wiki:tutorials:propeller

h1. Propeller Microcontroller

The Propeller is a multi-core microcontroller by Parallax.

h2. Specs

8 cores (cogs)
32-bit architecture
Max clock speed 80MHz (note that Spin code executes much slower than this)
Each core has 2K SRAM for programs and data
32KB EEPROM used to store programs
Programmable by serial interface
VGA output

h2. Windows development tools

"Parallax home page":http://parallax.com
"Wikispaces Propeller Wiki, lots of useful info":http://propeller.wikispaces.com
"Wikipedia entry, good detail":http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallax_Propeller

h2. Languages

The Propeller can be programmed in assembler or Spin. There are also third party C compilers available.

h3. Assembler

The Propeller has a small instruction set and is well documented in the Propeller manual.

h3. Spin

A bytecode interpreted language by Parallax. Most of the high level libraries are written in Spin. Each cog can fit a copy of the interpreter in its SRAM, but bytecode is read from hub memory which slows down execution. See the wikipedia page for details.

"BST":http://www.fnarfbargle.com/bst.html (Brad's Spin Tool) is a cross-platform tool suite for developing Spin programs.

h3. C

There are two C implementations

"Imagecraft":http://www.imagecraft.com make a commercial compiler, $99 for non-commercial use
"Catalina":http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=339139 is an open source compiler currently in beta. It is based on the lcc compiler and comes with a complete ieee floating point implementation

h3. Other open/free development tools

"Program loader script (python, requires pyserial)":http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=25&m=161911
"Homespun Spin compiler":http://propeller.wikispaces.com/Homespun+Spin+Compiler
Propasm - Propeller assembler, written in Java

h2. Docs

"Documentation including Propeller manual, board schematics, lab exercises. (10MB)":http://www.expandingbrain.com/PropellerDocs.zip
"Propeller protobard designs for the beginner":http://ucontroller.com/Propeller%20Protoboard%20Designs%20for%20the%20Beginner.pdf

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