DEVmonkey

Have you used on-line Web-based design or development tools?

• 100%
  No, never

Overall, how much of a project are you typically responsible for designing?

• 50%
  Several functional blocks
• 50%
  The entire project

How do you handle legacy code?

• 50%
  We maintain it for only a set period
• 50%
  What's legacy code?

Typically, when do you start the power-supply design for your projects?

• 100%
  Someone else designs the needed power supply

In your mind, the abbreviation ESL best stands for?

• 34%
  Electronics Simulation Language (generic)
• 50%
  English as a Second Language
• 15%
  Electronic System-Level something or other

What is the most important factor in your design process?

• 100%
  Functionality

How often do you talk with vendor or distributor field application engineers.

• 13%
  Once a year or less often
• 26%
  About once a month or more often
• 53%
  Once every 2 or 4 months, of less often
• 6%
  Never

Where do you typically go to find a component datasheet?

• 40%
  To a distributor's website
• 60%
  To the manufacturer's website

When you use an MCU's analog input(s), what type of front-end analog circuit do you most often add?

• 33%
  Anti-alias filter
• 33%
  Signal conditioner (thermocouples, sensor exciter, etc.)
• 33%
  Op-amp or instrumentation amp

If a website offers a library of many reference designs and app notes, what is the likelihood you would investigate it?

• 16%
  A very good possibility
• 83%
  Absolutely would look at it

If you work with sensors, which type do you use most often?

• 12%
  Pressure
• 12%
  Chemical (pH, concentration, oxygen, etc.)
• 37%
  Position, force, acceleration
• 37%
  Temperature

What best describes your role in a project?

• 50%
  Design consultant
• 50%
  Lead designer

When you need a test instrument you don't own would you most likely:

• 7%
  Rent of lease the instrument
• 61%
  Look for something suitable on an auction Web site.
• 30%
  Purchase the instrument

What type of designs do you primarily work with?

• 33%
  Wireless-based designs (WiFi, ZigBee, 802.15.4, etc.)
• 16%
  Lighting-based designs
• 50%
  Microcontroller-based designs

FieldWhen you write, debug and test code do you:

• 40%
  Find open-source (GNU) tools for your MCU
• 20%
  Mainly use free or code-limited tools supplied with dev kit
• 40%
  Purchase tool suite from MCU vendor

When choosing an MCU for your design, which of the following do you look for first?

• 50%
  The desired core to use (i.e., 8-bit, 16-bit, etc.)
• 25%
  A preferred manufacturer
• 8%
  The peripheral set required
• 16%
  The architecture to use (i.e., ARM, 8051, etc.)

What type of display do your MCU-based designs usually include.

• 60%
  My designs usually do not require a display
• 40%
  Character-based monochrome LCD or LED display

How important is finding an application note or reference design to your design process?

• 100%
  Very important

If your design uses a USB port, where do the drivers come from?

• 33%
  License or buy 3rd-party class drivers for my MCU
• 33%
  Use MCU vendor's supplied or licensed USB drivers
• 33%
  I write my own USB drivers

If an internet site has the components for the “complete solution” to your project at a reasonable price, how likely would it be for you to order it from that site?

• 25%
  A very good possibility
• 25%
  A Slight possibility
• 50%
  Absolutely order the complete solution

How do you use a MCU's USB in a final application?

• 50%
  To serve as a slave device
• 33%
  To serve as a USB host
• 16%
  Never or almost never use USB ports

How long is your typical design cycle?

• 40%
  Greater than 18 months
• 20%
  0 to 6 months
• 40%
  12 to 18 months

When you add a special peripheral IC to an MCU design, which do you prefer?

• 70%
  Look for sample code at the IC vendor's Web site
• 10%
  Search the Web for open-source software related to the IC or MCU
• 20%
  Look for sample code at the MCU supplier's Web site

How important are finding applicable reference designs in your development process?

• 33%
  Somewhat important
• 66%
  Very important

If you must update software in a product, what method do you prefer?

