<s>
Parallax	B-Device
SX	I-Device
is	O
a	O
discontinued	O
line	O
of	O
microcontrollers	B-Architecture
that	O
was	O
marketed	O
by	O
Parallax	B-Device
,	O
from	O
a	O
design	O
by	O
Ubicom	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Designed	O
to	O
be	O
architecturally	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
PIC	B-Architecture
microcontrollers	I-Architecture
used	O
in	O
the	O
original	O
versions	O
of	O
the	O
BASIC	B-Language
Stamp	I-Language
,	O
SX	O
microcontrollers	B-Architecture
replaced	O
the	O
PIC	O
in	O
several	O
subsequent	O
versions	O
of	O
that	O
product	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
SX	O
dies	O
were	O
manufactured	O
by	O
Ubicom	O
,	O
who	O
sent	O
them	O
to	O
Parallax	B-Device
for	O
packaging	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ubicom	O
had	O
made	O
processors	O
with	O
18	O
,	O
20	O
,	O
28	O
,	O
48	O
and	O
52	O
pins	O
,	O
but	O
because	O
Parallax	B-Device
did	O
not	O
have	O
packages	O
for	O
18	O
and	O
52	O
pins	O
chips	O
,	O
the	O
SX-18	O
and	O
SX-52	O
were	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
On	O
July	O
31	O
,	O
2009	O
,	O
Parallax	B-Device
announced	O
that	O
the	O
SX	O
line	O
had	O
reached	O
its	O
production	O
EOL	O
(	O
End-of-Life	O
)	O
as	O
Ubicom	O
would	O
no	O
longer	O
be	O
manufacturing	O
dies	O
based	O
on	O
the	O
designs	O
;	O
after	O
the	O
supplies	O
from	O
the	O
final	O
"	O
lifetime	O
buy	O
"	O
have	O
been	O
exhausted	O
,	O
the	O
associated	O
products	O
cannot	O
be	O
restocked	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
same	O
announcement	O
,	O
Parallax	B-Device
expressed	O
that	O
availability	O
of	O
its	O
own	O
products	O
based	O
on	O
SX	O
devices	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
impacted	O
and	O
that	O
technical	O
support	O
would	O
remain	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Parallax	B-Device
's	O
SX	O
series	O
microcontrollers	B-Architecture
are	O
8-bit	O
RISC	O
microcontrollers	B-Architecture
(	O
using	O
a	O
12-bit	O
instruction	O
word	O
)	O
which	O
have	O
an	O
unusually	O
high	O
speed	O
,	O
up	O
to	O
75MHz	O
(	O
75MIPS	O
)	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
high	O
degree	O
of	O
flexibility	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
include	O
up	O
to	O
4096	O
12-bit	O
words	O
of	O
Flash	B-Device
memory	I-Device
and	O
up	O
to	O
262	O
bytes	O
of	O
random-access	B-Architecture
memory	I-Architecture
(	O
RAM	B-Architecture
)	O
,	O
an	O
eight	O
bit	O
counter	O
and	O
other	O
support	O
logic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
especially	O
geared	O
toward	O
the	O
emulation	O
of	O
I/O	B-General_Concept
hardware	I-General_Concept
in	O
software	O
,	O
which	O
makes	O
them	O
very	O
flexible	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
Parallax	B-Device
's	O
SX	O
micros	O
are	O
limited	O
in	O
variety	O
,	O
their	O
high	O
speed	O
and	O
additional	O
resources	O
allow	O
programmers	O
to	O
create	O
'	O
virtual	O
devices	O
 '	O
,	O
including	O
complete	O
video	B-Architecture
controllers	I-Architecture
,	O
as	O
required	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sx-Key	B-Device
is	O
produced	O
by	O
Parallax	B-Device
and	O
used	O
to	O
program	O
the	O
SX	O
microcontroller	B-Architecture
and	O
then	O
debug	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Do	O
note	O
that	O
there	O
are	O
two	O
Sx-key	B-Device
products	O
,	O
one	O
is	O
an	O
actual	O
hardware	O
device	O
the	O
other	O
is	O
the	O
software	O
,	O
they	O
share	O
the	O
same	O
name	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
comes	O
with	O
the	O
SXsim	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
assembler/programmer	O
to	O
allow	O
programming	O
of	O
the	O
SX	O
using	O
either	O
an	O
SX	O
Key	O
or	O
SX	O
Blitz	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
are	O
some	O
known	O
issues	O
with	O
the	O
SX	O
Key	O
software	O
on	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
,	O
the	O
Sx-key	B-Device
software	O
requires	O
certain	O
DLLs	O
that	O
are	O
not	O
distributed	O
with	O
Windows	O
Vista	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
are	O
then	O
converted	O
from	O
C	O
into	O
SX	O
ASM	B-Language
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
software	O
is	O
officially	O
supported	O
by	O
Parallax	B-Device
,	O
and	O
they	O
have	O
a	O
partnership	O
to	O
work	O
together	O
on	O
making	O
the	O
SX/C	O
compiler	O
a	O
first	O
class	O
citizen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Please	O
note	O
that	O
this	O
software	O
is	O
untested	O
by	O
Parallax	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
There	O
is	O
a	O
thread	O
in	O
the	O
Parallax	B-Device
support	O
forums	O
about	O
C4SX	O
that	O
might	O
be	O
helpful	O
to	O
those	O
looking	O
at	O
using	O
C	O
for	O
the	O
SX	O
:	O
</s>
<s>
gsasm	O
is	O
an	O
assembler	B-Language
for	O
the	O
SX	O
assembly	O
to	O
a	O
hex	O
file	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Please	O
read	O
the	O
release	O
notes	O
,	O
and	O
see	O
if	O
a	O
more	O
applicable	O
solution	O
would	O
not	O
be	O
to	O
use	O
Wine	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
SX	O
Key	O
Software	O
has	O
been	O
reported	O
to	O
work	O
well	O
under	O
Wine	B-Application
(	O
a	O
Windows	O
compatibility	O
layer	O
for	O
Linux	O
platforms	O
)	O
.	O
</s>
