The DSP library for 32-bit family, based on ARM Cortex-M3, provide valuable functions. It is optimised for speed and efficiency, documented and are freely downloadable.
ST Microelectronics , providers of microcontrollers, have announced a DSP library for their ARM Cortex-M3 based STM32 microcontrollers, allowing developers to take advantage of the STM32 to host signal processing and control functions on the same core.
ST Microelectronics are the first suppliers of ARM Cortex-M3 based MCUs to provide an extensive DSP library, allowing developers to optimise application performance and reduce time to market.
The STM32 DSP library is license-free, royalty-free, and provides a large number of valuable functions coded in C or assembly language. These include a PID controller, Fourier transform functions, and a selection of digital filters such as 16-bit FIR, IIR direct-form, and IIR canonical-form filters. The functions are ready to use, easy to integrate, and are comprehensively documented to promote software maintainability and accelerate end-product development.
Taking advantage of the signal-processing capabilities of the ARM Cortex-M3 instruction set, the library functions achieve high execution speeds. Operations such as multiply-accumulate or hardware divide can be executed within two cycles. Demonstrations running on the STM32F103 Performance Line MCU have performed a complex 256-point 16-bit radix-4 Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) in only 362µs.
Compared to alternative hybrid architectures such as digital signal controllers (DSC) with separate control, and signal-processing cores, the STM32 microcontroller streamlines software development, enhances performance and allows developers to use standard tools.
The new DSP libraries can be used with the IAR, Keil and Raisonance tool-chains for the STM32. Developers will take advantage of these benefits to reduce cost and time-to-market for applications such as digital power conversion including:
- Solar-energy projects
- Closed-loop control of switched-mode power supplies
- Audio and speech processing
- Digital image processing
In addition to ready access to the DSP library, developers also benefit from in-built advantages of the STM32 platform, such as good power efficiency and versatile peripherals. These peripherals include a dual-channel 12-bit DAC and 1Msample/second 12-bit ADCs, tightly coupled with 16-bit PWM timers.
Three families of STM32 microcontrollers are available, with 36MHz Access Line and 72MHz Performance Line devices available in Flash densities from 16Kbyte to 512Kbyte.
ST Microelectronics have also introduced the 48MHz USB Line, with up to 128Kbyte Flash, bringing the total number of STM32 devices to 60 variants. Pin, software, firmware, and tool compatibility among all devices allow developers to maximise design re-use, shorten development cycles, and quickly scale or upgrade existing designs.