Cambridge-based fabless microcontroller company Cyan has upgraded its integrated development environment (IDE), adding off-chip peripherals and introducing Eclipse compatibility.

"CyanIDE has expanded to include external components, software stacks, and other application software," software group manager Stephen Page told EW.

Now at version two, CyanIDE has always included an unusual drag-and-drop technique for configuring the peripherals of the firm's 16bit eCOG1 microcontrollers. The 'configurator', as it is known, then automatically generates suitable initialisation code.

It is this facility that has been extended, initially to a selected group of wireless peripheral chips.

Dubbed RF Solved, this is the first of four CyanIDE extensions that will include external peripherals and software for motor control, Ethernet, and USB.

The RF version works with a wireless networking reference design.

Currently restricted to point to multi-point operation, the design will be extended to self-healing tree networks in the second quarter of this year, said Page, with mesh networking capability under development.

Based around Micrel's RadioWire transceivers, it operates at 915, 868, or 434MHz and offers a wire-free 4.7kbit/s RS-232 connection.

For battery-powered applications, the 10mW Micrel front-end is operated at one per cent duty cycle, Cyan CEO Kenn Lamb told EW.

Rewriting CyanIDE for Eclipse and GCC tool chain compatibility "enables Cyan to introduce a new extended feature IDE with the stability of a widely used industry standard tool set, claimed the firm.

Cyan has also developed a third version of its microcontroller silicon specifically for low-cost applications developed in China.

Adding to eCOG1k (3.3V, 64kbyte flash) and eCOG1X (3.3V, 512kbyte flash), the 24MHz 1.8V COG1XE01A6 has 64kbyte flash and 8kbyte SRAM.

CyanIDE 2 is available free from the company website. There is also a comprehensive development kit DEVKIT1X, and a range of lesser evaluation and developments kits.

www.cyantechnology.com