Hands-On RTOS with Microcontrollers

Importance of pin compatibility

When planning for a potential MCU shift, if possible, identify alternative MCUs that are pin-compatible ahead of time. For example, the NXP LPC1850's parts are pin-compatible with LPC 4350 MCUs. STM32 devices are all pin-compatible within a family (and package) but will occasionally be almost pin-compatible with other families as well (STM32M4 and STM32M7, for example). ST regularly publishes migration guides for engineers that have outgrown one MCU family and need something a bit more capable. If a few likely candidates and alternatives are selected up front, some simple jumper populations on the PCB may facilitate migration between different MCUs with significantly different performance (and cost), helping ...