dsPIC and PIC24 get open-source RTOS

Waterloo, Canada, August 14, 2007 – RoweBots Research, a Waterloo supplier of software tools and embedded system consulting, today announced the launch of DSPnano Version 2 for the 16 bit dsPIC Digital Signal Controller (DSC) and PIC 24 microcontroller (MCU) families from Microchip Technology, a leading supplier of microcontroller and analog semicondutors.

DSPnano is an open source RTOS and Eclipse based tool set designed to increase small embedded signal processing system development productivity and reliability. It supports the full Microchip family including Microchip's PIC24 16 bit MCUs through the dsPIC 30 30 MIPS DSCs to the dsPIC 33 40 MIPS DSCs. DSPnano's seamless support includes:

• C/C++ integrated development environment (IDE) based on Eclipse with a highly productive user interface
• DSPnano operating system level simulator
• seamless integration with Microchip's MPLAB' IDE for instruction level simulation, compiling and debugging
• integrated DSP RTOS with full POSIX capabilities and a tiny foot print to minimize training time and processor size
• DSP libraries with 650 functions for off the shelf tried and proven processing
• complete I/O minimizing development and integration
• integrated with MPLAB IDE to use the MPLAB ICD 2 and MPLABREAL ICE debugging and emulation hardware development tools.

DSPnano is ideally suited for small signal processing development by engineers who need stringent control over their environment and revel in simplicity. It is intended for use in OEM environments where time to market and multiple products using the same software platform is a requirement. One way DSPnano does this is by providing developers the flexibility to quickly change processor sizes to that most suitable to the current application.

DSPnano V2 is hosted on Windows XP and Vista, for x86 platforms. Support for the entire dsPIC DSC product line and the PIC24 MCU line is available. DSPnano V2 will begin shipping in Q3, 2007. It is priced from $499 US for a single user. Open source royalty free licenses start at $3999 US. All purchases can be made from www.rowebots.com.

For more information about RoweBots visit www.rowebots.com.