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Dear Reader, welcome to this month's edition of MicroController Pros Corporation's Embedded News Digest, your source for microcontroller and embedded system news.
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This month's issue: ARM: New Licensees and Foundry Partners in November Atmel: New 32k FLASH Smart Card AVR Microcontroller Atmel: New Low Power 8-bit AVR Flash Microcontroller Atmel: AVR microcontroller with 1.5/12Mbps USB Dallas: 8051 with integrated 10/100Mbps Ethernet MAC and TCP/IP stack EM Microelectronic: 2 New Micros with LCD Controller Consume Only 1.6uA in Active Mode Hitachi: SH3 137MIPS Micro with 12Mbps USB and Ultra-Low Power Infineon Announces New Microcontroller Architecture with 10x Efficiency Microchip: Two New PIC Micros in 14 Pin Package Microchip Announces PIC Micros with "nanoWatt" Power Management Technology Motorola Expands 16-bit Hybrid MCU/DSP Portfolio Motorola: New PowerQUICC Family Motorola Introduces First ColdFire Core MCU National Semiconductor Announces Bluetooth Communication Processor National Semiconductor Introduces Touchscreen Controller Reference Design National Semiconductor and ARM Jointly Develop Power Efficient Systems for Handheld Devices NEC Introduces New 32-Bit V850E/ME2 Microcontroller For High-Performance Real-Time Processing Philips: Four Companies Join Forces To Forge Alliance on ZigBee Wireless Connectivity Standard STMicroelectronics Launches New Series of Mid-range General-purpose 8-bit Microcontrollers TI: New High Performance C6411 DSP Zilog Introduces First Member of New Z8 Encore Microcontroller Family About MicroController Pros Corporation
ARM: New Licensees and Foundry Partners in November Tower Semiconductor joined the ARM Foundry Program. eSilicon and Micrel Semiconductor licensed ARM cores.
Atmel: New 32k FLASH Smart Card AVR Microcontroller Atmel announced the availability of its new 16-bit, 32K Smart Card Flash micro controller, the AT90SC3232CS, incorporating Atmel's latest high security architecture. Security features include RSA, DFA/DPA/SPA resistant, DES/TDES co-processor, true RNG (Random Number Generator), firewalls, and environmental protections. The AT90SC3232CS incorporates 32K bytes of Flash program memory, 32K bytes of EEPROM and 3K bytes of RAM and a SPI interface. Hardware triple DES (Data Encryption Standard) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) support, complete the cryptographic features of this device.
Atmel: New Low Power 8-bit AVR Flash Microcontroller Atmel claims this to be "the industry lowest power 8-bit FLASH microcontroller". Further down you'll find three contestants that also lay claim to the industry's lowest power consumption in their respective categories. If low power is what you want, you might also want to check out Texas Instruments low-power MSP430 family, which uses a 16-bit core, or the offerings of Micronas (ROM based).
The new micro controller family is called Mega 169 and consumes 300uA at 1us instruction time, equaling 2MIPS/mW of throughput. A software programmable oscillator can be slowed down to 32KHz reducing current consumption to 20uA in this mode. In HALT mode current consumption drops to 500nA.
The first member of the family features an integrated 24*4 LCD controller. Atmel offers the STK502 expansion module ($99), which together with the STK500 starter kit ($79) allows you to evaluate programs and test the capabilities of the device.
...and another gem from Atmel's marketing department: This device's USB interface is "USB 2.0 compliant" and of course it's "the industry's first". Now, if you thought this means the interface operates at 480Mbps, think again. USB2.0 specifies three speed modes: Low-Speed (1.5Mbps), Full-Speed (12Mbps) and High-Speed (480Mbps). A device is compliant to the spec as soon as it supports one of those speed modes, so any USB device in the world is "USB2.0 compliant", as the spec is backward compatible to the USB1.1 spec. Canon is pulling the same stunt with their USB scanners. So watch out for those "USB2.0 compliant" devices - if 480MBs is what you want or need make sure it says that USB2.0 High-Speed mode is supported.
The AT43USB351M comes
with 24 Kbytes of on-chip mask program ROM and 1 Kbytes of internal SRAM. It
includes a 10 bits A -to-D converter with 12 channels, a PWM with two outputs,
19 GPIO ports, two timer counters and an SPI serial interface. The AT43USB351M comes in a 48-pin LQFP package. Samples are available now. Prices start at $1.25 in quantities of 100,000.
