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Dear Reader,
welcome to the April 2005 edition of MicroController
Pros Corporation's Embedded News Digest, your source for microcontroller and
embedded system news.
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New product
additions at the MicroControllerShop:
8051:
New in-circuit emulators for Dallas
DS89C4xx,
DS80C310/320,
DS80C323,
DS87C550; Atmel
AT89C51; Analog Devices
ADuC Series; Infineon
C504,
C515C,
C517C; Philips
P80C552/652.
P89LV51,
P8xC591
ARM:
Imagecraft C-compiler for ARM now released - a professional grade C
compiler for just $199.00
Microchip:
Prototype boards with ICSP and RS232 for
18-pin,
28-pin and
40-pin PICs. Now available as fully assembled and tested board,
self-assembly kit, or just the PCB versions. $10 price-drop
on PIC programmers: Improved
USB powered PIC programmer with 40-DIL ZIF socket, now also supports
In-Circuit Programming.
USB and RS232 port PIC programmer
Test &
Measurement: New standalone Digital Storage Scopes with
color or
monochrome LCD, up to 1GSA/s, up to 200MHz bandwidth, starting at $524
$200 Price-drop
on PC-based
Logic Analyzer,
Waveform generator and
Storage Scope
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microcontroller news source.
Let your friends, colleagues or customers know about the Embedded News Digest.
This month's issue:
ARM announced its new DesignStart™ program, which will provide
chip developers with access to the ARM7TDMI® processor core for the TSMC, UMC,
SMIC and Chartered Semiconductor process technologies. This program allows free
access to a web version of the Artisan® Design Environment for the ARM7TDMI
processor. It will enable design teams to gain instant access to ARM IP without
the need to acquire costly design software or licenses up-front, thus allowing
them to rapidly design and validate their system-on-chip (SoC) designs.
The web-based design kits enable engineers to complete the design
process all the way through chip-level verification. Once the design is finished
and ready for fabrication, a single-use design license can be purchased to
receive a full set of deliverables and thus enable tape out and manufacture at
any of the supported foundries.
Crossware has released version 3 of its C
Compiler for Freescale's ColdFire microprocessors and microcontrollers. The new
compiler, available as part of Crossware's
ColdFire Development Suite, will simplify development and increase the speed
of compiled programs.
The new compiler is able to carry out a flow analysis of a program and use this
analysis to perform optimizations that are not otherwise possible. Also,
additional calling conventions (ways in which the function call and function
return are coded) have been added and these can be used to further increase the
speed of the compiled program. In addition, function parameters can be passed in
registers and function in-lining can be used to completely eliminate the
function call altogether.
Crossware has also developed a range of
facilities to test the compiler and the libraries that come with it. A special
version of Crossware's Embedded Development Studio is capable of automatically
generating, compiling and executing complex expressions. The code produced is
self-checking and execution will halt if a result is incorrect. Similarly,
self-checking code can be automatically generated to test library functions, and
randomly generated input data ensures that the library functions operate
correctly with a wide range of inputs.
The new compiler is available as part of Crossware's ColdFire Development Suite
and includes a C compiler assembler, linker, simulator and debugger all
integrated into an easy-to-use development environment. A USB BDM (background
debug mode) interface is also available to complete the set of development
tools.
Microchip Technology has announced the first 10 members of
the new high-pincount, high-density PIC18F87J10 Flash microcontroller family,
which double the performance in low-voltage applications by delivering up to 10
MIPS at 3V. The new MCUs operate at 40 MHz and come in 64- and 80-pin packages.
The PIC18F87J10 8-bit microcontroller family provides linear
access (no pages) to as much as 128 Kbytes of onboard Flash memory, and includes
up to 4 Kbytes of data RAM, while offering complete code and tool compatibility
with all PIC18F microcontrollers. In addition, the new PIC18F87J10
microcontrollers include nanoWatt Technology for optimal power management and
prolonged battery life.
Key features of the PIC18F87J10 family include: 32 to 128
Kbytes of Flash program memory; Up to 4 Kbytes of data RAM; Two Enhanced
Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter modules for RS232, RS485
and LIN serial interfaces; Two Master Synchronous Serial Port modules,
each supporting Master I2C or SPI interfaces; Five Timers/Counters (3 x
16-bit, 2 x 8-bit); 15-channel, 10-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter with
auto-acquisition timing; Two Analog Comparators; Three Enhanced
Capture/Compare/PWM modules with support for MOSFET (H-bridge) motor drives;
Two standard Capture/Compare/PWM modules; Extended Watchdog Timer with
prescalar options; Brownout Reset; 8-bit/16-bit mode External Memory
Access (up to 2 Mbytes); Enhanced Instruction Set for improved C Compiler
efficiency
All 10 PIC18F87J10 family microcontrollers are available now
for limited sampling, and volume production is expected in June.
Microchip Technology has introduced the
world's smallest Ethernet controller, designed to allow creation of
network-enabled embedded applications with minimal board space requirements.
