SOC / MCU manufacturers
Here are a few of the manufacturers i’ve worked with, as well as some specific SOCs and MCUs from these guys:
| Manufacturer Name | LCSC | Open Source SDK |
|---|---|---|
| Allwinner | LCSC | Community SDK |
| Rockchip | LCSC | Yes |
| STMicro | LCSC | Yes (STM32Cube) |
| Puya | LCSC | No |
| WCH | LCSC | No |
| ArtInChip | LCSC | No |
| Raspberry Pi | LCSC | Yes |
| Espressif | LCSC | Yes (ESP-IDF) |
| Nordic | LCSC | Yes (nRF Connect SDK) |
| Padauk | LCSC | No |
“Ease of dev” scale explained (arduino doesn’t count but community SDKs do):
| Mark | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 🇸 | excellent sdk and tools, either from the manufacturer or community |
| 🇦 | nice and useable toolchain with a lot of support, nothing fancy but you can get things done quickly with enough examples |
| 🇧 | a bit less support but perfectly useable with the available datasheets |
| 🇨 | either the HAL has some holes or there is at least one known bug in it |
| 🇩 | either the datasheets are a joke, or the toolchain is weird and difficult to use |
| 🇪 | the manufacturer doesn’t support small scale production and/or you can’t get samples |
| 🇫 | The supplied toolchain just flat out doesn’t work, and the datasheets are lackluster |
MCUs
| Chip Name | Manufacturer | Ease of dev | Processing power (class) | Price | Footprint | Arch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STM32H750 | STMicro | 🇸 | ★★★☆☆ | 3€ | LQFP | arm32 |
| py32F002A/B | Puya | 🇦 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 0.2€ | QFN | arm32m0 24Mhz |
| CH32V003 | WCH | 🇦 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 0.26€ | QFN | rsic-v 48Mhz |
| CH32V103 | WCH | 🇨 | ★★☆☆☆ | 1.6€ | QFN | rsic-v 80Mhz |
| PMS152 | Padauk | 🇧 | ☆☆☆☆☆ | 0.03€ | SOP | RISC(C) 16Mhz |
| STC8H1K08 | Stc micro | 🇩 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 0.27€ | QFN | 8051T (24Mhz) |
| RP2040 | raspberry pi | 🇧 | ★★☆☆☆ | 1€ | QFN | arm32(144Mhz)*2 |
| esp32C3 | espressif | 🇦 | ★★☆☆☆ | 1.6€ | QFN | Risc-v (160Mhz) |
| esp32S3 | espressif | 🇦 | ★★★☆☆ | 1.6€ | QFN | Risc-v (240Hmz) *2 |
| AC6329C4 | jieli | 🇫 | ★★☆☆☆ | 0.38€ | SOP16 | RISC(C) (160Mhz) |
| R7FA2E1A72 | renesas | 🇨 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 1.6€ | SOP16 | Custom RISC |
| ATMEGA328P | Microchip | 🇧 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 2.2€ | LQFP | AVR |
SoCs
| Chip Name | Manufacturer | Ease of dev | Processing power (class) | Price | RAM | Arch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1C100S | Allwinner | 🇨 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 3.4€ | 32MB | ARM926EJ-S 533MHz |
| F1C200S | Allwinner | 🇨 | ★☆☆☆☆ | 4.3€ | 64MB | ARM926EJ-S 533MHz |
| V3S | Allwinner | 🇨 | ★★★☆☆ | 5.5€ | 64MB | ARM Cortex-A7 1.2GHz |
| V851S | Allwinner | 🇧 | ★★☆☆☆ | 5.4€ | 64MB | A7 900MHz |
| H616 | Allwinner | 🇩 | ★★★★☆ | 9.3€ | ext. | A53*4 |
| RV1103G1 | Rockchip | 🇩 | ★★★☆☆ | 5.5€ | 64MB | ARM Cortex-A7 1.2GHz |
| RK3399 | Rockchip | 🇩 | ★★★★☆ | 20€ | ext. | 4*A63 2*A72 |
| RK3588s | Rockchip | 🇨 | ★★★★★ | 60€ | ext. | 4*A76 4*A55 |
Fpgas
| Chip Name | Manufacturer | Ease of dev | Size (LEs) | Price | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T20___ | Efinix | 🇧 | 20K | 10€ | 1MB |
| 10M50DAF484C7G | Intel | 🇸 | 50k | 180€ | 1.6MB |