Welcome to the mbed Component Database!

Introduction

The Component Database hosts reusable libraries for different hardware, middleware and IoT services that you can use with ARM Microcontrollers. These components can be used as building blocks for quickly developing prototypes and products.

Components and the associated libraries, examples and documentation are created and added to the database by mbed developers, component manufacturers and service providers. The goal is to create a database of rock-solid code and resources for many components that can be used with ARM microcontrollers.

What it is, and what it isn't

The Component Database is a public database of components, libraries, and associated documentation. The entries in the database are maintained by component vendors and the mbed community.

It is the place to put schematics, pinout diagrams, datasheets, guides, and any other information which is useful to users of the component.

It is not an exhaustive list of all possible variations of a component. Nor is it intended to index 'passive' components such as switches, resistors, antennas, etc. As a guide, a component should only be in the component database if it requires a software library to operate. For example, octopart.com lists over 8 million discrete components. By contrast, the mbed component database is expected to cover more in the region of the low hundreds of components. It includes online services as well as hardware components.

It is not a marketplace for software. Every component can only have one library associated with it. It is up to the community to maintain that single library to be the best possible library serving the needs of the majority of people.his is intended to control fragmentation of libraries into several forks, each of which serve the needs of only a subset of users. We will shortly be adding features to help make this process easier, and welcome feedback in this area.

Helping developers

The main benefit of the the Component Database for end users is to provide a reference point for the best available driver library for any supported hardware component.

If a component is in the component database, it should also mean that:

1) The component been tested as working by the mbed community

2) The component has a library or hello world program available, which also has been tested to work to the degree indicated

3) Any updates or improvements to the software library will also be found in the same place

4) Discussion and questions relating to the component can happen on the component's entry in the database

5) All relevant documentation on the component is collated and linked to from the database entry

Helping component vendors and library developers

The component database is the place for mbed developers to find purchasing information, support links and product datasheets relating to a component.

If you are a component vendor, the presence of your component in the database is a great indicator to potential customers that they can confidently buy the component knowing that the minimum of time will be needed to integrate it into their design.

Actually maintaining their own mbed library for their component(s) is a huge boost to the visibility of a vendor within the mbed community. Developers then know that they can talk to actual engineers at the vendor if needed, which dramatically increases the confidence the developer will have in integrating products. Vendors may also link to paid support pathways and contacts to help establish commercial relationships.

In summary, creating and maintaining components in the mbed component database makes vendors' products more attractive to developers. It also helps the vendor gain valuable perspective on the customers of their products and their particular use cases and requirements.

Adding a component

Anyone can add a component to the database, and edit existing components. Components are not 'owned' by individuals, instead the community is responsible for maintaining the database. A component however is linked to libraries which are owned by an individual, which is then in effect the official maintainer of the library for that component.

To add a component, simply navigate to the category you think the component should be in, and click 'Add Component' button.

About the component database

The component database is an evolution of the mbed Cookbook, the community maintained wiki which lists over a hundred components. It is intended to supersede the use of cookbook for listing components, providing advantages over the cookbook, including:

1. Entries are structured rather than free-form text, ensuring a consistent look and feel.

2. Entries can be listed in a more appealing form such as categories, rather than the mainly flat list that the cookbook has. Searching is also greatly improved.

3. Restructuring, restyling and evolving the component database will be be a much more straightforward process.

4. Components can be easily linked to from other parts of the mbed platform, providing greater scope for future feature additions.

Future possibilities

Creating a database of supported components opens up several possible new features. For example,

1) Tag projects with a list of components, to create a shopping list for anyone wanting to recreate the project

2) Show a user which projects they could create given a set of available components

3) Related components

4) Purchase links, stock status, etc