Dallas: 8051 with integrated 10/100Mbps Ethernet MAC and TCP/IP stack Dallas Semiconductor introduced the DS80C400, a networked microcontroller chip that integrates a high-speed 8051 core, a 10/100Mb Ethernet MAC, and silicon software TCP IPv4/v6 stack. Operating at up to 75MHz (54ns instruction cycle), the DS80C400 provides ample speed to perform local control while also servicing network requests. In addition to the Ethernet MAC, the DS80C400 includes three synchronous/asynchronous serial ports that operate up to 18.75Mbps, a CAN2.0B controller, up to eight ports (64 I/O pins), and a 1 -Wire® master interface. The device features a 24-bit (16MB) external memory interface and hardware math accelerator for 16/32 bit multiply/divide. It comes in a 100 pin LQFP package and costs $8.89 in 1000 unit quantities.
EM Microelectronic: 2 New Micros with 4*20/32 LCD Controller Consume Only 1.6uA in Active Mode EM Microelectronic has released the EM6625 and EM6626 masked ROM microcontrollers with a built-in 4 MUX LCD driver. The EM6625/26 circuits consume only 1.6uA in active mode and 0.4uA in the standby mode (LCD off) and 0.2uA in sleep mode. They also include a melody generator that can be used for basic sound generation, a 10-bit universal counter with PMW function, SPI interface and a low voltage detector with 8 software selectable trigger levels. The EM6625/26 microcontrollers' supply voltage ranges from 1.2V to 3.6V. ROM size is 4k*16 bits and RAM 128*4 bits. The EM6625 drives 20 segments, three or four times multiplexed, while the EM6626 drives 32 segments, three or four times multiplexed.
Hitachi: SH3 137MIPS Micro with 12Mbps USB and Ultra-Low Power With a typical power consumption of 200mW at 173MIPS throughput, the SH7705 achieves 0.865MIPS/mW. The SH7705 incorporates a SuperH® 32-bit RISC SH-3 CPU core that operates with a large 32-kilobyte (32KB), one-cycle access cache memory. The device's USB interface supports full-speed mode (12Mbs), an integrated USB transceiver eliminates the need for an external transmitter IC. Other peripheral functions provided are: a 2-channel high-speed serial interface with a 64-byte first in first out (FIFO), memory management unit (MMU), bus state controller (BSC), which provides glue less interfaces for various kinds of memory such as synchronous DRAM and a 4-channel direct memory access controller (DMAC). The SH7705 also offers timers, a real-time clock (RTC), 4-channel 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and an IrDA (Infrared Data Association) Version. 1.0 interface for infrared communication.
The device comes in a 100MHz or 133MHz version in 208 pin LQFP or CSP packages and pricing ranges from $12.15...$15.00 in 10k unit quantities.
The new MyVP (My
Virtual Processor) technology announced by Infineon is based on a series of
innovations that make it possible A 10X improvement in
performance can be seen in cost-sensitive embedded systems, where processors
running at speeds of 400 megahertz (MHz) are paired with low-cost external Flash
memory at 40 MHz. In such a scenario a processor can waste 90 percent of its
time waiting for instructions from that slow memory. With MyVP technology, an
embedded processor acts like multiple separate “virtual” processors. When one
processor task is forced to wait, the other “virtual” processor takes over,
making efficient use of 100 percent of the chip’s
Microchip: Two New PIC Micros in 14 Pin Package The PIC16F630 and
PIC16F676 devices offer a typical standby current of 100nA at 2.0V and a wide
operating voltage range from
Available today in
14-pin TSSOP, PDIP and SOIC packages, pricing in high volume is $0.79 cents each
for the PIC16F630 and $0.91 cents each for the PIC16F676. Microchip Announces PIC family with "nanoWatt" Power Management Technology With 6 new devices offering 100nA standby current, Microchip claims to provide "industry leading power management" with its nanoWatt technology. Unfortunately they fail to provide any data on the devices current consumption when they are actually doing something (i.e. in active mode) in the press release. We would say that the majority of micros in the market fall into the "nanoWatt" category when the clock is switched off.
The new PIC18FXX20
family offers a flexible clock system with six enhanced "software controlled"
power-managed modes. Additional features include a new low-current watchdog
timer, a 2-speed start-up from a reset or sleep mode and a new fail-safe clock
monitor that is used to detect an external clock failure.
