installing beta software, that's a real pain in the
pooter, for any compiler that hasn't offered registerd users an upgrade for many years.

That really killed Proton here in the US.

[rmteo]

I have been working with the NXP LPC11xx parts and they look really nice. A 32-bit part that is cheaper than most 8-bit PIC devices (as low as $0.65/10,000 for a 8kB/2kB/33-pin part). Some basic specs:

# ARM Cortex-M0 processor, running at frequencies of up to 50 MHz and 48DMips
# ARM Cortex-M0 built-in Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC)
# 32 kB (LPC1114), 24 kB (LPC1113), 16 kB (LPC1112), or 8 kB (LPC1111) on-chip flash programming memory
# 8 kB, 4 kB, or 2 kB SRAM
# In-System Programming (ISP) and In-Application Programming (IAP) via on-chip bootloader software
# UART with fractional baud rate generation, internal FIFO, and RS-485 support
# Two SPI controllers with SSP features and with FIFO and multi-protocol capabilities (second SPI on LQFP48 and PLCC44 packages only)
# I2C-bus interface supporting full I2C-bus specification and Fast-mode Plus with a data rate of 1 Mbit/s with multiple address recognition and monitor mode
# Up to 42 General Purpose I/O (GPIO) pins with configurable pull-up/pull-down resistors
# Four general purpose 16/32-bit timers/counters with a total of four capture inputs and 13 match/PWM outputs
# Programmable WatchDog Timer (WDT)
# System tick timer
# Serial Wire Debug
# High-current output driver (20 mA) on one pin
# High-current sink drivers (20 mA) on two I2C-bus pins in Fast-mode Plus
# Integrated PMU (Power Management Unit) to minimize power consumption during Sleep, Deep-sleep, and Deep power-down modes
# Three reduced power modes: Sleep, Deep-sleep, and Deep power-down
# Single 3.3 V power supply (1.8 V to 3.6 V)
# 10-bit ADC (400ks/S) with input multiplexing among 8 pins
# GPIO pins can be used as edge and level sensitive interrupt sources
# Clock output function with divider that can reflect the system oscillator clock, IRC clock, CPU clock, and the Watchdog clock
# Processor wake-up from Deep-sleep mode via a dedicated start logic using up to 13 of the functional pins
# Brownout detect with four separate thresholds for interrupt and one threshold for forced reset
# Power-On Reset (POR)
# Crystal oscillator with an operating range of 1 MHz to 25 MHz
# 12 MHz internal RC oscillator trimmed to 1 % accuracy that can optionally be used as a system clock
# PLL allows CPU operation up to the maximum CPU rate without the need for a high-frequency crystal. May be run from the main oscillator, the internal RC oscillator, or the watchdog oscillator.

The software dev tools are C based but do come free with the purchase of the $30 LPC1114 LPCXpresso board. With this move, I am considering moving to MPLAB and C18/C30 and possibly abandoning BASIC altogether.