Run application code on the Notecard ARM?

Hi,

is there a way to run application code on the Notecard ARM MCU?

(Without using an additional, external MCU or Linux device.)

Kind regards,
Thomas

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Hey @tamberg welcome to the community, we’re glad you’re here.

Good question, but no, it’s not possible to run external app code on the Notecard’s onboard MCU.

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Would it be possible in the future to have a part of the code being open source and that can be modified by users to be able to run applications without adding extra hardware?

Regards,
Rob Oudendijk

Hi @robouden, we don’t have any plans to do this on the Notecard itself, no. That said, I understand the desire to have an all-on-one style solution. One option we have considered and might pursue is the creation of a Notecarrier that includes a built-in MCU. Would that be of interest?

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Yes, that would be a great option.

Regards,

Rob Oudendijk

What MCU family are you considering for the carrier?

@robouden And what would be the difference of an additional MCU on board from adding an external MCU via e.g. Feather connectors or UART?

(The original question was about using a single MCU, to save energy and cost.)

Hi @yamanoorsai thanks for posting, and welcome to the community! We are partial to the STM32, which we use for the Notecard MCU, but we are open to suggestions from developers, so please do share if you have a preference or a favorite MCU family.

I was hoping that you would use STM32. Even before you make an STM32 based carrier board, it would be great if you could publish a DFU example for the STM32 family.

HI @yamanoorsai, great suggestion. We actually do plan to provide a couple of STM32 examples and will open source these in the next few months.

For additional context: we have DFU working on two STM32 lines: a dual-banked STM32L4+, and a single-banked STM32 processor with 256kb of flash. The approach for each differs because one uses bank-swapping for the incoming firmware, while the other uses direct flash-to-flash copying. We’ve only just gotten prototypes of these approaches working, so they are not quite ready to be publicly shared. If you’re looking to get something done sooner, however, feel free to send me a direct message here and I can send along some snippets and samples to aid in self-exploration.

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That made my day. Looking forward for the examples!!

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The reason for asking was, smaller, less power, simplicity.
Preferable a MPU on something like a Notecarrier B.

Regards,
rob

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