Re: Do you see any future to the 8-bit MCU's?

On 7/22/2011 8:53 AM, KK6GM wrote:
On Jul 21, 3:28 pm, DJ Delorie<d...@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Also compare power consumption. Renesas just came out with a
brandy-spanking-new 8-bit chip family (they call it 16-bit but it's
mostly 8-bit operations) specifically to address extreme low power
designs.

Just thinking out loud here. An 8-bit core is obviously (?) going to
be better on power consumption than a corresponding 32-bit core.
OTOH, an 8-bit core isn't a good fit for most real-world data, nor for

*What* "real world data"?

Do you need a 32b core in a mouse? Keyboard? Microwave oven?
Controlling the power windows in your car? Running (i.e., *in*)
your furnace or ACbrrr? As your "intelligent thermostat"?
Scanning credit cards for sales authorizations?

We see all these "big" applications (iPhones, etc.) with *huge*
volumes... and forget that their actual volumes are *tiny* when
you think of all the other "non-glorious" things that are out there
"just doing their jobs"...

addressing, which is why 8-bit code spends a lot of time doing 16-bit
work. So is it possible that 16-bits will become the preferred ultra-
low-power sweet spot? More energy-per-instruction than an 8-bit, but
fewer instructions? I know this flies in the face of "16 is dying,
squeezed out by 8 and 32." Like I said, just thinking out loud...
.

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