PSoC

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PSoC

PSoC capacitive sensing development board

PSoC (Programmable System-on-Chip) is a family of mixed-signal arrays made by Cypress Semiconductor, featuring a microcontroller and configurable integrated analog and digital peripherals. PSoC is a software configured, mixed-signal array with a built-in MCU core. The core is a Cypress proprietary, 8-bit Harvard architecture design called the M8C. PSoC has three separate memory spaces: paged SRAM for data, Flash memory for instructions and fixed data, and I/O Registers for controlling and accessing the configurable logic blocks and functions. The device is created using SONOS technology.

PSoC resembles an ASIC in its flexibility and integration: blocks can be assigned a wide range of functions and interconnected on-chip. Unlike an ASIC, there is no special manufacturing process required to create the custom configuration - only startup code which is created by Cypress' PSoC Designer IDE.

PSoC resembles an FPGA in that at power up it must be configured, but this configuration occurs by loading instructions from the built-in Flash memory. Unlike an FPGA, the current generation of PSoC cannot have its digital functions reprogrammed by VHDL or Verilog, it can only be configured with register settings.

PSoC most closely resembles a microcontroller in usage, since the programs written by a user execute code to interact with the user-specified peripheral functions (called "User Modules"), utilizing automatically generated APIs and interrupt routines. PSoC Designer IDE generates the startup configuration code and peripheral APIs automatically based upon the users selections in a visual-studio-like GUI.

Cypress offers a visual, code-free embedded design tool for PSoC called PSoC Express. Using PSoC Express, most features of the PSoC can be accessed with drag and drop icons and logical expressions. The visual design is compiled to executable code without exposing the user to the underlying converted code, though a visual design can be converted and used as a basis of a traditional code-based design in PSoC Designer. Visual design elements cover features such as temperature sensors, fan control, accelerometers, I2C master and slave protocols, USB virtual serial ports, capacitive sensors, and wireless 2.4 GHz radio communications.

There are two user driven Forums available, a Cypress sponsored Discussion Board and an independent PSoC Forum sponsored by www.PSoCDeveloper.com. Both of these forums are actively supported by users of PSoC with minimal interference from Cypress.