• 4%
  Have customer or user return the product for update
• 4%
  We usually do not update code
• 70%
  Via a communication link with product; wired or wireless
• 20%
  Change a chip, module or board in the field

How often do you visit the Dev-Monkey site?

• 33%
  Less than once a month
• 33%
  More than once a week
• 33%
  Between once a week and once a month

Marketing now needs a feature that requires I/O pins you don't have. How would you solve the problem?

• 30%
  Look for an I/O "expander" IC that runs from an I2C or SPI port
• 20%
  Tell marketing we'll include that feature in the next version
• 30%
  Figure out how to multiplex existing I/O pins
• 20%
  Look for an MCU in the same family with more digital I/O

How do you start a search for components for a new design project?

• 37%
  Search internet for the desired performance parameters
• 62%
  Search specific vendor websites for devices that will satisfy design requirements

What is the most fun aspect of a hardware or software project?

• 60%
  Analyzing and solving difficult problems
• 10%
  Getting my hands on "tools" and doing something
• 10%
  Working with my colleagues
• 20%
  Learning about new technologies and techniques

How important is it to you to design-in a component that has drop-in compatible alternatives that may be incorporated into your design in the future?

• 57%
  Somewhat important
• 28%
  Very important
• 14%
  Not very important

When an MCU design requires a rechargeable battery, would you most likely:

• 30%
  Adopt a charger reference design from an IC vendor
• 15%
  Use the MCU in a charger-control circuit
• 19%
  Design your own charger circuit
• 34%
  Use a plug-in wall charger

When designing a battery powered device, which of the following is the most important?

• 100%
  The ability of the device to operate in reduced power modes

Do your designs include mechatronics components such as solenoids and motors?

• 25%
  No, but future projects may include mechatronic devices
• 59%
  Yes
• 6%
  No, but future projects will include mechatronic devices
• 9%
  No, my designs are purely electronic

What is typically the main factor when choosing an MCU for your project?

• 40%
  Has the desired performance, features, and peripherals
• 60%
  Previous experience with a particular family of devices

Which statement best applies to your battery-powered designs?

• 50%
  They use batteries recharged from power mains
• 50%
  They use rechargeable batteries users replace and recharge elsewhere

When designing a battery-powered device, which of the following is the most important?

• 40%
  Finding the most efficient power supply for the physical size allotment
• 20%
  The ability of an MCU to turn-off peripherals until needed
• 20%
  The efficiency of the necessary hardware drivers (e.g., LED or LCD drivers)
• 20%
  The ability of the device to operate in reduced power modes

In your most recent MCU-based design, which best represents real time?

• 38%
  Milliseconds
• 3%
  Tens of seconds or longer
• 48%
  Microseconds
• 9%
  Seconds

How many trade newsletters (printed or electronic) do you subscribe to?

• 30%
  1 - 3
• 26%
  More than 6
• 39%
  4 - 6
• 4%
  None

Which wireless technology interests you most for an MCU-based design?

• 42%
  ZigBee
• 17%
  Bluetooth
• 10%
  IEEE 802.15.4 (non ZigBee)
• 28%
  WiFi

How do you generally design the "next generation" of a device?

• 50%
  Choose a new platform and incorporate the current design where possible
• 16%
  Start from scratch
• 33%
  Just start tweaking the current design

In your current design, the most important criterion is:

• 50%
  Cost
• 12%
  Execution speed (MIPS)
• 37%
  Low power consumption

When designing a battery-powered device, which of the following is the most important?

• 26%
  Finding the most efficient power supply for the physical size allotment
• 36%
  The ability of an MCU to turn-off peripherals until needed
• 31%
  The ability of the device to operate in reduced power modes
• 5%
  The efficiency of the necessary hardware drivers (e.g., LED or LCD drivers)

How many of your designs during the past year have relied mainly on battery power?

• 7%
  25% to 49%
• 30%
  75% to 100%
• 61%
  0% to 24%

Where do you typically look for specific components for your project?

• 100%
  General internet search (i.e., Google)

Which type of communication channel do you use most often in designs?

