STM32 Roadmap?

[Debugging]

More information related to the title of this topic:

https://live.vhall.com/v3/special/detail?id=744067034

You can view the ST Event in China last week, There is English translation for the key note, click on "English" after selecting the video
Unfortunately, no PDF slides.(yet?)

ST seems to to a better marketing job with much more detail for the folks in China than for those elsewhere. Perhaps there are more product design house customers there than anywhere else ?

Hard to find, but there is the STM32MP2 series announcement with 2x GB, USB 3.0 and 4 lane MIPI (at least that is what Yahoo news said about MIPI and  it is not in the ST flyer, so Yahoo seem to know more than what is on the ST website)
Personally, don't prefer such marketing practices with very limited detail. Why not just get over it, announce the whole feature spec at once with a roadmap of availability  instead of a half baked flyer.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stmicroelectronics-introduces-second-generation-industry-070000434.html

[Debugging]

AND AS USUAL  THE SAME ANSWER.

This is becoming a systemic issue. ST changed to use a BOT  that checks IP or bases to auto-reject  ?


We appreciate your interest in our workshop on STM32H5: Ultimate combination of performance, integration and affordability, taking place on Tuesday, May 23, 2023.

As you may be aware, this is a complimentary workshop with limited seating. Registrations are based on space availability. Due to an overwhelming response, our capacity has been reached and, unfortunately, we are unable to confirm your registration.

If you have any questions, please contact us on the dedicated ST Community.

[Eternauta]

The peripherals of the new microprocessor family are truly complete. There is also PCIe and LVDS

https://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/campaigns/microprocessor-stm32mp2.html?icmp=tt32627_gl_pron_may2023

[Debugging]

Per the ST "Event" this week, MP2's will now become (more) available in 2025. It seems only some customer have some on hand. So that will be 2 years from announcement to actual availability, whatever this "availability" may actually mean. (retail ?). and still no USB 3.0... These two slides are everything that seems available now regarding MP2.

[mark03]

Wow, is the event over now?  I was just on the STM32 product page and I see the new STM32U0 series listed, but nothing else.  That could be interesting.

OTOH, none of the cutting edge stuff that I listed last year (see below) is even in vaporware phase, except for STM32N6 which has now been in "pre-launch" for TWO YEARS without even a data brief to summarize what is inside.  This suggests they are having real problems getting new silicon out the door.

I will continue to use STM32 for the foreseeable future because I can't stomach having to reverse-engineer undocumented MCUs from China just to make them work.  I am starting to suspect, however, that ST made a strategic decision to cede the MCU market to others, and is just milking their current portfolio for as long as they can.  The future is bleak

ARM must also be worried.  For anyone keeping track, it has now been more than *four* years since Cortex M55 was announced and there is still no silicon from the big players, not even pre-release announcements, unless you count coprocessors on Cortex A's.  We do have M85 from Renesas but no hint of competition from anyone else.  This is a much longer product cycle than M7 which makes you wonder if the new cores with Helium will ever see the light of day.

So the deadline is past, and although I don't have time to sit through a 1.5-hour video, I did take a look at the STM32 product page and tried a google news search for "stm32" and I don't see much in the way of new MCU development.  (The new MPUs are interesting to some, I guess.)

Still no Cortex M55 or M85 parts with the Helium SIMD.  Nothing with neural coprocess (Ethos).  Nothing exciting on the process front either (anyone remember FDSOI?).  No foray into RISC-V either.  I would need at least one of those to pique my interest.

Everyone knows there is a long lag time between ARM's announcement of new cores and real silicon, but if you compare with Cortex M7, this has already been a longer wait than normal---the M55 was unveiled more than three years ago, and there are still not even vaporware new-product announcements from ST.

That being said, they promised an update on the supply situation... Did anyone tune in to hear what they had to say?  Just being able to buy parts from their current product line would be fantastic in the near term.  But IMO a lack of new products in the pipeline bodes ill for the future.

[IOsetting]

STM32F103 and STM32F407 still work perfectly in most applications, with plenty of alternative chips in the market, I don't see a reason to move to new product lines. As for Arm and ST, their biggest challenge comes from RISC-V. The market has been quite different in China mainland after the pandemic.

[grantb5]

STM32F103 and STM32F407 still work perfectly in most applications, with plenty of alternative chips in the market, I don't see a reason to move to new product lines. As for Arm and ST, their biggest challenge comes from RISC-V. The market has been quite different in China mainland after the pandemic.

Entering this STM32 MCU game late, I was taught on the F103, but realize that's very old now. I really like the U5 series, but it's just way too big a leap for me at this point. What was the roadmap after the F4?  I get the impression it was F1 -> F4 but then what? I'd like to make a couple of generational leaps from the F1 without going too crazy. My primary usage is basic USB peripheral, but I have a LOT of stuff hanging off of GPIOs, so I appreciate things like BSRR and bit-banding (the latter of which seems to have disappeared somewhere along the line).

[SiliconWizard]

STM32F103 and STM32F407 still work perfectly in most applications, with plenty of alternative chips in the market, I don't see a reason to move to new product lines.

I don't know what "most applications" mean. This kind of assertion is always odd. What is the definition of "most applications"?
STM32 MCUs have made big gaps in terms of performance and, particularly, power consumption in more recent series than the venerable F1 and F4. If low-power is a requirement, then the F1 and F4 are certainly out of the equation, so in itself is a good reason for considering more recent series.

There are alternatives for sure, but again, when it comes to low-power and the L4/L5/U5 series, not that many either. Very few actually that come even close.

I somehow would translate your above assertion to "STM32F103 and STM32F407 can be had dirt cheap in China and we don't see any reason to use any more recent STM products, as they are much more costly for us. And we don't particularly care for low power anyway."

And with that said, with anything that doesn't require ultra-low power, I now like the WCH RISC-V-based products, but their peripherals tend not to be as flexible as what we get on STM32 MCUs in general, at least the more recent ones, as WCH tends to "clone" STM32 peripherals from older generations.

[IOsetting]

If low-power is a requirement, then the F1 and F4 are certainly out of the equation, so in itself is a good reason for considering more recent series.
There are alternatives for sure, but again, when it comes to low-power and the L4/L5/U5 series, not that many either. Very few actually that come even close.

You are right, low-power is a con of old series.

I somehow would translate your above assertion to "STM32F103 and STM32F407 can be had dirt cheap in China and we don't see any reason to use any more recent STM products, as they are much more costly for us. And we don't particularly care for low power anyway."

It's not quite true that, in addition to price, we also need to consider the stability of the supplier's delivery as well as alternative options in extreme cases.  If we put our bets on ST's new product line, there will be a significant risk.