Choice of Cheap n Well Documented MCU to Handle USB and/or RS-232 Interface

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s7620613i Associate Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 25	Choice of Cheap n Well Documented MCU to Handle USB and/or RS-232 Interface 08/17/2011 7:31 AM
	Hi All, Anyone can recommend a suitable mcu for the above? I intend to use the mcu in an IO interface card that has either support rs-232 or usb(2.0). It best to use common part that can support both. It also has to work fwith VDD from 3.3V to 5V (since usb is 3.3V). Most importantly, the mcu must be quite well documented (preferably w example C source codes for usb2.0 which is more complicatedthan rs-232). For rs-232, I believe about 16 bytes is sufficientfor most baud rates. Does anyone know what is the typical memory buffer size for usb2.0 data transfer? Does USB has any flow control signals (such as cts and rts in rs-232)? Sorry to askbut Ido not want to caught in situation where the limited mcu memory slows down usb data transfer considerably. This IO interface card is to act as bridge between a user peripheral device and an ethernet or tcp-ip card/ which is in turn connected to the computer network, and the mcu is to bridge the communication between peripheral controller (which does not has connectivity option) with the ethernet/tcp-ip card. Any advice would be greatlyappreciated. Thanks!
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Anonymous Hero Guru Join Date: May 2006 Location: The 'Space Coast', USA Posts: 11119 Good Answers: 918	#1 Re: Choice of cheap n well documented MCU to handle usb and/or rs-232 interface 08/17/2011 7:49 AM
	PIC Micro is one of the more popular ones. The 18F series provides both USB 2.0 and serial communication ports as well as analog IO and digital IO. The PIC series are well documented and have a very large support community (either under the employ of the manufacture or as independent users). Tools are free and work well. There are many other venders out there. Which one you choose is more of which club you want to join. Everyone has their favorite.
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bravo88 Guru Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: 1° North Singapore Posts: 568 Good Answers: 17	#2 Re: Choice of Cheap n Well Documented MCU to Handle USB and/or RS-232 Interface 08/17/2011 8:50 AM
	I agree, Microchip is the best bet for mcu based project.. __________________ Sharing knowledge is one thing that defies basic arithmetic logic --- the more you share, the more you get!
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anupam1031 Participant Join Date: May 2009 Location: trivandrum,kerala.india Posts: 3	#3 Re: Choice of Cheap n Well Documented MCU to Handle USB and/or RS-232 Interface 08/18/2011 7:27 AM
	hi... of the microcontrollers i used,i found PIC microcontrollers are the best...and for your purpose i would recommend PIC 18f4550 which has in built USB interface by which you can make the connectivity to the PC much easier... __________________ “Silence is argument carried out by other means.
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Anonymous Poster #1	#4 Re: Choice of Cheap n Well Documented MCU to Handle USB and/or RS-232 Interface 08/18/2011 11:26 AM
	+1 for microchip. You can get into development for next to nothing. They supply for free the MPLAB IDE which includes IDE, C-compiler, simulator/emulator, debugger. They also provide the USB stack and many other libraries also at no cost. They will even send free sample quantities of the chips of your choice. They may even have prototype boards that match your needs so you just need to attach a few wires an write your program. The only thing you would have to buy from them is the programming "pod" which is less than $100. Best as part of a "Starter Kit". I've been burned pretty badly by some of the application notes at Microchip, but if you stick with C programming and the newer chips like PIC18, you won't be bitten by the differences in chips and "bank" and "page" awareness required of you when programming in assembly and using the smaller chips. I think I even saw a USB to Ethernet bridge sample there somewhere. Rufus
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Epke Guru Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Japan Posts: 2703 Good Answers: 38	#5 Re: Choice of Cheap n Well Documented MCU to Handle USB and/or RS-232 Interface 08/18/2011 9:19 PM
	We ussualy use Renesas IC's, they have a lot of low power MCU with UART/I2c and USB funtion __________________ From the Movie "The Big Lebowski" Don't pee on the carpet man!
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