Future Hardware Platforms

This page should be a starting point for a discussion on: "What's the next primary Platform for RIOT?"

Constraints

• RIOT is currently unable to run on a platform with more than one core
• RIOT currently supports 8, 16 and 32 bit based hardware

must have / must support

• ARM based
• low power platform
• one wireless interface
• some sort of sensors to play with or accessible I/O ports (such as SPI, I2C etc.)
• device capabilities should match a Class 2 device according to Terminology for Constrained Node Networks
• USB for flashing
• Debugging interface (e.g. JTAG)

should have

• first radio is 802.15.4 compliant
• second radio with more throughput than 802.15.4 (perhaps 802.11?)
• 32 bit based platform (easier to find) / 16 bit based follows
• an EXISTING community around this hardware
• not so expensive (50 € per device?)
• open source hardware / software already existing

nice to have

• energy measurement feature
• Ethernet for debugging, logging, administration

candidates for RIOT

ARTIK 030 Module

• US$7.30 per module @ Digikey

MCU Features

• ARM Cortex-M4 @ 40 MHz
• Silicon Labs EFR32MG1 SoC
• Low Active Mode Current: 63 μA/MHz
• 256 kB flash, 32 kB SRAM
• Advanced hardware cryptography engine with support for AES-128/256, ECC, SHA-1, SHA-256, and a Random Number Generator
• 8 Channel DMA Controller

Digital Peripherals

• 2 × USART (UART, SPI, IrDA, I²S)
• Low Energy UART • I²C peripheral interface (address recognition down to EM3)
• Timers: RTCC, Low Energy Timer, Pulse Counter
• 12-channel Peripheral Reflex System (PRS)
• Up to 25 GPIO with interrupts

Analog Peripherals

• ADC (12-bit, 1 Msps, 326 μA)
• Current-mode Digital to Analog Converter (IDAC)
• 2 × Analog Comparator (ACMP)

Low Power Modes

• Energy Mode 2 (Deep Sleep) Current: 2.5 μA (Full RAM retention and RTCC running from LXFO)
• Ultra-fast wake up: 3 μS down to EM3
• Wide Supply Voltage range of 1.85 to 3.8 V Radio Features
• 2.4 GHz with integrated balun
• IEEE 802.15.4
• Data Rate / Modulation: 250 kbps DSSS-OQPSK
• +10 dBm Programmable TX Power
• -99 dBm RX Sensitivity
• 9.8 mA RX current
• 8.2 mA TX current (at +0 dBm)
• Support for wireless mesh networking (ZigBee/Thread)
• Integrated PA (up to +10 dBm TX power)
• Packet Trace Interface (PTI) for non-intrusive packet trace with Simplicity Studio development tools
• Antenna interface: integrated high-performance chip antennaor u.FL variant for external antenna

Misc. Features

• Support for SoC and Network Co-Processor (NCP) architectures with SPI/UART host support
• Serial and Over-The-Air (OTA) bootloaders

STM32L053 Nucleo

• ARM M0+ Core
• STM32L053R8T6 CPU from ST-Microelectronics
• lowest power platform (several more power-states)
• brand new
• cheap
• no radio, but 2 SPI interface for connecting transceivers

Microchip MRF24J40MA

• WIP in PR #5099
• 802.15.4 module
• certified module - could be used worldwide
• easy to integrate into a hardware-design
• cheap, less than 15 Euro
• SPI interface

Tinkerforge

• shop
• no radio, no sensors -> buy extra
• no energy measurement support?
• not so cheap

Raspberry Pi

• specs
• not a low power platform
• no radio, no sensors -> buy extra
• no energy measurement support?
• too much ram/rom
• biggest community
• cheaper than the others
• ethernet

Modules from Dresden Elektronik

• adapter board deRFsam3
• Cortex-M3 (ARM 32 bits) + 802.15.4 radio chip (AT86RF231)
• Base module is ~30 EUR, but power + serial + JTAG connectors need to be soldered/added
• Many variations of the board and addons: including processor ARM7 / ATmega / ..., radio 800-900 Mhz / 2.4 Ghz, form factor (USB), extension boards, ... so the right(s) one(s) should be carefully selected, and the final price will be higher

DigiX

• Kickstarter
• ARM Cortex-M3 (AT91SAM3X8E) + 802.11b/g/n radio + low-power 2.4GHz radio (nRF24L01)
• 96KB SRAM, 512KB Flash
• 99 I/O Pins
• 12 Analog Input
• 2 Analog Output (DAC)
• Onboard LED (connected to Pin 13)
• no 802.15.4 radio, no existing community, no energy measurement

STM32W-RFCKIT

• STM32
• STM32W System-on-Chip 32-bit ARM® Cortex™-M3 processor
• 2.4 GHz IEEE 802.15.4 transceiver and Lower MAC
• Flash memory upgrade capability via USB
• ARM Serial Wire Debug (SWD) interface (Remote board)
• Designed to be powered by USB or with 2 AAA batteries (Remote board)
• Two user-defined LEDs (green and yellow)
• Five push buttons to create easy-to-use remote functions (Remote board)
• Interoperable with other STM32W tool boards to enlarge wireless network capabilities
• 802.15.4, ZigBee RF4CE wireless protocols
• discontinued