If you are new to XMOS , hello and welcome. Below is a step-by-step guide to getting started with our xCORE multicore microcontroller products.
Take a look at the information in our Discover Center, which provides lots of detail on the xCORE technology, products and applications. There are video’s, online demo’s, brochures, design examples, case studies, and much more. In the Discover Center you will find the following sections:
Now might be a good time to sign up for a ‘My XMOS’ account so that we can keep you up to date on new products and information. We would also like to get your feedback. Please tell us if some pieces of information are hard to find or if you have a specific question.
Go to the Download Center and download the xSOFTip Explorer tool. No registration is required and the tool is available for Windows, MacOSX and Linux platforms.
xSOFTip Explorer is a simple to use tool that will let you try out a design without having to write any code. You can select the xSOFTip resources that match your requirements, connect them to parallel 32bit processor cores and DSP’s and get an estimate of which device might suit your design. This tool is a great way of seeing which IP and design resources are available and trying out different options to see what you can integrate in one xCORE device. Just remember that the device the ipEXPLORER selects is only an estimate. As you get more skilled at designing with xCORE, you will find that you can fit more and more functions into each processor core.
The xSOFTip Explorer tool includes tutorials that will help you using the explorer for the first time. As you explore, you will find technical details on all the xSOFTip components that you select for your trial design. You can even save your design and then import it later into your own xCORE design once you have downloaded the xTIMEcomposer development suite.
At XMOS we believe that you should have access to great tools that are easy to use and which include all the IP blocks and reference design code that you might need for your design. We don’t charge for our tools. You can download them for free right here from our website.
When you download the xTIMEcomposer tools, we will ask you to register for a ‘My XMOS’ account, if you don’t have one already, and to read and confirm our license terms. The license agreement is written in plain English so it’s easy to understand. Your My XMOS account will help you to: stay up to date on new xSOFTip peripherals; learn about new design kits and reference designs as they become available; to log service requests and support questions; and will notify you if a newer version of the tools becomes available. You can also sign up for news and events updates but you can also ask not to be disturbed.
We provide Windows, MacOSX and Linux versions of the tools and you can download multiple copies so that you can have the XMOS tools on your machine at work, and at home!
Downloading and installing the xTIMEcomposer development suite is straight forward – just go to our Download Center click on the operating system version that you need for your machine.
To help you get started with xTIMEcomposer suite we have created a simple to use tutorial that will allow you to step through at your own pace and learn how easy it is to design real-time multicore embedded systems that will meet precise timings and which respond much faster than any other processor based design.
The tutorial will show you how to select different xSOFTip peripherals so that you can configure your xCORE device to match your exact requirements. We also have tutorials on DSP design and include tutorials for all the xCORE reference designs too. As a simple starting point, you can also watch the xTIMEcomposer Online Demo and watch one of our developers take you through the key features in the tools.
You will find the design flow very familiar and hopefully you will find that the tools are easy to use. Make sure you spend some time learning about our unique static timing analysis tools, the full timing simulator and the unique run-time debug capability that we provide.
XMOS provides a wide range of xKIT development kits and reference designs. You can learn more about the different xKITS that are available in our Discover Center. xKIT boards and reference designs can be purchased from any of our worldwide distributors and you can BUY direct from our website through the help of one of our worldwide distribution partners Digikey. In the xTIMEcomposer suite we have also provided some tutorials to help you get your board up and running and you can watch the xKIT Online Demo to see how simple it is.
To help you get your first multicore xCORE design up and running we aim to provide a complete set of documentation and support material and try to make it easy to find on our website. You can use the Resource center to search for datasheets, application notes, white papers and all the resources associated with a specific product that you might be interested in.
We have put together programming manuals and programming guides for different types of designs. To help make designing real-time multicore microcontroller systems simple, we have produced a set of simple extensions to the C programming language that we call XC. You can write your code in C and compile it for xCORE but to help you easily take advantage of the parallel multiple cores, the event driven I/O responses and special I/O features, you can mix in some XC extensions that will give you total control. We also provide an XC Programming Manual book that will help you to get the best from your xCORE device.
For some applications we have developed specific Reference Designs that provide a very complete system solution. In the Reference design, you have access to all the source code and can make modifications or extensions to add your unique features. As a My XMOS user you can take a look at the documentation and detailed information for these useful designs. We are working hard to develop more and more examples too – so please give us your feedback on what you would like to see next.
We have a range of boards and reference designs that you can use to accelerate your own design. Our sliceKIT development boards provide a completely flexible platform, that allows you to plug together a specific hardware system and this is a great way to try out some different ideas.
When you are ready to start your own PCB design, we provide application notes and design guides including Gerber files and board level programming support tools. The device datasheets have all the electrical and pin out information that you should need.
xCORE has a very active and enthusiastic online community at www.xcore.com. You will see application examples and customer designs. You can follow discussions and once you are signed up, you can start your own threads and discussions. www.xcore.com is run by our users and is independent from XMOS, but we support the community and provide as much help as possible.
There is a specific section on GitHub that holds open source design resources for xCORE. XMOS provides some of our designs and examples here and customers and partners post designs too. Take a look to see what resources are available. At XMOS we have not tested or verified all the partner and customer examples but you should be able to find help if you need it at the xCORE community site: www.xcore.com
Blog.xmos.com is put together by our staff and gives you an insight into some of the things that are going on at XMOS. We are pretty busy so we don’t update the blog every day but we try to make new posts regularly. The blog has product news, insight on internal development activities, some customer news (which they have agreed to let us talk about) and occasionally has some fun items too.
However much we try to make our products easy to use, we understand that sometimes you will have a specific questions or problem that you need some help on. We have a team of engineers that provide support through your My XMOS account. You can post a question or problem and this will then be tracked, followed up and responded to as quickly as possible. You can track the progress of your question too. We have Distributors all over the world that have trained XMOS engineers who are able to help you too, and our sales offices have XMOS engineers that are ready to help on your next big project.
XMOS products are used today in a very wide range of products. From high volume consumer products that need fast turn and mass production volumes, through to safety critical equipment and automotive systems that demand the highest quality levels. We have complete quality documents and information should you require and our Distributors and Sales Offices are able to help with volume pricing and can help on your production supply chain support.
We are always keen to hear your feedback and to learn what worked well and where we could improve. Please get in touch and tell us what you think.