I am looking at the STR912FW44: http://mcu.st.com/mcu/modules.php?name=mcu&file=devicedocs&DEV=STR912FW44&FAM=101 It is a pretty nice part: 96 MHz ARM 9 CAN USB Ethernet 512KB flash 96KB RAM All integrated on a single chip. Pricing looks reasonable with DigiKey showing about $17 and my disty promising < $10 in quantity. I have been looking at the Atmel AT91SAM7X, but since the project got delayed and the STR912FW44 is now available, I am considering using it. Are there plans to port FreeRTOS to the STR912FW44 ? I may be able to arrange a development system if you need one.

Interesting: Firmware library ST freely distributes Hardware Abstraction Layer (HAL) library source files for the STR910F from www.st.com/mcu. This tested and proven collection of standard ANSI ‘C’ functions manipulates all low level silicon functions, freeing you from worrying about the details so you can immediately start developing your application. Just include the functions in your project and call them from your own drivers, RTOS, communication stack, or application code. The code is linked from this page: http://mcu.st.com/mcu/modules.php?name=mcu&file=devicedocs&DEV=STR912FW44&FAM=101 in the "software" table. The odd think is that I do not see an evaluation board from ST for this processor.

I am getting more enquiries about ARM9 than anything else at the moment.  A FreeRTOS.org port is needed!  I think the main areas of difference are going to be how to handle the MMU and Cache. Regards.

I have not read it in detail yet, but looks interesting indeed. Regards.