MSP430 Flash memory requirement versus msp430-txt file size

Hello William,

Thank you for your reply.

William Goh said:

To get the true flash size, you can generate a MAP file inside your IAR project. This map file contains all the necessary information in terms of Flash and RAM usage.

Following is the summary of my MAP file:

-----------------------------------------------

 END OF CROSS REFERENCE

----------------------------------------------

27 458 bytes of CODE memory

2 927 bytes of DATA memory (+ 103 absolute )

5 556 bytes of CONST memory

I understand that CODE and CONST memory are part of  flash memory and DATA memory is part of RAM.

So I would require a flash of minimum (27,458 + 5,556)  = 33,014 Bytes and RAM of minimum 2927 Bytes.

Can you please correct me if I am wrong?

Thanks,

Amit

This might be a miscalculation. If the 2927 bytes of DATA memory are initialized data, the inital values for this data is also stored in FLASH and copied to RAM on startup. Some more bytes might add if the data contains misaligned byte variables, so padding bytes are added (this might be the '103 absolute' value). But depending on the reporting tool, this might be already included in the CONST section.

Also, the ram requirement by the DATA section does not contain any ram required for
- stack
- local variables (further increasing stack requirements)
- dynamically allocated memory

Roughly, the required flash memory for a txt file of a given size is 1/3 of the file size, because the binary bytes to be stored on flash are written as 2 digit HEX value plus a separating space in the txt file (plus some line breaks and position information)

In IAR, go to Project:Options, Linker, then List tab.

Check "Generate linker listing", I also like to check HTML and "Module Summary".

Output will be in the project's Output directory.

Anyone know how to do this in Code Composer?

--Derek

Do generate a map file in code composer, go to project properties, the C/C++ Buils, then under the tool setting tab, select Linker Output.

There will be a filed labeled "Produce listing of input and output sections in <file> (-map_file). Just enter in the name you want for your map file.

When you compile, the file will show up in the Debug folder.

Thank you Gross for your reply.

I understand that a chip with 96 KB flash and 6 KB RAM will be enough for my application, even if my code size increase.

Thanks,

Amit