It seems like the amount of flash + ram available inside a microcontroller has been stuck at or below 256kBytes and 64kByte RAM the last 5 years.
I don't know why, but I guess the silicon required for that amount of RAM/flash is comparable to a CPU core + peripherals. If the amount of RAM/flash was any larger, the part would be more of a flash / ram than it would be a CPU. Perhaps the flash/ram produces should chuck in a CPU core on their biggest flash parts, it would only take up a *TINY* corner. Perhaps they already do, but we can't get at it. :-) Certainly I haven't seen anything readily available in the megabytes range for internal ram+flash. AT91FR40162 is special in that it has 2mBytes flash + 256kBytes RAM. These devices can sport *LOTS* of peripherals(USB, ethernet, etc.), but those peripherals need drivers. However, eCos is not in the game if flash/ram is stuck at 256kBytes/64kBytes respectively. Devices with external RAM/flash, especially DRAM quickly start to sport uCLinux and Linux ports which gives eCos a run for it's money. Q: Is 256kBytes flash + 64kByte RAM + ethernet (TCP/IP stack) out of reach for eCos? -- Øyvind Harboe http://www.zylin.com/zy1000.html ARM7 ARM9 XScale Cortex JTAG debugger and flash programmer -- Before posting, please read the FAQ: http://ecos.sourceware.org/fom/ecos and search the list archive: http://ecos.sourceware.org/ml/ecos-discuss
