Hi It's new project time again and today I'm looking for a micro controller I'm pretty micro controller agnostic I don't care which one I use as long as it meets several requirements that I have. Now, the requirements that I have are: a it's got to be low power because I'm targeting a really low power single battery design. So we're talking like a year battery life kind of stuff, right? We're talking like really low power. Uh two.

it's got to have an LCD controller built in uh up to I think a 73 at current count 73 segments so it's got to support. You know, a reasonably uh complex LCD built in I could use an external uh LCD controller of course, but that's an extra bomb item. extra cost, Everything else nicer if it's built into the microcontroller. But if I can't get a suitable microcontroller with the number of uh LCD driver segments, building columns arose.

haven't figured out by columns and rows yet? I've done an LCD design video which I'll link in if you haven't seen it. how to design your own custom LCD and I'll be doing that again for this uh project as well. So you can probably see that in the future. So it's got to drive up to, you know, over 70 uh LCD segments.

And the third major requirement is actually, uh, multiple 32-bit timers, internal timers. Now this doesn't necessarily mean I have to go to a 32-bit microcontroller. You know everyone's going to, you know, a day. just use.

Um, okay, right, you don't. You can possibly even there might I don't know offhand if there's an 8-bit micro with a 32-bit timer built in. Usually you don't get a 32-bit timer in a microcontroller unless they're like it's a dedicated 30-bit 2-bit uh, micro? Uh, perhaps. But usually you'll get like, maybe a 16-bit timer.

and often you can actually Cascade The two of those, uh together to give you a 32-bit uh timer. So you know multiple 16 bit timers is okay, as long as they are cascadable. Uh, and then you've got, uh, prescalers and stuff like that. we might go into that.

other um, things to do with the timer. So I want two high resolution timers? Uh Hardware timers? Uh, to do some dedicated counting and it won't fit the count thing that I'm counting won't fit in 16 bits. So I really need that? uh, 32-bit uh count? So you know there's ways to get around. Like if you've only got a 16-bit counter, there's ways to get around it.

But yeah, no. I just want like a 32-bit timer. So I can't remember the last time I needed a 32-bit timer in a microcontroller. It may be never.

Um, oh I wouldn't say that. but yeah. I I can't remember the last time I think I cascaded to uh 16-bit timers I Don't think I've ever used an actual dedicated Hardware 32-bit timer. Now when I first think of a microcontroller that has LCD and ultra low power I'm thinking of the Ti MSP 430 of course.

Absolute Classic I'm also thinking of uh, the Pic 24f series for example, which I've used before in many projects and stuff. maybe even the Pick 32 series. but I think I'd be surprised if I couldn't find something in like a pick uh 16 series because I'm pretty sure the pix16 series from memory has uh, cascadable 16-bit uh timers in it. but I don't know if any uh 8-bit uh micro.

Actually, you know the 8-Bit picks or or whatever actually have a um, multiple cascadable 16-bit timers cut off off hand rusty old memory I don't actually remember. So we're going to do some parametric searching today to see if we can find it now. I'm open to pretty much any brand uh, micro, but I don't want Overkill it's not going to be running fast. it's probably only going to be running at a megahertz or something like that, right? So not fast um at all.

But I want it to be low power so any low power sleep modes any any sort of you know, any funky like LCD uh, like low power LCD stuff and other things are built in that'd be really nice. So I'm going to go to uh digikey here I mean the micro controls section and basically one of the things because one of the main requirements is that 32-bit timer. I'm just looking through the parametric search here and it might so none of them even show timer right. It's not a thing that they have in the parametric search and certainly not.

Um, you know, telling you whether or not it's like 32-bit capable. So really? Um, you know, like in search for LCD Like you can get ones for that, have LCD and stuff like that and you can't separate these so it's yeah, it's pretty much useless. Um, in fact, totally useless. Let's go to Mouser and see if they're any better.

Um, they separate them into uh, 16 bits so we can go into 16-bit micros here. for example. Uh, because you stand more of a chance to get you. uh, timer.

