Many pieces of programs are hardware independent, but testing them requires a maple board and com be connected.
Using the board requires the hardware and connection, is slow and consumes flash cycles
I find myself again and again loading programs for testing minor changes onto the Maple, although I could test such programs with a pure software emulator, if there was one.
Is there such available emulator that I can use?
samtal
gbulmer
Moderator
samtal - if you have money to spend, several of the tools vendors sell ARM emulators, for example
Crossware: http://www.crossware.com/arm/stm32/simulator.htm
You might look at Open Virtual Platforms: http://www.ovpworld.org/download_ARM.php
but I have not got around to trying it, so I really can't recommend it.
robodude666
Member
As far as concerns regarding the physical hardware... The STM32 is capable of a minimum of 100,000 flash cycles.. I don't think you'd get through that many writes over EVERY cell within the life of the board. Also, deploying the firmware onto the hardware isn't very time consuming once you've gotten into the groove. It probably doesn't take any longer than it would to launch a simulator, plus you get an accurate representation of physical performance and memory usage.
robodude666
Member
As far as concerns regarding the physical hardware... The STM32 is capable of a minimum of 100,000 flash cycles.. I don't think you'd get through that many writes over EVERY cell within the life of the board. Also, deploying the firmware onto the hardware isn't very time consuming once you've gotten into the groove. It probably doesn't take any longer than it would to launch a simulator, plus you get an accurate representation of physical performance and memory usage.
gbulmer
Moderator
robodude666 - The STM32F103xB datasheet, 5.3.9 "Memory characteristics" rates the "Endurance" (Nend) of flash memory as 10,000 cycles, not 100,000 cycles. Though ST also point out that this 'Endurance' is characterised across the device operating temperature range, and so is typically many more for normal operating conditions.
I still agree it is a lot. Assuming I could change the program, upload, and diagnose my error every 2 minutes for 8hours/day, 5 days a week, it's a couple of months. On the other hand, I can make my own boards, so a new board can be much cheaper than a Maple.
I'd like an emulator so that I could test code without needing to carry any extra bits of electronics. I feel a bit conscious that other people might feel a bit uncomfortable when I get out an Arduino or Maple on a train. I don't think I would like to take one through security checks for a passenger flight.
I'd also like a cycle-accurate emulator for benchmarks. That should be much easier to compare speed changes if I can mock-up some test data.
gbulmer
Moderator
robodude666 - < blockquote >I remember reading 100,000 somewhere
I think I read something where ST were asked why their devices are rated at many fewer flash cycles than some competitors. ST said they characterise flash-cycles across the full operating temperature range, and some competitors choose a temperature where they get big numbers. Their argument was it was better to give a worst case figure for the whole temperature range so customers knew what worst case to expect. I think they implied, but might not have said, that their flash is comparable to most other manufacturers. I think some manufacturers do rate to 100,000 cycles. I haven't found it again, so I may be inaccurate, but maybe it was something like that?
You do Arduino/Maple dev. on a train?
Sometimes, yes. I find the train journey productive, as do a lot of my friends.
It is between 1:20 and 1:30 to London, so a round trip can be as much as 3 hours with only one interruption. The trains on that line have standard UK mains power sockets at every table, so I can even charge up my laptop!-)
Hi,
The real problem with flash (regardless if it's 10 or 100 thousands) is in the case you make a 'minor' error in the program and get the flash to cycle.
This can kill a maple in minutes.
I agree that a good emulator could make programmers' life easier (especially when we encounter serial port problems, which are my biggest problem).
Emulator can save all that time-consuming hassle.
It will also enable running the program on train or plan, (why not in bed?)
I am planning to try an emulator, and will post my comments when ready.
samtal
You must log in to post.