Available packages
include 18-pin PDIP and SOIC, 20-pin SSOP, 28-pin PDIP, SOIC, Quad Flat No-Lead
(QFN) and 44- and 40-pin PDIP, TQFP, QFN packages. The PIC18FXX20 family is
priced between $1.80 and $3.50 in volume manufacturing quantities depending on
device, temperature range, package and operating voltage. Motorola is combining the performance of its newer 56800E hybrid core with the peripherals of the original 56800 family to meet growing market demand for higher performance cores and embedded Flash memory. The Flash-based 56800E devices, named the 56F83x family, will operate at 3.3V in extended temperature ranges (-40 deg C to +125 deg C) at 60 million instructions per second (MIPS). The 56F83x devices are an extension of the existing 56800 family, with suggested list prices ranging from $2.50 to $20.00 (USD). Select customers are currently sampling the new 56F83x products today and general market availability is expected in early 2003.
Motorola: New PowerQUICC Family
Motorola Introduces First ColdFire Core MCU Motorola has developed the ColdFire MCF5282—its first 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) based on the ColdFire core with on-chip Ethernet, CAN networking interfaces and Flash memory. Key Features: V2 ColdFire core, 59 (Dhrystone 2.1) MIPS at 66 MHz executing from integrated Flash, 512 KB Flash, 64 KB RAM, 10/100 Ethernet MAC, CAN 2.0B, full set of MCU peripherals including timers, analog-to-digital converter and legacy serial interfaces.
The MCF5282 is
scheduled to be available in sample volumes in February 2003 with production
volumes available in second quarter 2003. Suggested list prices in quantities of
10,000 start at US$17.99. National announced the CP3000 microcontroller family. The CP3BT10, CP3BT13, CP3UB17 and CP3CN17 connectivity processors feature National's power efficient CR16C 16-bit RISC microcontroller core and a wealth of on-chip peripherals. Each features 256kB on-chip Flash, 10kB on-chip RAM and an additional 8kB of on-chip data Flash. Additional functions and interfaces include versatile timer units, multifunction timers, audio interfaces, USART, programmable I/O ports and a watchdog timer. The processors run from 0 to 24 MHz and will be available in an extended temperature range of -40 to +85 degrees centigrade.
Both the CP3BT10 and CP3BT13 connectivity processors include the Bluetooth baseband and allow the implementation of a fully embedded Bluetooth stack with a customer's application code. Each interfaces easily with National's LMX5250/1 Bluetooth transceiver. The processors also allow easy access from user-developed application code to Bluetooth functionality through a well-defined Application Programming Interface (API). This allows a designer to program the host protocol stack and dedicated profiles into the on-chip Flash program memory, thus eliminating the need for a separate host/system controller, saving cost, board space and power. The CP3BT10 connectivity processor integrates USB, Access.bus and USART interfaces, while the CP3BT13 connectivity processor integrates CAN, Access.bus and USART interfaces.
The CP3UB17 and CP3CN17 do not include the Bluetooth functionality. The CP3UB17 provides USB, AccessBus, I2C and SPI interfaces, while the CP3CN17 offers CAN, Access. bus and SPI interfaces.
All of the CP3000 connectivity processors are sampling now. For 1,000-unit quantities in very small 48-pin chip scale packages, the CP3BT10 is $7.00, the CP3BT13 is $7.25, the CP3UB17 is $6.40 and the CP3CN17 is $6.50. In 1,000-unit quantities in a 100-pin LQFP, the CP3BT10 is $8.00, the CP3BT13 is $8.25, the CP3UB17 is $7.40 and the CP3CN17 is $7.50. The LQFP package allows up to 8Mb of external memory. Production quantities will be available in first quarter 2003.
National offers from its webstore (www.national.com/store) a touchscreen reference design kit for its two new touchscreen controllers LM8500 and LM8300. The touchscreen controllers support 4-wire resistive touchscreens and provide a resolution of up to 1024*1024 pixels. The reference kit connects via a RS232 interface to a PC. Windows O/S Drivers, serial cable and a touchpanel are included with the kit.
National Semiconductor and ARM Jointly Develop Power Efficient Systems for Handheld Devices The joint development leverages ARM's penetration into the mobile phone market of more than 70 percent and National Semiconductor's expertise in analog and power management. National's PowerWise technology is an umbrella solution that will be developed in several phases, with the first phase targeting embedded SoC devices in mobile phones. The heart of the solution is a synthesizable AMBA® methodology-compliant macrocell that works together with ARM powered processors. It communicates with external PowerWise compliant power management chips using a PowerWise interface to reduce the system power supply to the absolute minimum necessary to meet the required level of performance, increasing battery life by 25% to 400%.
