17bii, 17bii+ and 30B, or "Why did the 30B die?"

[matthiaspaul]

(08-02-2017 03:35 AM)Zac Bruce Wrote:  The other question I have is comparing the calculator to the 20/30B.
[...]
Does anyone know where HP saw the 30B sitting in the hierarchy; was it designed to replace something else, or was it going to be a continuing line? And why did they ultimately decide to discontinue it but continue on with the 17B?

The HP 30b was meant to be the successor of the 20b.

The calculator was discontinued in 2015 when the supply of the processor it was built around (Atmel AT91SAM7L128) was exhausted and there was no direct successor or alternative part on which HP could have rebased the platform without significant efforts in porting the firmware.

Atmel had announced the processor to be discontinued in 2013 (with extended sale options ending in 2014), when the French wafer fab LFoundry Rousset SAS, where the processor was manufactured, filed for insolvency and went bankrupt at the end of 2013, and the special low-power manufacturing process on which the L series was based could not be transferred to another fab for technical or economical reasons.

Although the processor filled a niche with no other processor offering a similar combination of low power consumption, performance, relatively high I/O pin count with LCD driving capabilities, and RAM size, the L128 variant was already the top of the line of the L series (with 128 KB flash), and with the whole family of processors based on the proven but dated ARM7TDMI architecture, there was apparently too low a demand to continue and further develop the family.

(03-07-2015 06:32 PM)matthiaspaul Wrote:  the 2008+ HP 12C model (F2230A?) as well as the 20b (F2219AA) and 30b (NW238AA) seem to be discontinued or about to be discontinued as well. The 12C utilizes an Atmel AT91SAM7L128-AU processor (with ARM7TDMI core - also of the ARMv4T architecture) in LQFP-128 package, whereas the other two calculators incorporate AT91SAM7L128 dies under the glob. These processors were manufactured in the French wafer fab LFoundry Rousset SAS, which was owned by Atmel before 2011, filed for insolvency in 2013 (after Atmel significantly cut down their order volume), and was declared bankrupt on 2013-12-26.

According to Atmel's part change notifications RE133101, SE133406, SE133406A, and RE150402, the AT91SAM7L128 processor was consequently announced to have reached end-of-life status by 2013-08-13 (some sources say 2013-12), with last shipments ending 2014-09-30 (some sources say 2014-12). Reasons cited were low demand and unability to transfer the special manufacturing process to another fab. Unfortunately, there is no direct replacement in the ARM7TDMI family, so even if Hewlett-Packard or its Chinese manufacturer would have stocked up chips, supply must be limited.

The HP 17bII+ (F2234A) utilizes a Sunplus Technology SPLB31A processor, which appears to be still available.

Greetings,

Matthias