Now let's see what peripherals you know ADC and stuff like that, right? And I do a number of I O pins I don't need many I O pins apart from all the pins required. of course for the LCD of course I don't need 70 plus pins for the LCD because the LCD would be multiplexed. It'll have uh Commons and lines as well. So I could easily get away with like a 44 pin quad flat pack or something like that.

um, and memory and memory. and RAM it really doesn't matter. This is not a complicated, uh project application which I've got in mind here. So yeah, you know, a few km memory is probably enough, really.

But yeah, we got absolutely nothing here. in uh, the parametric search for that I could go try. You know, Element 14 and all the rest of it, but nah nah. This is the kind of thing when you're searching for specific individual peripherals like this and they're important in your parametric searches.

You really do want to go straight to the manufacturer's website. but hey, this is 2023. let's ask chat GPT let's see if chat GPT Version 4 knows Of course it doesn't have like live data like recent, but you know a couple of year old data is fine. List all the microcontrollers that have internal 32-bit timers.

Let's give it a go. There are many microcontrollers available on the market with internal 32-bit timer as well. It's difficult to list every single one. Here are some of the more popular controllers that have internal 32-bit timers: Stm32 Arm Cortex yeah, like it's that's Arm Cortex is uh Overkill well may not be um, that pick 32 Series Yeah, the Mips are called by microchip.

Yep. Particular examples: so GPT knows the TVC series by TI Um, the Nxp LPC series The Ml Sam series which is another context expressive on tensilia. Okay, Renaissance um. Cortex calls silicon Labs EFM 32 Is that that's the gecko? or is the Gecko the smaller series I can never remember Infinium Cyprus Keep in mind that this is not exhaustive and there are many other micros that feature 30 Additionally, new, Magnetically? Yeah.

I'll ask her specifically. Are there any 8-bit microcontrollers with internal 32-bit timers? Yes, there are a bit microcontrollers with internal 32-bit timers? although less common than there'd be with 32-bit time. Few include Appmail at Mega series. Really? 18 Mega 64 128 They got a 32-bit counter timer.

Do they? I didn't know that Pick 18 series. Oh okay. They've got have 8-bit architecture and offer a 32-bit timer. Chat Gpt4 is low.

Thank you. I Will review the data sheet because I didn't think that the 18 Mega 128 had a 32-bit timer in it. Two 8-bit timers with separate prescalers and compare modes to expand a 16-bit Time account as a separate prescaler. Compare modes and compare modes.

Okay, you might be able to join those to expanded 16-bit timer counters. I I Don't think I've ever. I've only used like an app mail uh, once or twice at the Micro controller level and I don't recall having to use the 16-bit timer in it. So yeah, I'm not really seeing the 32-bit can we do 32-bit Uh.

AV Instructions are 32 bits wide. No, there's nothing else in there. 32-bit No. 32 Dash bit 32-bit instruction 32-bit ID Register nut.

Not. There's nothing about using the timer as a 32-bit timer. so the AI is wrong. And let's try this.

Uh, pick 18. Uh, the 18 f25 K40 Geez, Could they made it more more convoluted? It's got a watchdog timer. Three 8-bit timers, four 16-bit timers. Okay, but can we do? Can they be cascaded as 32-bit timers? Hardware Hardware Limit timer Hardware Monitoring fault detection Cool Bananas: 8-bit uh pre-charge time No, that's for the capacitive touch oscillator Startup timer Four 16-bit timers search for 32-bit no 32 Dash bit 32 Result: 32b Okay, it's got a hardware multiplier.

Uh wow. Really? in the 18f series? didn't know that? uh nah nah I didn't really. Just just the multiply result. That's it.

It's not related to the timer I don't think so. Yeah, nah. So we're probably gonna have to go to like a up it to a 16 bit. But as said, once you're after specific requirements for something like a timer like that, um, you really need to go to the manufacturer's parametric search.

So uh, let's go to TI here. So let's view all products and does this? Give us the parametric search? It does. It does and we can filter all filters over here. Timers: 16 bit There you go.

I Was going to look under peripherals but uh no, it's They've got a separate thing down here because I know like oh, they have up to six. Okay, so there you go. You want at least two? Let let's say four timers, Four 16 but it looks like we're only going to get 16 bit timers as I suspected. Uh, as my memory, uh, served me correctly, we can go across here 16-bit timers.

