Slashdot Mirror
32-bit Processors, Cheap
An anonymous reader writes "Atmel is sampling the first in a new line of 32-bit system-on-chip processors that could spell the death of the venerable 8-bit microcontroller market by offering 32-bit performance at 8-bit pricing. Priced as low as $3 each, the AT91SAM7 chips with ARM7TDMI RISC CPU cores and built-in RAM/flash memory may even be able to run a form of Linux called uClinux. The death of the 8-bit uC market has long been predicted -- sounds like the end is nigh!"
8 bits is all the majority of embedded applications need. Its lower power, and cheaper.
8 bits rules the world and will continue to do so for a long time.
As an embedded systems consumer product design engineer by trade, I can state with great confidence that $3 is NOT cheap.
In fact, for everyone who's pointed out that PIC's cost well under a dollar:
That's not cheap either.
4-bit watch micros and the kind of thing that runs your toaster are priced in the 0-25cents range in volume -- that's right, a few *cents*.
To wit: $3 is greater than the complete cost-of-goods for much of the consumer electronics market. A TINY 4-bit chip, engineered with the same modern techniques as a 32-bit one, will be able to conserve even more power. This may not matter if it's a toaster, but if you want something to run off a battery for 10 years, you better start hunting for the smallest, simplest die you can find.
Coding for older platforms is also very easy, very fast, and easy to certify as bug-free. Put that in your kernel forum and smoke it.
Don't get me wrong, a dirt-cheap linux-capable uCs make me as happy as the next dork, but they're for a very different kind of task. Consider the myriad PDAs with flashy graphics/media capabilities already running on ARM processors and similar...