Product/Service

Enhanced Version Of PSoC Express™ Design Tool

Source: Cypress Semiconductor Corporation
Cypress Semiconductor Corp., recently introduced Version 2.1 of PSoC Express™, the innovative development tool for PSoC® (Programmable System on Chip™) mixed-signal arrays

Cypress Semiconductor Corp., recently introduced Version 2.1 of PSoC Express™, the innovative development tool for PSoC® (Programmable System on Chip™) mixed-signal arrays that is believed to dramatically simplify embedded design.

Company sources said that the new release:

  • includes third-party development capabilities that allow software developers to write modules for specific functions.
  • also adds many new device drivers that designers can select to easily implement functions within a PSoC device, including 7-segment displays, thermocouples, accelerometers, I2C remote monitor and control devices, distance sensors, and ambient light sensors.

Cypress said that PSoC Express, introduced in 2005, is the first easy-to-use development tool that allows system engineers to develop microcontroller-based designs without any Assembly language or C programming. By operating at a higher level of abstraction and not requiring firmware development, PSoC Express enables new designs to be created, simulated and programmed to the targeted PSoC device in hours or days instead of in weeks or months. With built-in support for portability, seamless multi-processing, design visualization and a rich content library, the designs can be created faster and with higher reliability using PSoC Express.

According to the company release, the following are the additional features:

  • PSoC Express 2.1 also adds a new level of integration with Cypress's full-featured PSoC Designer™ software, allowing users to complete designs exclusively at a high-level (using only PSoC Express), combine high-level and low-level design (start with PSoC Express and complete with PSoC Designer), or develop exclusively at the machine-level (using only PSoC Designer). Other new features include user definable pins and memory map, a state machine creator, multi-object move capability, and the ability to duplicate and rename circuits.
  • With PSoC Express, designers work within their areas of application expertise, defining a custom solution by choosing input and output devices from a catalog, and then logically linking them to define system behavior. For example, a user can select temperature sensors, voltage inputs, fans, LEDs, and then define temperature regions for fan operation, voltage monitor thresholds and "sequence-on" logic. Within PSoC Express the designer is able to verify designs through simulation, then generate and download the device-programming file. The tool allows users to target the design to any of Cypress's PSoC devices. It also creates customized project documentation including a datasheet with register map, interface schematics, and bill of materials. Without writing any microcontroller code, designers implement reliable, custom applications faster than they can write the requirements.
  • To further accelerate the design cycle, PSoC Express contains illustrative examples that the designer can learn from, use "as-is" or modify to meet specific application requirements. This is just one level of the content-driven architecture underlying PSoC Express. A proprietary application generation engine (linked transparently to the award winning PSoC Designer™ low-level code generator) utilizes a catalog including real-world-device drivers (e.g. fans, thermistors, switches, voltages, etc.), transfer functions (state machine, truth table, threshold checking, priority encoder, etc.) and communication protocols such as I2C and RS232, all of which are combined visually by the designer to build custom solutions. Cypress plans to release quarterly catalog updates and will release more content developer guides throughout the year to further enable third parties to generate PSoC Express content.

PSoC Express is free and can be downloaded at http://www.cypress.com/getexpress. Users can register for a free PSoC Express 2.1 web seminar to be held on August 31, 2006 at http://cmpnetseminars.com/TSG/?K=4ET&Q=430. Recorded versions of Cypress on-line seminars are also available in the "Events" section of the Cypress web site (www.cypress.com).

SOURCE: Cypress Semiconductor Corp.