TM4C129ENCPDT: Using TM4C129E with TI-RTOS and CC3100

Hello AJ,

I will try and answer as much as I can though I can't speak fully for CC3100. For the question regarding the CC3100 availability, I would recommend you post on the Wi-Fi forum.

AJ_ee said:

2) I've already developed the firmware using this chip. If I switched to the other latest CC31xx parts, are they drop in replacements and will the TIVA TI RTOS WiFi framework still work? In other words, Do I still need to change my firmware? If the new CC31xx parts are not pin to pin drop in replacements, are they at least firmware compatible?

I can't speak to the differences between the newer devices and CC3100, that's another question for the Wi-Fi forum, but I can speak to TM4C and TI-RTOS with the new CC31xx devices.

With the CC3120 and newer, all software support is driven through the SimpleLink SDK and the host MCU used for that is typically from the MSP432 product line. That also includes all new RTOS support for TM4C. While it is possible to port the Simplelink SDK to TM4C129x, it isn't trivial to do so either. But that could be an option if you value the scalability of our TM4C portfolio.

There are no plans at this time to add TM4C into the SimpleLink SDK as in general the demand for this is very low and the amount of effort required to validate the entire family on the SDK is very high. That may change in the future if the demand increases, but we have done an exercise earlier this year to assess this and found the need for SimpleLink SDK on TM4C is very situational currently.

Also I would anticipate that the answer from the Wi-Fi team regarding migration to newer devices is that you will need to use SimpleLink SDK due to software compatibility issues. But verify with the Wi-Fi team about the software piece.

AJ_ee said:

3) Will the TM4C product line be obsolete soon or will it be around for the next 10 to 15 years?? It seems like TI has been putting more effort on the Simplelink and MSP432 products. And I don't see much activity going on related to the TM4C. For one, TM4C used to have it's own section in the forum. Now it's under other microcontrollers. Second, there used to b a TI-RTOS tutorial with TIVA-C but now I could no longer find it anywhere. It's been replaced by TI-RTIOS intro tutorial by Mindshare. When I checked out their website, it looks like the training they offer are for MSP32 and Simplelink devices and I don't see anything pertaining to TIVA. I am just now a bit worried designing new products using this MCU. 

TM4C will be around for many years to come. First off regarding the piece about TM4C being in Other Microcontrollers, that will not be the case in the near future. I can't share details but we are not happy that the perception for TM4C is that it is being 'buried away' or 'hidden' by living in Other Microcontrollers and that will be updated before the end of the year so TM4C will be better represented. The push for MSP432/SimpleLink was because they were new devices and we did not have (and still do not) any plans for new TM4C devices. So the push was to highlight the latest devices, but in hindsight the 'other' tag was a poor choice as it left the impression you have.

TI-RTOS is a trickier piece because for years that was not owned by our TM4C team as TI-RTOS was across all TI MCU's. However, we have been ramping on TI-RTOS in our team to support it, and while there are no current plans, as we support TI-RTOS more and understand it better, we may be able to beef up our collateral offering. Regarding the training you were talking about, all that material is on E2E still: 

However, that TI-RTOS training is a bit out of date which is why it is not highlighted whereas the Mindshare training is up-to-date. While the TI-RTOS for SimpleLink SDK and TI-RTOS for TM4C have some differences, the training provided gives a strong background to how TI-RTOS works. Something we may need to consider is a support document to highlight the differences. We will have to assess the value of that vs trying to refresh the TI-RTOS training that exists.

Right now we are working on new application reports for TM4C to help highlight features such as CAN, USB Host functionality, and even how to get started with using TivaWare. Once those are done and we have more RTOS experience under our belts, we can consider how to improve that offering.

All of this is to say... we are still generating new collateral for TM4C (TivaWare update was released in April for example) as we intend to support these devices for a long time. We realized that the lack of these activities really created a negative perception and that is not what we want for TM4C so hopefully as more collateral comes out, we will continue to provide confidence that our devices are viable in the market today.

AJ_ee said:

4) Just how popular TM4C is in industry? In last 3 years, I've gone to quite a number of job interviews and not one of them uses TIVA. None of the companies I worked for in the past uses TIVA. Most of them use PIC or STM32s and one NXP. Even my current company uses STM32s. But I'm a huge fan of TI and TIVA MCU's. I'm the only one in my dept. promoting this product line. When I did a demo using TM4C129E, NDK and CC3100 with TI-RTOS during our evaluation phase, my boss and I were pleased with its performance compared to STM32 with LWIP or PIC32 and Harmony, Renesas Synergy with  Netx Duo. These products are all okay and they do the job well, but in my experience, TM4C NDK and the TIVA-TI-RTOS tops it all. But I'd like to feel somewhat secured that the TIVA C and TIVA TI-RTOS are still here to stay for a long time. Any thoughts on its longevity?

TM4C offers a unique blend of peripherals, so we aren't as widespread as STM32 or PIC because if you don't need the features TM4C offers like integrated Ethernet MAC+PHY / LCD Controller with TM4C129x or dual CAN / USB OTG with TM4C123x then there isn't a lot of 'value add' we provide typically as a general purpose ARM core. But where those features are needed - like with your NDK with TI-RTOS situation - that is where TM4C can really shine. In general we see the device most broadly used in industrial markets but it really can slot into hundreds of applications. But specifically speaking of industrial markets, we know those markets will use devices for many, many years and that longevity is important for them, and we are still targeting TM4C for those markets knowing that they will be running in applications for 5-10+ years. That is the best voucher I can give on E2E about the longevity of the device.

Let me know if you have further questions. I hope the updates which will come on TI.com by the end of the year will also help assuage some of your concerns about how TI views these devices. I'm personally excited for them as you are certainly not the only one who has asked about this before and I am ready to finally have the website back up what I have been saying the past 6+ months!