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IAR Workbench 8051 alternatives

Al McBride
Intellectual 620 points
Other Parts Discussed in Thread: CC2531, CC2530, Z-STACK

All:

Can anyone recommend an IDE other than IAR Workbench for programming the CC2531 dongle and CC2530 chip.  IAR is a bit pricey for me at this time so I am klooking for an alternative.  They have  a free  4kB Kickstart version but 4KB seems way to small for a Zigbee app.

Any help is most appreciated.

Al McBride

  • 0
    TI__Genius 14940 points

    You might try looking into the Keil compiler and there are some freeware compilers out there for the 8051such as SDCC.  There are several members of this forum which use one or the other or both.

    Jim Noxon

  • 0 in reply to Jim Noxon
    TI__Genius 10955 points

    Note that if you want to build Z-stack in order to use Zigbee, IAR is the only option. A good alternative is to use ZNP, where a pre-built image can be downloaded to a CC2530 and the application runs on a different microcontroller, for instance an MSP430.

  • 0 in reply to hec
    TI__Mastermind 19350 points

    I strongly recommend Hec's suggestion to use the pre-compiled ZNP images in the ZAP (ZNP Application Processor) installer:

    http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/z-stack.html

    swrc173.zip (57.0MB) - contains ZStack-ZAP-MSP430-1.0.4.exe (the ZigBee Applications processor to be used with MSP430 product family).

    MSP group offers Code Composer option, and gcc is easy to get working on MSP. The ZAP sample apps have no library (whereas the Z-Stack sample apps depend on the network and MAC libraries and that is why you are stuck using the IAR compiler used to build those libraries). So any compilier is an option.

    Also, if you load a pre-compiled ZNP image onto the CC2531USB stick:

    http://focus.ti.com/docs/toolsw/folders/print/cc2531emk.html

    You can write your ZAP as a Windows or Linux application, remotely controlling the Z-stack over UART port. The

  • 0 in reply to Jim Noxon
    Intellectual 620 points

    Thanks to all who responded.  Turns out TI support says only to use the IAR Workbench.  Also for other IAR wants to charge $3000 for a unlimited code size license.

    I need support for the CC2531 chips USB and RF engines not just the 8051.  I downloaded the free kickstart IAR workbench and will see if my code fits into the 4kb code limit.  The simple_hid_dongle fits and I think my application for the dongle is simpler.  We shall see.

    Thanks again to everyone.

    Al McBride