• 34%
  Ethernet port
• 13%
  CAN or LIN
• 34%
  Serial port (TIA-232, TIA-485, etc.)
• 17%
  USB port

If you find a reference design that will work for a portion of your design, how are you likely to use it?

• 12%
  Prototype it and test it with your circuit prior to designing it in
• 12%
  Don’t use reference designs
• 50%
  Use it as a starting point to design your own
• 25%
  Design it in as-is

How do you stay up to date on vendor hardware and software updates?

• 25%
  I don't worry much about updates or changes
• 50%
  Subscribe to vendor email alerts about updates
• 25%
  Regularly visit vendor web sites for update information

How many design projects do you typically work on concurrently?

• 50%
  2 - 4
• 20%
  0 - 1
• 30%
  5 – 7

Do you use an Eclipse framework for your development tools?

• 35%
  No
• 29%
  What's Eclipse?
• 16%
  No, might use it within the next 6 months
• 18%
  Yes

When designing a device with external interfaces, at what point in the design process do you consider ESD protection?

• 20%
  Somewhere in the middle
• 5%
  Not at all
• 65%
  At the front end
• 10%
  Towards the end

Have you attended the Embedded Systems Conference (East or West)?

• 6%
  Never attended, but plan to go in the next two years
• 20%
  Yes, but last attended prior to 2007
• 62%
  No, never attended
• 10%
  Yes, attended in 2007 or 2008

Where do you typically go to obtain technical support for a component/device?

• 50%
  Co-workers experienced with the component/device
• 50%
  Manufacturer Web-site/technical support phone service

What types of books do you read to learn about MCUs and digital electronics?

• 33%
  Books that provide specific circuit ideas and software tips
• 11%
  Books that stress real-world examples
• 55%
  Books about a specific MCU architecture, ARM, 8051, etc

What best describes how you develop software for a project?

• 20%
  Use a combination of the above choices
• 80%
  Start from scratch and write all of the code in-house

Which one of the following is your key source of information about new MCUs and related products?

• 75%
  Industry magazines
• 25%
  Vendor Web sites and newsletters

How likely are you to start designing with the newest MCU platform immediately after its production release?

• 14%
  Somewhat likely
• 28%
  Not at all (at least not until I can obtain a demo/evaluation kit)
• 57%
  Not very likely

When you must run an MCU's digital outputs off a board, what do you do most often?

• 33%
  Buffer digital outputs
• 10%
  Hardly ever go off-board with digital outputs
• 30%
  Use optical isolation for digital outputs
• 26%
  Use "bare output pins on MCU chip to go off board

When designing a new platform for a project, how important is it to design-in future upgradeability?

• 50%
  A high priority if the budget permits
• 5%
  Not important at all
• 22%
  An absolute must
• 22%
  Somewhat important

What step do you usually take after you experiment with an MCU evaluation board and decide to use that MCU in a design?

• 42%
  Incorporate the evaluation board in a prototype.
• 14%
  Use a third party's complete development system.
• 14%
  Move up to the MCU vendor's complete development system.
• 28%
  Design the MCU chip into my own prototype.

When your design requires some sort of logic device, which type do you prefer?

• 14%
  CPLD
• 28%
  Microprocessor
• 57%
  Microcontroller

What security measure do you incorporate most often in a microcontroller-based circuit?

• 18%
  Encrypt data in memory
• 27%
  None
• 54%
  Blow a security link or bit

When choosing a development kit, how certain are you that you will use the featured component in your design?

• 66%
  A good chance that it will be used
• 16%
  Possibly use based on results of development-kit testing
• 16%
  Absolutely going to use

Most MCUs come with a "JTAG" port. Do you apply boundary scan to other parts of your circuit?

• 35%
  Only for device programming through JTAG port
• 12%
  Do not use boundary scan on a board
• 16%
  What's a boundary scan?
• 35%
  As part of an overall test strategy

How did you find the DEVmonkey website?

• 62%
  Electronics-publication website advertisement
• 16%
  Other
• 12%
  From a co-worker
• 8%
  Search engine

How often do you rely on interrupts in a microcontroller-based circuit?

