Yeah not quite sure how you guys can do the onboard debugging (A-La-Startkit) unless you have a special DEV version of the XA with an extra xs1 and usb phy tile? Also profiling could be tricky, if you use xscope you also have to account for the XS1 overhead in moving the data, an external profile (INA226) could work but you still have to run I2C and pass the data up the chain, Does the Gecko have some profiling magic built in (it may well have something like that I seem to remember via SWIO I think).
regards
Al
xcore-XA Startkit
-
Folknology
- XCore Legend
- Posts: 1274
- Joined: Thu Dec 10, 2009 10:20 pm
-
teachop
- Active Member
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:25 am
Hope it isn't too late to give 2 cents input to this based on experimenting with the existing startKIT:
- Provide up-to-date XC Specification and XC Programming Guide.
- Round corners to fit in Altoids tin for maker points, it is so close.
- Put both Vcc and GND on the GPIO connector.
- On-board button and LEDs on 1 pin capable ports.
- All single row connectors for breadboard friendliness (looking at you ADC).
- Provide up-to-date XC Specification and XC Programming Guide!
The startKIT is wonderful. Really appreciate keeping the thru hole headers on a 0.1 grid so it sits in a breadboard properly - using J7 and J8 together this way works great. The slice connector is in my way a bit, not too bad. Maybe the idea of turning it 90 degrees would help as long as it stays mostly within the board profile.
- Provide up-to-date XC Specification and XC Programming Guide.
- Round corners to fit in Altoids tin for maker points, it is so close.
- Put both Vcc and GND on the GPIO connector.
- On-board button and LEDs on 1 pin capable ports.
- All single row connectors for breadboard friendliness (looking at you ADC).
- Provide up-to-date XC Specification and XC Programming Guide!
The startKIT is wonderful. Really appreciate keeping the thru hole headers on a 0.1 grid so it sits in a breadboard properly - using J7 and J8 together this way works great. The slice connector is in my way a bit, not too bad. Maybe the idea of turning it 90 degrees would help as long as it stays mostly within the board profile.
-
teachop
- Active Member
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:25 am
Can we get a status update on this XA StartKit project?
-
PTBarnum
- Junior Member
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 12:21 pm
Hello TeaChop,
Good question, the xCORE-XA board is progressing.
The startKit concept was not so in keeping with the capabilities of the xCORE-XA silicon, we want something that will give users maximum flexibility with the device. So we have dropped the blinkies and buttons. We have brought out all available IOs to headers and are keeping the board small ( I can't confirm that it will fit into an altoids tin at the moment ). The onboard debug concept of startKit was really important and we have carried this forward, we will include ARM and xCORE debug.
The available xCORE IO would not support a slice connector without it being yet another pin out so we are leaving xCORE IO on 0.1" headers.
Looks wise ? think along the lines of the old XC-1 board for now.
Cheers for now,
Pete
Good question, the xCORE-XA board is progressing.
The startKit concept was not so in keeping with the capabilities of the xCORE-XA silicon, we want something that will give users maximum flexibility with the device. So we have dropped the blinkies and buttons. We have brought out all available IOs to headers and are keeping the board small ( I can't confirm that it will fit into an altoids tin at the moment ). The onboard debug concept of startKit was really important and we have carried this forward, we will include ARM and xCORE debug.
The available xCORE IO would not support a slice connector without it being yet another pin out so we are leaving xCORE IO on 0.1" headers.
Looks wise ? think along the lines of the old XC-1 board for now.
Cheers for now,
Pete
-
pstnotpd
- XCore Addict
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:47 am
@PTBarnum
Sounds good. At the moment I'm quite happy to solder 0.1" headers onto the boards as that makes them imho much more flexible to interconnect.
Please make a change in the OTP boot so that we can chain jtag and boot from there properly. It's really cumbersome to do that on the startkit now.
Sounds good. At the moment I'm quite happy to solder 0.1" headers onto the boards as that makes them imho much more flexible to interconnect.
Please make a change in the OTP boot so that we can chain jtag and boot from there properly. It's really cumbersome to do that on the startkit now.
-
teachop
- Active Member
- Posts: 47
- Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2014 1:25 am
Thanks for updating us! I am looking forward to working with the XA parts. I see the older board you mention has double row connectors. That is nice for some things such as IDC connections, one great feature about the existing startKit is the single row style. This works in breadboards and in the related (pre-bussed) protoboards like these:
https://www.adafruit.com/categories/200
https://www.adafruit.com/categories/200
-
pstnotpd
- XCore Addict
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:47 am
Is there news on any XA development kits? I.e. this startkit or a slicekit coreboard with XA?
-
pstnotpd
- XCore Addict
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:47 am
-
PTBarnum
- Junior Member
- Posts: 6
- Joined: Wed Jan 29, 2014 12:21 pm
Yes pstnotpd that is it.
So bringing this thread to a close as the xCORE-XA startkit is about to become generally available.
As per my previous post the xCORE-XA dev board morphed from a startkit concept to what became the xCORE-XA Core Module. We kept the IO open for your use but we included the hardware debugger features that made startkit so accessible. In fact the inclusion of an ARM debugger at this price is pretty special.
No I am afraid it does not fit into an Altoids tin ;-) the final size is 60mm x 120mm. Still small and light enough that you could plug it into the top of a walking robot, and you have the choice of plugging into a larger board with a load of peripherals and connectors underneath or plugging in IDE cables or smaller boards on top etc.
You can see a photo and read all about it here: https://www.xmos.com/products/xkits/xcore-xa
The part number is XK-XAC-XA8 and it sells for $149. They go on sale at the start of Dec and i will post back here when the 'buy it now' click throughs are ready to go so you will be able to get a kit in time for Christmas ( make sure your stockings are anti-static ;-)
So bringing this thread to a close as the xCORE-XA startkit is about to become generally available.
As per my previous post the xCORE-XA dev board morphed from a startkit concept to what became the xCORE-XA Core Module. We kept the IO open for your use but we included the hardware debugger features that made startkit so accessible. In fact the inclusion of an ARM debugger at this price is pretty special.
No I am afraid it does not fit into an Altoids tin ;-) the final size is 60mm x 120mm. Still small and light enough that you could plug it into the top of a walking robot, and you have the choice of plugging into a larger board with a load of peripherals and connectors underneath or plugging in IDE cables or smaller boards on top etc.
You can see a photo and read all about it here: https://www.xmos.com/products/xkits/xcore-xa
The part number is XK-XAC-XA8 and it sells for $149. They go on sale at the start of Dec and i will post back here when the 'buy it now' click throughs are ready to go so you will be able to get a kit in time for Christmas ( make sure your stockings are anti-static ;-)
-
pstnotpd
- XCore Addict
- Posts: 161
- Joined: Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:47 am
I hope so as I'd have a few weeks off to tinker.PTBarnum wrote:Yes pstnotpd that is it.
.... so you will be able to get a kit in time for Christmas ( make sure your stockings are anti-static ;-)
Anyway, is it possible to release some further docs already? I'd really like to check if my (admittedly less sexy than the winner's) project idea is feasible. Most important question, is it possible to extend the ARM core addressable memory somehow using the EBI connections to the xcores.