Propeller P8X32A Breakoutboard

The Propeller architecture set out to solve ‘not enough CPU cycles’ problem. Instead of trying to funnel all of your operations through one CPU, the Propeller runs eight separate 32-bit cores (called “cogs”) so you can perform several functions in parallel!

Each cog has direct access to the system clock and all GPIO pins simultaneously as well as round-robin access to 64K shared memory (32K RAM/32K ROM). Each of cogs also has two dedicated hardware counters and two special “video registers” for generating timing signals (but not only VGA or NTSC signal, also to drive a servo, etc.)

Programming with dedicated cores instead of interrupts can be an adjustment which is why Parallax developed the SPIN language and Propeller Tool IDE to make it easier to manage. Program over serial using an FTDI or similar! Code can be sent directly into the volatile on-chip RAM for development or piped to external flash memory for deployment.

More information on SparkFun: SEN-11525