A comprehensive 32-bit microcontroller firmware development framework has been developed by Microchip. The company’s new MPLAB Harmony framework integrates licensing, resale and support of both the company’s and third-party middleware, drivers, libraries and real-time operating systems. Currently, this platform includes third-party offerings from Interniche, freeRTOS, wolfSSL and OpenRTOS, with many more on the way. What this means is, developers can greatly simplify their PIC32 MCU code development process by reducing common integration bugs, thus accelerating time to market.
Recent studies have shown that software development accounts for 60 percent of the average design cycle. At the same time, designers are using a variety of software with untested compatibility and multiple sources of purchasing and support. This causes increased verification and debug time after the design is completed, which can cost some 10-30 times more than defects found during the design phase.
However this new framework reduces development time and costs by providing a single integrated, abstracted and flexible source for Microchip-tested, debugged and interoperable code. In addition, it provides a modular architecture that enables the efficient integration of multiple drivers, middleware and libraries, while offering an RTOS-independent environment that makes it easy to switch RTOSs.
Not only does this pre-verification and integration speed development, it also increases reuse. On the hardware side, this framework makes it even easier to port code and migrate among all of Microchip’s 32-bit PIC32 microcontrollers.
Microchip’s MPLAB Harmony is available now, and the basic framework is free. The first release provides initial support for the new PIC32MZ family, as well as the PIC32MX families. Full support for all PIC32 families is planned for the next version release, which is expected in March 2014. Once downloaded, there is a modular menu of free and premium software options that are also currently available. The list of initial offerings includes FreeRTOS from A Real Time Engineers and OpenRTOS from Wittenstein High Integrity Systems; a TCP/IP stack from InterNiche Technologies; and a CyaSSL Embedded SSL Library from wolfSSL, among many others.
Microchip
