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Improved performance 5V Arduino Nano/Mega compatible

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DC1MC:
HEAVY EDIT:

This project initially wanted to produce an f Arduino NANO compatible board with an Nuvoton M0 core, that after a good investigation by the thread participants has been replaced with cheaper and more capable Cortex-M4F core.
After important and useful feedback from the forum members, I've decided to design two boards as described:

Nanoton:
Arduino Nano compatible micro-USB connector, 30 pins, if everything goes well, is should be a performance/features increased drop-in replacement.

Nanonton+:
New design, software compatible with Nanoton (same MCU), USB-C connector, with more pins exported (for the EIB bus), an RGB led, 2 or 3 push-buttons besides the RST.

Because of consistency and price (currently 1.66USD) on BOTH boards the M471SE6AE (LQFP64: Body Size 7 mm x 7 mm, Pin Pitch 0.4 mm)

Full data sheet: https://www.nuvoton.com/export/resource-files/DS_M471M_M471R1_M471S_Series_EN_Rev1.00.pdf
(attached here as well for convenience)

Development kit: https://direct.nuvoton.com/en/numaker-m471r1 for whom lives in Germany and want to contribute to the SW development, I can order extra, to spare transport costs.
The manufacturer offers Eclipse/GCC based development IDE and packages for all the big contenders (Keil, IAR, ...). Also there is a pin configurator and a programming program, both graphical and command line.

On both boards, there will be only one MCU, no USB to serial converter, as the MCU is capable of ICP/IAP programming, host and device USB.

For "blanco" devices, the 6pin header will contain the SWD interface, used both for programming and debugging, I will attempt to produce an Arduino IDE compatible bootloader, using the IAP feature to program it over the USB port.

I initially wanted to use 48pin package with 0.8 pitch for the Nanonton, but is actually physically bigger and who can't solder 0.4, will not be able to manually solder 0.8 as well, we'll leave this job to machines  ^-^.

Deliverables will be the zip archives to be given to JLCPB or whoever offers services, I may even try the assembly service of JLCPCB.

Please let me know what you think about it and contribute with advice for the BOM and extra add-on like RTC battery/supercap and so on.

 Cheers,
 DC1MC

EDIT: The development kit and 10 samples have arrived, pictures attached.

fchk:
For me the need for 5V operation is shrinking. Most things are 3V3 anyway now.

For the few times where 5V operation made sense I used PIC24FV and dsPIC33EV. The dsPIC33EV runs at 140 MHz internal oscillator clock/70 MHz instruction clock, has up to 256k flash, up to 16k RAM, CAN, LIN, Motor control PWM, SENT, is Automotive qualified and is qualified to run even at 150°C (with only 40MHz instruction clock above 125°C). It's meant for power electronics where 5V outputs can drive larger power MOSFETs without needing extra gate drivers. Internally these chips run at 1.8 or 2.5V, only the IO ring uses the 5V supply directly. This is an example where 5V still makes sense.

I'd drop the 5V requirement and use level shifters if absolutely necessary.

And no, I'm not an Arduino user. I usually use the vendor tools directly.

fchk

DC1MC:
@fchk - well, for me the need for 5V is there and growing  :-//, there are tons of Arduinos compatibles at 3V3 with STM32 and other chips, mostly nobody cares of them.
 On the other hand, the dsPIC33EV series, while a seemingly capable chip, has a bit of disadvantages: expensive, no real free toolchain for everybody and, oh God, the strange architecture, and most of all: Mouser when asked to show "Auf Lager" says "Es tut uns leid, für "dsPIC33EV" gibt es keine Ergebnisse." And that's a 52 weeks lead time from a main manufacturer and distributor for possible candidates from the series.

I don't contest that for some industrial or targeted professional projects they may be ideal, but Arduino is the proletariat option  :-DD.

But you did give me an idea, I will place a 3V3 regulator + a jumper or solder bridge, the chip seem to work at both voltages, so that should broaden the appeal of it  ^-^.

Cheers,
DC1MC
 

Infraviolet:
I agree that 5V is useful, but for a lot of things digital lines can all just be put through a MOSFET based level shifter to convert between 3V3 and 5V (works for input and output purposes).

DC1MC:

--- Quote from: Infraviolet on February 02, 2023, 10:25:12 pm ---I agree that 5V is useful, but for a lot of things digital lines can all just be put through a MOSFET based level shifter to convert between 3V3 and 5V (works for input and output purposes).

--- End quote ---

Why should I use 20 extra mosfets when I can change a jumper to switch the MCU voltage in between 5V and 3V3, actually where I would put 20 mosfets on a Nano sized board ?
And I seriously want to see the schematic with this mythical one mosfet that works simultaneously for the input and output  :-//

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