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LatticeNEWS June 2007

Contents

Enhancements Improve Popular LatticeMico32 "Soft" Microprocessor

A host of new features make the LatticeMico32 easier to use and increase user productivity.

Coincident with the latest release of ispLEVER 7.0, Lattice is updating the LatticeMico32 open source soft microprocessor. Additional peripherals, RTOS support and improvements to the compiler promise to broaden the usage of this already popular microprocessor.

New DDR2 and SPI Wishbone Peripherals

Two new peripherals, a DDR2 memory controller and a SPI memory controller have been added to the Mico System Builder (MSB). This new capability allows designers to use the MSB graphical interface to add these peripherals to the Wishbone bus used by the LatticeMico32. With these two additions the following peripherals may easily be added to a LatticeMico32 design from within the MSB environment:

  • Asynchronous SRAM
  • DDR1 memory 
  • DDR2 memory
  • On-chip block memory
  • 32-bit timer
  • SPI Interface
  • SPI Memory controller
  • Tri-Speed Ethernet Media Access Controller 
  • UART
  • DMA controller 
  • GPIO 
  • I2C master controller 

 

MSB

Quickly Implement Wishbone Peripherals Using MSB

µiTRON RTOS Support

Many designers desire to use a Real Time Operating System (RTOS) with their microprocessor. To meet this need, Lattice has been working to ensure that LatticeMico32 support is available for the most popular RTOS. In this release, support for the µiTRON RTOS has been added. This complements the Micrium’s µC/OS-II RTOS support that had been previously announced.

More Efficient and Flexible Compile Options

Code store memory is a precious commodity in many embedded systems, especially for designers who use FPGA block memory for this purpose. To minimize code store memory requirements, the LatticeMico32 compiler can now use the “Small C” library, which results in code size reductions of up to 80%. In addition, for designers who want to compile their code outside of the LatticeMico32 Software Project Environment a standard “Make” flow is now supported.

LCD Demo Code

Many desingers utilize small character LCDs for their designs. The LatticeMico32 has a peripheral to allow the quick interfacing of these displays into their designs. In this release some example code that drives this display allows users to more rapidly use this style of display with their systems.

LCD Panel

Demo Code Allows Easy Use of LCD Display