There you go. Sorry, my head's in the way, but you can see that that column there. We can get five or six timers. That's pretty groovy.

Uh, 16-bit timers and I'm pretty sure that they can be uh, cascaded to a 32-bit timer. Six 16-bit timers without the seven capture compare registers 32-bit CRC That's pretty groovy. No, it looks like we'd have to go to the timer section to actually, uh, figure to actually see it. Sometimes you're not.

Oh, I'm not gonna. I'm not getting it on a keyword search based. certainly. don't tell you what the top level of the data sheet, which is not very handy is.

but I'm pretty sure from memory, the Msp430 timer can be cascaded. Let's have a look timer. B So there's your timers down there. seven capture compare registers.

Uh, it looks like it's got internal external as well timer a timer B input. And then you start getting into the complexities as we might look at of the internal architecture of the timers and where it can get its clocks from them, prescalers, and all sorts of things like that. so it gets messy. but I'm I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, without getting bogged down in the the details, I'm pretty sure you can Cascade The 16-bit timers in here to do 32-bit but maybe not this one. This is an ultrasonic sensing for water metering applications. It looks like they've got. You'd probably have to choose the like the specific one.

Okay, so yeah, nah okay. let's I Certainly wouldn't rule that out, but let's go over to Microchip and see what they've got. Now let's explore this. 16-bit micros here and which I've used before? Uh, product selection guide? That's what we want.

Is that our parametric search? No, it's PDF Ah, Clocks and timers? There You go. 16 32-bit there and they've all got them. They've all got them and the entire Pick 24 range. I Thought they had more than that.

Uh, timers? Yeah. General purpose 16 32-bit timer with compare capability. Yep, that looks pretty groovy. But I Also want one with uh segment? um LCD as well.

So what I actually want is this segment LCD over here Is that. How does that work? Does that? That doesn't click? It's broken. What? Graphics LCD What? It's broken anyway? Uh, we've got the LCD segments so we can have up to 200 like we could. That's plenty.

256 is absolutely plenty. So let's go look at a pic24f the Gl30x that's the Geo family. Low pin count value line segment LCD USB I Don't need USB Don't need any of that. Uh, comparators? Um, no, don't really need comparators.

Uh, and these are all extra low power. Oh hello. Feature core independent peripheral LCD with autonomous animation I need that. It allows you to like toggle between different states.

Like if you've got a clock or something, it flashes and it looks like you can do that in the LCD module. You don't have to do that in code. I'm sold I'm sold. Um, hats off to Microchip Marketing I Don't know how you would find that? Let us know.

leave it in. comments down below. If any other micros with LCD capability have this um autonomous animation thing, Most display applications involve a few common animations like blinking periodically, alternating between displays and blanking of pixels. By using the integrated LCD drive with autonomous animation, you can offload most of these animation routines from the CPU.

This allows you to enable animation in power saving modes while the CPU is in dose, idle, or sleep modes fit. This is exactly what I want like. You flash things off and on and you can actually switch between I Wonder if they got like a mapping for two entire displays? and you can? Actually it looks like you can presumably however many segments you got. you know your 256 segments it.

It has dual mapping and it'll just automatically switch between those. So you load up both memory maps with the info you want and it can just toggle between them. Wow! I'm sold. Hang on.

I might be sold further. Quickly design a display interface with Mplab co-configurer MCC Reduce your display design time to minimize the help of MCA eliminates the meticulous and time consuming testing. Map in the pins and segments allows you to import display icons. Ah, I Am sold Ding-A-Ling Winner Winner chicken dinner Um I I'm going to stop looking now I'm going to stop looking I'm I am sold Ultra Loud power Ultra sleep.

Yeah. Battery friendly also. we got it. it meets the requirements.

It's Ultra Loud power. Oh, by the way I forgot. it'd be nice if it also had an internal real-time clock as well with an external watch uh Crystal as well so that it can keep the time. That would be nice I can always use an external chip for that.

