JS (JS@NOSPAM.COM) on 6/28/07 wrote:
---------------------------
>Rob Thorpe (rthorpe@realworldtech.com) on 6/28/07 wrote:
>---------------------------
>>JS (JS@NOSPAM.COM) on 6/28/07 wrote:
>>---------------------------
>>>I certainly agree with Linus.
>>
>>Well, by volume most other CPUs are ARMs, PICs, 8051s and TI DSPs. All of these
>>are simpler than x86s, have being around for years and are used in critical situations.
>>I expect almost all of these have fewer errata than x86s.
>>
>
>The problematic point here is that the high-volume embedded
>chips tend to address the business area first where there
>are high quantities to sell. As long as you can e.g. eat
>into the mobile phone market, why worry about other markets? No, it is much more beneficial to taylor the
>chip explicitely for this high volume markets. This is
>especially true for the peripheral devices put on the
>device.
>
>As a result, you will find in the lower volume markets
>either
>- processors which are taylored for other markets and do
>not really fit, because important peripheral stuff is
>not implemented on the chip
>- low-volume processors which are taylored for the specific
>application area
>So, you have in this segments the problem of bugs either
>in the connection of peripheral devices to the 'commodity'
>embedded processor, or in the low-volume processor itself
>(including the on-board peripherals).

Yes, I agree.
But overall there are many tasks that can be done with a commodity microcontroller and only a few external peripherals.