Parallax SX is a discontinued line of
microcontroller
A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...
s that was marketed by
Parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...
, from a design by
Ubicom. Designed to be architecturally similar to the
PIC microcontrollers used in the original versions of the
BASIC Stamp
The BASIC Stamp is a microcontroller with a small, specialized BASIC interpreter (PBASIC) built into ROM. It is made by Parallax, Inc. and has been popular with electronics hobbyists since the early 1990s.
Technical specifications
Although the ...
, SX microcontrollers replaced the PIC in several subsequent versions of that product.
Production
The designs for the devices are owned by
Ubicom (formerly Scenix, hence "SX"). The SX
dies Dies may refer to:
* Dies (deity), the Roman counterpart of the Greek goddess Hemera, the personification of day, daughter of Nox (Night) and Erebus (Darkness).
* Albert Christoph Dies (1755–1822), German painter, composer, and biographer
* Jos ...
were manufactured by Ubicom, who sent them to Parallax for packaging. Ubicom had made processors with 18, 20, 28, 48 and 52 pins, but because Parallax did not have packages for 18 and 52 pins chips, the SX-18 and SX-52 were discontinued.
End-of-life
On July 31, 2009, Parallax announced that the SX line had reached its production EOL (End-of-Life) as Ubicom would no longer be manufacturing dies based on the designs; after the supplies from the final "lifetime buy" have been exhausted, the associated products cannot be restocked. In the same announcement, Parallax expressed that availability of its own products ''based on'' SX devices would not be impacted and that technical support would remain available.
Technical details
The Parallax's SX series microcontrollers are 8-bit RISC microcontrollers (using a 12-bit instruction word) which have an unusually high speed, up to 75 MHz (75 MIPS), and a high degree of flexibility. They include up to 4096 12-bit words of
Flash memory
Flash memory is an electronic non-volatile computer memory storage medium that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. The two main types of flash memory, NOR flash and NAND flash, are named for the NOR and NAND logic gates. Both us ...
and up to 262 bytes of
random-access memory (RAM), an eight bit counter and other support logic. They are especially geared toward the emulation of
I/O hardware in software, which makes them very flexible. While Parallax's SX micros are limited in variety, their high speed and additional resources allow programmers to create 'virtual devices', including complete
video controllers, as required. For example, there are software library modules to emulate I2C and SPI interfaces, UARTs, frequency generators, measurement counters and PWM and sigma-delta A/D converters. Other interfaces are relatively easy to write, and existing modules can be modified to get new features.
Development and debugging
The Sx-Key is produced by Parallax and used to program the SX microcontroller and then debug it. There is also a cheaper version called the SX-Blitz that does not contain a debugger. Do note that there are two Sx-key products, one is an actual hardware device the other is the software, they share the same name.
Windows
If you are running on the Microsoft Windows platform, you will want to grab a copy of the
SX Key software
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
fro
Parallaxs website. It contains many useful tools for beginners as well as for people more familiar with the SX to aid in development. It comes with the
SXsim, and an assembler/programmer to allow programming of the SX using either an
SX Key
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
or
SX Blitz
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
.
Issues
There are some known issues with the
SX Key software
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
on Windows Vista, the Sx-key software requires certain DLLs that are not distributed with Windows Vista.
Alternate tools
There is also a C to SX compiler, that will allow you to write C programs for the SX. They are then converted from C into SX
ASM
ASM may refer to:
Codes
* American Samoa, ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
* Asmara International Airport, IATA airport code
* Assamese language, ISO 639 language code ''asm''
Organizations
* Aare Seeland mobil, a Swiss bus and train operator
* Al ...
. There are two versions available.
CCS SX/C
There is a commercially supported version of a C compiler for the SX, it is known as the CCS SX/C, and is available for $199.0. It may be found at https://web.archive.org/web/20100103170159/http://ccsinfo.com/product_info.php?products_id=sxcompiler . This software is officially supported by Parallax, and they have a partnership to work together on making the SX/C compiler a first class citizen. It integrates with the
SX Key software
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
to then program the SX.
C4SX
C4SX is a free C to SX assembly compiler that is available from http://www.rwsenser.com/. Please note that this software is untested by Parallax. There is a thread in the
Parallax
Parallax is a displacement or difference in the apparent position of an object viewed along two different lines of sight and is measured by the angle or semi-angle of inclination between those two lines. Due to foreshortening, nearby objects ...
support forums about C4SX that might be helpful to those looking at using C for the SX: https://web.archive.org/web/20090616170300/http://forums.parallax.com/forums/default.aspx?f=7
Linux/Unix based Development
gsasm
gsasm is an assembler for the SX assembly to a hex file. The project lives o
SourceForgeand can be found at http://sourceforge.net/projects/gsasm/. Note, it is still in its infancy, and while it produces proper hex files to be programmed, it has its rough edges and limitations. Please read the release notes, and see if a more applicable solution would not be to use
Wine.
gSXprog
gSXprog is the programmer that may be used to program the SX using the
SX Key
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
revision C and older. Code exists to program with the
SX Blitz
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
in CVS, but it is not guaranteed to work. If you downloaded
gsasm you will have also obtained a copy of gSXprog. You will be able to use gSXprog to program the SX using a hex file produced by
gsasm or from the
SX Key software
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
.
Wine
The SX chip can be programmed with the
SX Key software
SX, Sx, sx, or Sx may refer to:
In medicine
* Sx, symptoms
* Sx, surgery
In music
* SX (band), a Belgian indie pop band
* S-X (producer), a British producer and singer
In technology:
* .sx, the country code top-level domain for Sint Maarten
* ...
,
gSXprog, and
SXsim. SX Key Software has been reported to work well under
Wine (a Windows compatibility layer for Linux platforms).
See also
*
Parallax Propeller, a newer microcontroller and the current target of new product development by Parallax
External links
SX microcontroller page at Parallax
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parallax Sx
Microcontrollers
Parallax, Inc. products
Microchip Technology hardware