That's not a deal breaker, but uh I'm I'm sold I haven't used this configurer thing. Learn more about the MCC It looks like it's not okay. Co-configure Yeah no. I I think I might have, um, touched on this before, but yeah, having use the LCD one, it does other things.

not just uh LCD and then it'll have different peripheral stuff that allows you just a nice gooey interface that allows you to actually configure everything. And one of the annoying things about LCD designs is actually as they said, map in those segments in especially if you're multiplexing the displays. If that takes care of all that, you save it. Save a day's work just digging around with that.

So GL 302 segment LCDs are 42 42 segments. That's not enough. 80 will cover it I don't need 64k a memory, but you know that's that's what you end up with, right? Uh, 36 pin count, right? So it can map 80 segments so that's low. That's low pin count? No.

USB don't need it. Um, it looks like now it looks like they've got more devices. Why can't you show me the whole lot? View all parametrics. They keep changing that.

Oh this is. oh this has got one of these: Jazzy thingama Bobs Okay, there's nine Parts in this series so you know it's not like the configure is a huge amount of help. Actually, let's go up here. We want a minimum 71.5 75 I think I might be able to get away with 75.

I really don't want like hundreds of segments so let's like narrow the range like that. we got no we still got nine Parts what? and uh. pricing. Not too concerned about pricing but might as well go for like the cheapest dollar.

ninety. Uh, 24 Fj1 28 GL 303 It's got 80 segments which is enough and no no. USB interface. That's fine.

Don't care about Adc's uh pin count? uh 36 36 pin Joby eight AK a ram and tons. It looks like it's that one that's a winner. Winner chicken dinner. Let's look at: 24 FJ 64g l303 Can we actually buy that? Can we buy it? First thing you do before you design the PCB Pro Tip: Before you design the PCB audio parts, make sure you can get them.

search I've had this problem. Digikey like just takes forever. Give me bloody Mouser 630 in stock Two bucks 90 one off 340 no stock of that one. Whoa.

Yep, not going to design in one that's only got those so you know I want like 10 000 in stock please? And not that I plan on making 10 000 but you know it's it's the vibe. What I'm going to do is I'm going to expand it a bit so that uh I can get more of a selection of Parts because maybe the higher pin count jobbies are going to be better. Look if I just search for uh, the 64 GL let's just search for that and don't worry about the ones afterwards. There we go.

4 800 in stock. Now we're talking another 10 000 expected of the first of the first 24. Hope you don't want to make any more than that. Um, but yeah, so you you might buy the 4800 now.

Yeah. 64 pin quad flat pack? No worries. Did your key finally worked? We've got 2 000 stock here for the 302. Oh no, that's probably not going to have that's not going to have enough pins.

The 306 here? 1200 in stock. Let's go for the 128 GL series. Maybe we'll actually get with more memory. You know, like you might go for the slightly pricier, higher priced part.

Um, if it's more available if it's more readily available. And here we go: 11 000 stock. Now we're talking the 24 FJ 128 GL 306 I'll take that one thank you very much. Um, how much is that? Uh, three bikes, two bucks, 62 in, uh 1200.

No workers, right? So we can get them Okay I'm gonna run with that for now. So 128gl 306 family data sheet dead man timer for monitoring health of software Nice! Yeah, it's it's really Overkill but it's got 32 segments by eight Commons with up to 256 pixels. Absolutely plenty. It's got the LCD charge pump don't need anything uh, separate, uh, core independent LCD animation.

So it's got that animation thing that cool funky animation feature which is really nice. Don't care about it, but it ends. You know it got all the extremely low power. like you know, half a dozen different uh, low power modes and stuff like that.

Uh, does it have a real time clock? Yes. Hardware real-time clock calendar I'm liking this. This is look like a winner winner chicken dinner. But yeah, as I said, like the smaller 80 one would probably do the business.

but if you can't get it, it might be better to actually design in the larger footprint. In fact, this is probably an example of where we might be able to design in dual Footprints so that uh, because the picks are going to be fairly pin compatible. so you actually put in the Dual footprint and you populate whichever one you can actually get and then you can just generate two uh, binaries and program whichever part you happen to be able to get. Because one's going to be physically larger, one's going to be like the 64 pin.

uh, Joby isn't it? and one's going to be like the 44 pin or something. And maybe the 44 pin footprint will fit inside the 64. that'd be interesting to have the Dual Footprints in there and you could have one inside the other and just join them. You know, short them out and populate whichever one you can actually get because we're still in the component crisis and probably forever will be now.

