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rohith krishnan
rohith krishnan
Associate
January 18, 2017
Question

LoRa controller

  • January 18, 2017
  • 3 replies
  • 1622 views
Posted on January 18, 2017 at 11:45

Hi,

I need a controller for my new project.Following are my main requirements.

-> The controller that supports Linux OS. Does it need any external DRAM?

-> We should be able to connect Bluetooth antenna.

-> It needs good SPI performance, speed up to 8 MHz, low-latency driver

->needs communicate to Ethernet controller and also needs UART for GPS and serial communication.

Is there any controller that can satisfy these requirements

?

If NO, please recommend a controller with all the functionalities mentioned above (Linux,2 UARTs, SPI and Ethernet controller) except the Bluetooth antenna(so that we could use Bluetooth module instead of antenna).

#lora
This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

AvaTar
AvaTar
Senior III
January 18, 2017
Posted on January 18, 2017 at 17:35

-> The controller that supports Linux OS. Does it need any external DRAM?

You cannot run a real Linux on a Cortex M4 - there is no MMU. The existing ucLinux is just a stopgap solution. It consumes most of Flash space and performance - fine for experiments, but not for commercial applications.

Dropping the 'Linux' requirement, a STM32F4 or F7 could easily fulfill the other requirement. But you need the check for the required bandwidth before. Neither Ehternet nor UART or Bluetooth (-> Modem => UART) require an OS like Linux. And bare-metal applications use to have very low latencies, compared to OS-based one's.

Insisting on Linux, I would start with Cortex A5 boards (or similar) and upwards. And with 'similar', I mean also non-ARM processors/controllers.

Is there any controller that can satisfy these requirements

?

Just use ST's selection tool on the website. Any M4/M7 with ethernet interface will probably do, but there is a price tag attached.

rohith krishnan
rohith krishnanAuthor
Associate
January 18, 2017
Posted on January 18, 2017 at 17:53

Hi,

I need to run full linux on the controller so that I could run TCP/IP stack. Do you have any recommendation and what should be the specs of Flash and DRAM?

Thanks

Rohith 

AvaTar
AvaTar
Senior III
January 18, 2017
Posted on January 18, 2017 at 18:02

Does the lwip stack not fulfill your requirements ?

It does not require an OS, especially not Linux.

Do you have any recommendation and what should be the specs of Flash and DRAM?

You can check here:

http://www.emcraft.com/

rohith krishnan
rohith krishnanAuthor
Associate
January 18, 2017
Posted on January 18, 2017 at 18:12

Hi,

I want to go with full linux, otherwise it will be limiting in case of any future implementations.

Thanks

Rohith

Tesla DeLorean
Tesla DeLorean
Guru
January 18, 2017
Posted on January 18, 2017 at 20:01

Not sure why we are doing your due diligence work here, but perhaps you could look at something like a Beagle Bone or Raspberry Pi (or host of similar Pi type board and modules)

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AvaTar
AvaTar
Senior III
January 19, 2017
Posted on January 19, 2017 at 09:30

... perhaps you could look at something like a Beagle Bone or Raspberry Pi (or host of similar Pi type board and modules)

Or something non-ARM, like an Intel Edison board. That depends on your toolchain/environment preferences as well.

I still see no need for a full-blown OS here.

Not sure why we are doing your due diligence work here, ...

+1

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