Platform Guides

This section provides comprehensive platform-specific documentation for all supported platforms in the Nexus Embedded Platform. Each guide covers platform capabilities, build instructions, configuration options, hardware setup, example projects, and debugging procedures.

Supported Platforms

The Nexus platform supports the following hardware platforms:

Platform Comparison

Feature

Native

STM32F4

STM32H7

GD32

Core

Simulated

Cortex-M4

Cortex-M7

Cortex-M3/M4

Max Frequency

N/A

180 MHz

480 MHz

120 MHz

Flash

N/A

Up to 2 MB

Up to 2 MB

Up to 3 MB

SRAM

N/A

Up to 256 KB

Up to 1 MB

Up to 256 KB

FPU

N/A

Single

Double

Single

UART

4

6

8

5

SPI

2

6

6

3

I2C

2

3

4

2

Timer

4

14

22

14

ADC

Optional

3 (12-bit)

3 (16-bit)

3 (12-bit)

Ethernet

No

No

Yes

No

USB

No

2

2

2

Use Case

Testing/CI

General

High-perf

Cost-effective

Choosing a Platform

Native Platform

Best for:

  • Development without hardware

  • Automated testing in CI/CD

  • Rapid prototyping

  • Learning the Nexus platform

Not suitable for:

  • Production deployment

  • Performance benchmarking

  • Real-time requirements

  • Hardware-specific features

STM32F4 Platform

Best for:

  • General-purpose embedded applications

  • Cost-sensitive projects

  • Moderate performance requirements

  • Wide peripheral support

Considerations:

  • Lower performance than STM32H7

  • No Ethernet support

  • Single-precision FPU only

STM32H7 Platform

Best for:

  • High-performance applications

  • Ethernet connectivity

  • Advanced peripherals

  • DSP and signal processing

Considerations:

  • Higher cost than STM32F4

  • More complex clock configuration

  • Cache management required for DMA

GD32 Platform

Best for:

  • Cost-sensitive projects

  • STM32 alternative

  • General-purpose applications

Considerations:

  • Less documentation than STM32

  • Some compatibility differences

  • Fewer third-party tools

Platform Selection Guide

Use this decision tree to select the appropriate platform:

        graph TD
    A[Start] --> B{Need Real Hardware?}
    B -->|No| C[Native Platform]
    B -->|Yes| D{Need Ethernet?}
    D -->|Yes| E[STM32H7]
    D -->|No| F{Performance Requirements?}
    F -->|High| E
    F -->|Moderate| G{Budget Constraint?}
    G -->|Yes| H[GD32]
    G-->|No| I[STM32F4]

Getting Started

To get started with a specific platform:

  1. Read the platform guide - Understand capabilities and limitations

  2. Install toolchain - Set up the development environment

  3. Configure platform - Use Kconfig to configure peripherals

  4. Build example - Build and run an example project

  5. Debug and test - Use debugging tools to verify functionality

Common Tasks

Building for a Platform

# Native
CMake -B build -DPLATFORM=native
CMake --build build

# STM32F4
CMake -B build -DPLATFORM=STM32 -DSTM32_CHIP=STM32F407 \
      -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=CMake/toolchains/arm-none-eabi.CMake
CMake --build build

# STM32H7
CMake -B build -DPLATFORM=STM32 -DSTM32_CHIP=STM32H743 \
      -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=CMake/toolchains/arm-none-eabi.CMake
CMake --build build

# GD32
CMake -B build -DPLATFORM=GD32 -DGD32_CHIP=GD32F407 \
      -DCMAKE_TOOLCHAIN_FILE=CMake/toolchains/arm-none-eabi.CMake
CMake --build build

Configuring Peripherals

All platforms use Kconfig for configuration. See the platform-specific guides for detailed configuration options.

# Copy platform defconfig
cp platforms/native/defconfig .config

# Or for STM32F4
cp platforms/STM32/defconfig_stm32f4 .config

# Customize configuration
# Edit .config or use menuconfig

# Build with configuration
CMake -B build
CMake --build build

Porting Between Platforms

The Nexus platform provides a unified HAL API, making it easy to port applications between platforms:

  1. Change platform in CMake - Update -DPLATFORM= flag

  2. Update Kconfig - Copy appropriate defconfig

  3. Adjust pin mappings - Update GPIO/peripheral pin assignments

  4. Rebuild - Recompile for new platform

  5. Test - Verify functionality on new platform

See Also