SAM MCU Questions

[rcbuck]

Microchip bought Atmel and they now have the SAM controllers. I came here to ask questions as I am sure there is more knowledge about SAM parts here than on the Microchip forum.

If I wanted to start experimenting with the SAM ARM controllers, what would be the best approach from a software and hardware standpoint? Does Atmel Studio fully support the parts? What parts are available and do any of them support Ethernet? What development board(s) would be good to purchase for learning the parts?

And the final question - Is going down the SAM path the wrong path to pursue?

I tried finding information on the Microchip product page but it is a mess. They seem to be totally confused about the SAM parts.

[ataradov]

Disclaimer: I work for Microchip.

If I wanted to start experimenting with the SAM ARM controllers, what would be the best approach from a software and hardware standpoint?

That depends on your current level and what style of development you like with other MCUs. There are multiple options. It also depends on the part you select. Newer parts are only supported by Atmel Start (http://start.atmel.com).

Does Atmel Studio fully support the parts?

Yes, AS is the only IDE at the moment that supports all the SAM part.

What parts are available and do any of them support Ethernet?

SAM family has a wide range of devices. If you are specifically looking for Ethernet capability, have a look at SAM E54 or E70.

What development board(s) would be good to purchase for learning the parts?

That depends on the part ou end up using. SAM boards typically have "Xplained" in the name. So once you have the MCU name, for example SAM E54, then simply search "SAM E54 Xplained".

And the final question - Is going down the SAM path the wrong path to pursue?

Depends on what you want to do.

I tried finding information on the Microchip product page but it is a mess. They seem to be totally confused about the SAM parts.

What do you mean?

PS: I have a number of simple bare-metal starter projects for SAM MCUs - https://github.com/ataradov/mcu-starter-projects

[ajb]

I tried finding information on the Microchip product page but it is a mess. They seem to be totally confused about the SAM parts.

I don't know what the logic is behind the different SAM subfamily breakdowns, but you can start here: https://www.microchip.com/ParamChartSearch/chart.aspx?branchID=211

Under "CPU Type" select all of the Cortex M options, this will show you all of the SAM (ARM) parts.  Then scroll to the right and select the ethernet-enabled parts, and what ever other peripherals you want.

Unfortunately Atmel/Microchip don't have anything like the selection of inexpensive and nicely featured dev boards that, say ST has, but there are some options.  If you want Ethernet on board it looks like your options are:
- ATSAME54-XPRO
- ATSAME70-XPLD
- ATSAMV71-XULT
- ATSAM4E-XPRO

[westfw]

Microchip bought Atmel and they now have the SAM controllers. I came here to ask questions as I am sure there is more knowledge about SAM parts here than on the Microchip forum.

There's also the previously-existing Atmel Smart ARM Community.  YMMV; it seems somewhat less than helpful (more questions than answers.)
Assorted "Modern" Arduino-like boards have SAM procssors Arduino Due is a SAM3x, Arduino Zero (and many similar) is a SAMD21 , Adafruit has the "Metro M4" with the new SAMD51.   None of these have ethernet at the board level (SAM3x has an ethernet Mac on the chip, but they didn't add the Phy or connector.)https://www.microchipdirect.com/product/search/all/ATSAME54-XPRO is probably a good board with ethernet, at the high end.
I'd generally rate the Atmel "roadmap" for the SAM processors as a bit "confusing."  They stretch from Unix-capable Cortex-A chips to 14-pin CM0+ chips, and it's a bit difficult to gauge where their attention is.  SAM3X is already NRND, and Atmel had ARM7 and ARM9 chips as well.  OTOH, this tends to be a problem with most ARM chip vendors; and ARM themselves - there's always a new core in the pipeline with important new features...  (OTOH, I'm just a hobbyists, so I haven't had the opportunity to quiz Microchip management on their intents.   General opinion seems to be that getting a jump-start on ARM was one of the reasons that they acquired Atmel in the first place.)
The "Xplained Pro" boards are pretty nice development boards with a relatively powerful built-in debugger.The "Xplained Mini" boards have a slower debugger chip, and are much cheaper.

[Mechatrommer]

PS: I have a number of simple bare-metal starter projects for SAM MCUs - https://github.com/ataradov/mcu-starter-projects

1) what IDE you used to compile that code? Atmel Studio?
2) i see there are few files/library in include folder for each sample. is it a part from a bigger/complete library, or is it already a complete library? where does the library come from?

[ataradov]

1) what IDE you used to compile that code? Atmel Studio?

There are projects for Atmel Studio and plain Makefiles for command line builds.

2) i see there are few files/library in include folder for each sample. is it a part from a bigger/complete library, or is it already a complete library? where does the library come from?

Those are device header files. They come from corresponding device packs provided by Atmel/Microchip. This is not really a library, it is just a description of all peripherals, registers and bits. Device packs include more stuff, but this represent what is actually useful.

[technix]

If you have a daring soul, you can try use straight GCC as your toolchain, vanilla Eclipse CDT + GNU MCU Eclipse as your IDE, and grab a cheap USB JTAG adapter that is supported by OpenOCD. ATSAM chips are standard ARM Cortex-M, so if you can get past the peripheral register descriptions you can ditch Atmel Studio or MPLAB X entirely.

[rcbuck]

ataradov, thanks for the replies. Putting "Xplained" in the name helps.

Depends on what you want to do

I was just concerned that the SAM parts would not continue to mature with new parts being released. As westfw says, the "roadmap" is a little confusing.

What do you mean

I was having trouble finding development boards. It would be nice if the SAM boards were put in a separate category and not mixed in with the Microchip 32 bit parts When I found a couple of the SAM boards and clicked the data sheet link, it just took me back to Microchip's main page.

I was mainly interested in Ethernet functionality. I did see somewhere that one of the boards came pre-programmed with a web server apllication. I will have to go back and try to find that board.

[ajb]

Sometimes it's easier to go to your distributor of choice and filter for dev boards by manufacturer (microchip) and architecture (ARM).  That will give you the SAM boards, but of course there won't be as much useful info there as you'll find on the Microchip website.

[ataradov]

I was just concerned that the SAM parts would not continue to mature with new parts being released. As westfw says, the "roadmap" is a little confusing.

I would not use "old" parts in new designs. Parts like SAM3, SAM4. But there is no reason to worry about SAM D/E/G/C/L. This is a new generation of parts and they will be around.

I was having trouble finding development boards. It would be nice if the SAM boards were put in a separate category and not mixed in with the Microchip 32 bit parts When I found a couple of the SAM boards and clicked the data sheet link, it just took me back to Microchip's main page.

This is just a reflection of internal Microchip structure. MCU32 BU handles all the parts, they are all sort of equal in this respect. But, yes, it makes it harder to search by core type, if you know exactly what you mean. The search is optimized to find the right functionality provided you don't care about the core.