• 15%
  In a few circuits
• 3%
  I avoid interrupts like the plague
• 75%
  In almost every circuit
• 6%
  Hardly even

Which of the following would you prefer to use the most in the design process?

• 43%
  A combination of the above
• 31%
  A development kit
• 25%
  An evaluation kit

Of the following on-chip analog peripherals, which one do you use most often in MCU-based circuits?

• 9%
  On-chip temperature sensor
• 9%
  Analog comparator(s)
• 81%
  Analog-to-digital converter(s)

Of the following digital on-chip peripherals, which one do you use most often in an MCU circuit?

• 22%
  Serial port (UART, USART, etc.)
• 27%
  Chip-to-chip network (I2C, SPI, One-wire)
• 31%
  General-purpose digital I/O
• 18%
  Network port (CAN, LIN, Ethernet)

What influences you most when choosing a dev kit when the same device is available from several vendors?

• 44%
  The features available with the kit
• 22%
  Availability of technical support from the manufacturer
• 33%
  Previous experience with the manufacturer’s kits

Of the following external coprocessors, which one do you rely on most in your present MCU project?

• 42%
  No co-processor used in my current design
• 21%
  Math or signal processing (DSP)
• 14%
  Graphics or display control
• 21%
  Communications processor or controller (CAN, Ethernet, etc.)

How important is it that a dev kit can directly interface to your application for testing?

• 47%
  Very important
• 33%
  A must have feature
• 19%
  Somewhat important

What type of mathematical operations does your current MCU application use?

• 25%
  I have an application that uses few math operations
• 25%
  Floating-point math
• 50%
  Integer math

In general, how useful do you think development kits are to the design process?

• 71%
  Very useful
• 14%
  Critical to project design
• 14%
  Somewhat useful

For your next MCU-based design, which migration path (if any) will you follow?

• 5%
  Move from an 8-bit MCU to a 16-bit MCU
• 41%
  Move from an 8-bit MCU to a 32-bit MCU
• 41%
  Continue to use the same number of bits -- 8, 16, or 32
• 11%
  Move from a 16-bit MCU to a 32-bit MCU

When you decide to obtain a development kit, which are you most likely to do?

• 50%
  Purchase a kit from a distributor
• 50%
  Purchase a kit from vendor

What do you see as the biggest hardware roadblock to using an MCU in a project?

• 20%
  Lack of, or poor, documentation
• 20%
  Cannot meet our power-consumption budget
• 60%
  Complexity of architecture or peripheral setup

If a Development Kit is available relating to your application, how likely are you to use one in your design process?

• 22%
  Most of the time
• 22%
  Never
• 22%
  Less than half the time
• 33%
  Always

How did you get involved using microcontrollers?

• 58%
  Self taught.
• 25%
  On-the-job experience at work.
• 13%
  University or college course.
• 2%
  Vendor or distributor seminar or course.

Which feature is the most important in a Development Kit?

• 4%
  Availability of technical support
• 26%
  The ability to test the component in the actual application circuit
• 46%
  Easy to follow user documentation
• 21%
  The ability to use the same kit for multiple projects

What tool do you use most often to test an MCU and its code?

• 22%
  Mixed-signal oscilloscope (digital and analog channels)
• 33%
  Features--display, LEDs, etc--on target system
• 22%
  Oscilloscope
• 22%
  Logic analyzer

What features do you look for when determining which Development Kit to buy?

• 18%
  Ease of use
• 25%
  The ability to test the most component features
• 31%
  Low price
• 25%
  Good support tools

Do you use any of the GNU Compiler Collection (GCC) tools to write MCU code?

• 50%
  No, but would like to try them.
• 30%
  Yes, and will continue to use GCC tools.
• 5%
  Yes, but likely will switch to other tools.
• 15%
  No, no plans to use GCC tools.

How do you primarily use Development Kits?

• 21%
  To test a component for compatibility with your application
• 11%
  To determine component limitations before implementation
• 43%
  To investigate new technology
• 23%
  As an aid in developing application tools (such as software)