Need help in my project!!!

Hello all,

I have a project this semester , and it is about taking a signal from a human body..say ECG for example, then the signal will go to a microcontroller where it will be digitized and sampled, after that the microcontroller sends the digital signal to a mobile phone which will send it to the hospital through GPRS.

My questions are :

1- which microcontroller should I use?? Is PIC a good choice ??
if yes..which is better for my project 16F pics or 18F pics??


2- I don't know how to make the microcontroller talk to the mobile phone, but
I was told it is very difficult thing to do..is it true?


I would appreciate any help..thanks a lot

1- It depends on your choice of microcontroller, but since you are familliar with PIC, I suggest PIC16F877A my personal favorite


2- Yes, it is true that it hard to communicate to mobile phone modems but you should know at least some AT commands and ow to embed AT commands on your firmware (AT commands may vary depending on the mobile phone you are using, and some phones donnot support such protocols)

search some documents here for microcontrollers + AT commands

many sites discuss micro controller mobile phone interfacing, i was able to build this project with infos from the net

this one shows text messages received
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWnUlMEH25M

this one can connect, disconnect and read kWhr consumption
**broken link removed**

truth_seeker said:

1- which microcontroller should I use?? Is PIC a good choice ??
if yes..which is better for my project 16F pics or 18F pics??

Click to expand...

If you are coding in assembly, then I would suggest 18F. If you are coding in C, then 16F or 18F can be used.

Cheers

Ravi

Thanks guys ,

I understand that PIC is not a bad choice considering the nature of the signal we are talking about ,but is it the best choice?? how to know which microcontroller to choose??

sorry but this is the first time I deal with microcontrollers .I asked about PIc because I think it is available in the market here more than other microcontrollers.

another thing...is it better to program the microcontroller using assembly or C..I'm familiar with both languages , but which language give less problems ???

Thanks a lot

truth_seeker said:

another thing...is it better to program the microcontroller using assembly or C..I'm familiar with both languages , but which language give less problems ???
Thanks a lot

Click to expand...

While coding in C, you do not have direct control over the peripherals. If there is an error in the compiler, you will have bugs. In assembly, you have direct control over the peripherals and also know what is happening.

My suggestion ... if your code will be within 2K to 4K, do it in assembly. If you have complex computation and the code will go beyond 4K, then try your luck with C.

Cheers

Ravi

Micro controllers are getting fast and cheap, memories getting larger and compilers are efficient, go for C.

truth_seeker said:

Thanks guys ,

I understand that PIC is not a bad choice considering the nature of the signal we are talking about ,but is it the best choice?? how to know which microcontroller to choose??

sorry but this is the first time I deal with microcontrollers .I asked about PIc because I think it is available in the market here more than other microcontrollers.

another thing...is it better to program the microcontroller using assembly or C..I'm familiar with both languages , but which language give less problems ???

Thanks a lot

Click to expand...

Silicon lab (cygnal previously) 8051 probably is the one you can have a look.