NEC Introduces New 32-Bit V850E/ME2 Microcontroller For High-Performance Real-Time Processing The new 32-bit V850E/ME2™ RISC microcontroller executes 195 million instructions per second (MIPS) at 150MHz.
The peripheral function lineup includes USB (version 1.1), timers, three serial interfaces, a 10-bit A/D converter, and a four-channel direct memory access (DMA) controller. The on-chip spread-spectrum clock generation function effectively reduces the peak value of electromagnetic interference noise by more than 10dB. Operating at 3.3V, the V850E/ME2 chip consumes only 200mW of power at 150 MHz, resulting in a throughput of 0.975MIPS/mW.
The 100- and 133-MHz versions of the V850E/ME2 microcontroller are available now, priced at $12.50 and $13.30 respectively in 10,000-unit quantities. The V850E/ME2 operating at 150 MHz and priced at $14.20 in 10,000-unit quantities is scheduled for availability in mid-2003.
Philips: Four Companies Join Forces To Forge Alliance on ZigBee Wireless Connectivity Standard Yet another wireless standard. Supposedly lower cost, lower speed and less complex than Bluetooth, this standard is targeted to provide wireless home and office automation for less than $1.- per radio node (versus Bluetooth's proclaimed long-term price target of $5/node) Invensys, Mitsubishi Electric, Motorola, and Philips have formed a non-profit corporation to drive the creation and further development of the ZigBee wireless connectivity standard for a new low-cost, low power consumption wireless technology. The ZigBee wireless connectivity solution will be embedded in consumer electronics, home and building automation, industrial controls, PC peripherals, medical sensor applications, toys and games. The ZigBee standard uses very small, very low-power devices to connect together to form a wireless control web. A ZigBee network is capable of supporting up to 254 client nodes plus one full functional device (master). ZigBee protocol is optimized for very long battery life measured in months to years from inexpensive, off-the-shelf non-rechargeable batteries, and can control lighting, air conditioning and heating, smoke and fire alarms, and other security devices. The standard supports 2.4 GHz (worldwide), 868 MHz (Europe) and 915 MHz (Americas) unlicensed radio bands with range up to 75 meters.
STMicroelectronics Launches New Series of Mid-range General-purpose 8-bit Microcontrollers The ST7232x series
features ROM or Flash program memory, a 10-bit ADC and fully embedded
secured reset circuitry with a user configurable Low Voltage Detector. Texas Instruments announced sample availability of the TMS320C6411 DSP that features a 9.6MIPS/mW core. TI also announced volume production of the TMS320C6414, TMS320C6415 and TMS320C6416 DSPs. With a 250 milli-Watt (mW), 1.0V core, the C6411 DSP is still delivering 300MHz/ 2400 MIPs/1200 millions of multiply accumulates (MMACS) of performance. Planned production pricing is $39/unit in 10K-unit quantities.
Zilog Introduces First Member of New Z8 Encore Microcontroller Family The new eZ8 core maintains backward compatibility with the company's very popular Z8 MCU. The new Z8 Encore! microcontrollers include seven configurations with up to 64KB of Flash. Features include the 20 MHz eZ8 CPU core, up to 4KB of linear register SRAM, and a comprehensive suite of peripherals including an on-chip DMA controller; 12 channel, 10-bit A/D; SPI; I2C; two 9-bit UART ports with integrated Infrared Data Association (IrDA)-compliant encoder/decoders; four 16-bit counter timers, each with capture and PWM capability; and a single-pin, On-Chip Debugger.
A development kit
features the Windows version of ZiLOG Developer Studio (ZDSII), ANSI-C Compiler
and C source-level debugger, full-featured evaluation board, 64KB Z8F6403 Flash
device, RS-232 to ZDB cable, 9VDC universal power supply, and target module
interface board. The On-Chip Debugger eliminates the need for an expensive
in-circuit emulator, uses a one-wire interface and features unlimited
breakpoints. Z8 Encore!(TM) Development Kits also features the ZiLOG XTools(TM)
intuitive, production-quality suite of tools designed to reduce total system
development time. For a limited time, the company is offering its Z8 Encore!
Development Kit for only $49.95 (Book Price: $199.00). The Z8F6401AN020SC,
with 64K of Flash will sell for $4.73 in 5K unit-quantities. The Z8F1601AN020SC,
with 16K of Flash will sell for $3.08 in 5K unit quantities. These and other
configurations will be available in production quantities starting in January
2003. About
MicroController Pros Corporation
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