Multitask support
- Thread starter Technoman
- Start date
mrburnette
Senior Member
@Technoman:
Wecome!
It is my understanding from reading several recent threads that Logicator and other products in the tool-chain are being revised to reflect more realistically the "silicon" that is to be available in the near future. Therefore, I think that since many M2 chips uses the "4 tasks" that is the reason that Logicator is currently designed that way.
Because Logicator is running a simulator, I think the 4 task limit is fairly rigid at the moment.
- Ray
Wecome!
It is my understanding from reading several recent threads that Logicator and other products in the tool-chain are being revised to reflect more realistically the "silicon" that is to be available in the near future. Therefore, I think that since many M2 chips uses the "4 tasks" that is the reason that Logicator is currently designed that way.
Because Logicator is running a simulator, I think the 4 task limit is fairly rigid at the moment.
- Ray
mrburnette
Senior Member
Just to be clear, my response was an educated guess on my part; but, from various threads in which I have personally participated lately, I have been made aware of many "refresh" projects within the PICAXE tool chain. The software that allows a PICAXE to be simulated is rather complex and is made even more so by the specifics of the "silicon" used in the PICAXE - which is to say, the underlying Microchip PIC controls the logic that must be emulated and the PICAXE firmware overlay controls what is exposed in the simulator; PE or Logicator, etc. Without a doubt, most uC programming systems do not permit the level of simulation allowed by the PICAXE line; in fact, most micro controllers require additional hardware to permit realtime emulation.
I have watched the PICAXE line mature over the past 24 months and the pace has been quiet good, with refreshes in a significant number of models. This is important, because with each new underlying silicon enhancement, greater capabilities are exposed to the end-users. RevEd also does a fantastic job with attempting to maintain backward-compatibility and they don't always get it perfect, but they get an A+ in my book anyway for a fantastic effort.
As you ponder the simulations in Logicator, remember that what is really happening inside the PICAXE hardware is time-slicing on an instruction basis... a kind of carousel where each wooden horse is a slot. So, while it would be fantastic to model every slot, modeling still will never completely match the hardware. I prefer to actually use individual test cases for all of my modeling and do it in PE. In this way, I can set variables in the preamble of the program (all variables are common) and run worst-case scenarios on each module, analyzing in detail the logic. It is a little slower, but for me I find that this gives me a chance to have true test cases saved off to the disk for later review should something go askew.
- Ray