Okay, Time in Modules: Uh provides five independent, general purpose 16-bit timers, four of which can be combined into two 32-bit timers. Winner. The device also includes five or five multiple output events. Uh, capture.

Compare modules. Well, let's go to the Timer videotape, shall we? Time is two, three, four, and five. Okay, oh, look, uh. refer to timers.

They've got a dedicate. They give you a link. This is really good. So here you go: They give you the document a dedicated document just for the timers.

so this might provide you know more detailed information. So yeah, you know we've got the prescaler. Um, do we have a a second dedicated Uh clock input? So we can actually have an external clock? but they had. do they have an external oscillator? We might actually have to go back to the individual data sheet.

Here they are: they're configuring timers uh, two and three or four and five to give you a 32-bit Um output is that it can tie into the ADC as well. but I don't know? Need any of that? then? Then there's the capture compare modules as well. Uh, timer, clock, uh, generator. So all the different clock sources readily available.

Diagram that shows me time-based generator clock sources For the capture compare timer modules, it looks like it has tons of flexibility, trigger, and sync logic as well. Might be needing that. Aha. here's the family clock diagram.

This might, uh, tell us. Yeah, it's got a secondary oscillator here. Secondary oscillator enabled the post scalar frequency to CPU Yeah, and that can go through to the MS capture compare modules which is part of the timer modules. Uh, goes to the peripherals as well.

Viral. Divide by two. So yeah, it looks like we can switch through a secondary oscillator or will the secondary oscillator. Uh, that's a low power RC oscillator.

Okay, oh no, that that's the internal low power. So maybe if you use a main oscillator, a secondary oscillator, a secondary oscillator for the time, you probably can't then have the real-time clock one as well. So you might have used the secondary one for the uh, real-time clock. Oh yeah, there it is.

Secondary oscillator goes off to the Rtcc there. so if you're using the real-time clock counter, if you've got a 32 kilohertz watch, Uh, Crystal just for that. Um, that goes off to the Rtcc, then you can't unless you happen to use that frequency. Maybe Let me think about that one.

I might be able to actually? yeah, yeah, I might be able to I might be able to use the Rtcc I might be able to use the 32.768 kilohertz watch crystal to not only Power the Rtcc that I want, but also um, as an input via this mux here to go into my timer anyway. I'm liking the look of this. We're gonna win a chicken dinner I think I found my part. not maybe not this exact part.

you know. I'm loving the sound of that configurable. um LCD I Know a lot of other manufacturers. People are probably screaming in the comments down below.

we can do this on um I can do this on St and maybe yeah. Go ahead, leave it in the comments down below. I Know, Um, please. Seriously like yeah.

Put, you know, if you've got a nice micro down there that's low power supports you know, 32-bit uh, flexible 32-bit timer capabilities. uh, real-time clock and can drive um, you know 70 plus segment LCD as well. Um, leave it in the comments I can probably do it on the Msp430 as I uh said because it's I I'm pretty sure the two 16-bit timers can be configured into one Cascade into 132-bit So anyway, there you go. And please let me know if there is a parametric search function that can go across manufacturers that will find an individual peripheral like a timer there might be I don't know.

Anyway, that was fun and that's what I'm doing with this new project anytime. I'm kind of like doing something on it I might just press record here and just um, you know there's no formal design process. it's just whatever I happen to be aspect of it I happen to be working on I'll probably just uh shoot and record a video if I can. and if you enjoy me doing this sort of stuff I Know these types of videos don't get you know a huge number of views um the enclosure one I released yesterday it's doing yeah not.

you know it's because people have like specific needs but if you like these sorts of design projecty type videos of stuff I'm just working I happen to be like doing some real work here. the phone in stuff. If you like me doing these kind of videos, please give the engagement with the thumbs up. subscribe Bell notification although I've done a video on how the Bell notifications Bs anyway um yeah, hope you enjoyed it.

Catch you next time.