The IEEE 802.3-compliant 10 Mbps ENC28J60 features a
standard SPI interface, a programmable 8-Kbyte Dual-Port SRAM Buffer, and
special filters. These include Microchip's programmable pattern-matching filter,
and can automatically evaluate, accept or reject Magic Packet, Unicast,
Multicast or Broadcast packet types, minimizing the host microcontroller’s
processing requirements.
Limited sampling for the ENC28J60 Ethernet controller is
available now, and volume production is expected in May. Options include 28-pin
SPDIP, SOIC, SSOP and QFN packages.
Renesas Tannounced the SH-MobileJ3 (product
name: SH7326) featuring 4-megapixel camera support and on-chip image processing
hardware accelerators as a new model in the SH-Mobile*1 Series of mobile phone
application processors, for use in mid-range mobile phone system models.
The SH-MobileJ3 is the successor of the
current SH-MobileJ2 for mid-range mobile phone models, and offers enhancements
of major image processing functions.
The number of camera interfaces has been increased to two, upgraded to
high-definition 4-megapixel camera compatibility. For example a mobile phone
incorporating a camera and TV tuner that previously required the addition of
external circuitry can be implemented using an SH-MobileJ3 without the need for
such circuitry, enabling system costs to be reduced.
A MPEG-4 full hardware accelerator is
included for moving image processing, for still image processing, the
SH-MobileJ3 features the inclusion of a JPEG hardware accelerator.
The SH-MobileJ3 incorporates an LCD
controller supporting TFT color liquid crystal panels, a video output unit
capable of outputting moving images shot with a camera to a TV set, a Version
1.2a compliant IrDA interface, a USB2.0 Function (Full Speed compliant) module,
a keyboard interface, and a memory card interface.
The capacity of flash memory connectable to a NAND/AND flash memory interface
has been substantially increased from the maximum 512 Mbits of the previous
product to 4 Gbits.
The package used is a 281-pin CSP (9 mm x 11
mm x 1.4 mm, 0.5 mm pin pitch), an SiP with on-chip 128-Mbit SDRAM that requires
a smaller mounting area. Price in 10000 unit quantities is 3500 Yen.
TI has announced the introduction of the
MSP430F42x0 generation of microcontrollers, a low-cost, signal-chain-on-a-chip (SCoC)
MCU solution for high precision sensing and measurement applications. The
MSP430F42x0 MCU features an ultra-low-power core and a complete chain of
integrated peripherals such as a 16-bit sigma delta analog to digital converter
(ADC), up to 32KB of flash memory and a liquid crystal display (LCD) driver with
an internal charge pump.
The integrated 16-bit ADC has five
differential input channels, up to 8,000 samples per second and a typical
signal-to-noise and distortion ratio of 84 dB. This, combined with the 12-bit DAC's 1 microsecond settling time, lets designers leverage closed loop control
to achieve the high levels of measurement and accuracy. The 16-bit ADC has a
programmable gain amplifier, 1.2 voltage reference and an input buffer to
eliminate the need for external signal conditioning for most applications. All
of the peripherals have an option to minimize power consumption. The integration
of up to 32KB of flash memory and LCD driver that maintains contrast control
down to an input voltage of 2.2V reduces board space and build of materials by
removing the need for an EEPROM and external LCD charge pump.
MSP430F42x0 MCUs are designed to work in the
harsh environments typically found in industrial and medical applications. When
a crystal fails due to moisture or a foreign substance during active or any
low-power mode, the MSP430F42x0 is able to acknowledge the failure, re-start the
on-chip clock system oscillator and generate a non-maskable interrupt to service
the condition.
The MSP430F4270 MCU's 2.5 minimum voltage for flash in-system programming &
erasing and 16-bit ADC extends the life of alkaline-battery-powered systems by
50 percent. The zero-power brown-out reset function is designed to reset the
MSP430 during a low-voltage condition below specification preventing
unpredictable behavior on the device.
MSP430F42x0 MCUs are specified for operation
from 1.8 V to 3.6 V and are fully software-compatible with all existing MSP430
devices. The MSP430F4270 MCU will feature 32 KB of flash memory, with the F4260
and F4250 MCUs featuring 24 KB and 16 KB of flash memory, respectively. All
three devices include 256 Bytes RAM, and 32 I/O channels. Samples of MSP430F42x0
MCUs are available today with volume production in May 2005. Pricing will start
from $2.95 in 10,000-piece quantities (suggested resale pricing).
ZiLOG has rolled out F08xA, an 8KB Flash memory addition to its
Z8 Encore! XP microcontroller line. This addition extends the Flash memory range
of the Z8 Encore! XP family to include 1, 2, 4 and 8KB varieties. The Z8 Encore!
XP F08xA Series is based on the eZ8 CPU and supports 8KB of Flash program memory
and 1KB registered RAM. The devices feature up to eight
single-ended/differential channels of 10-bit A/D conversion and a
trans-impedance amplifier for current measurement. An on-chip temperature sensor
allows die temperature measurement over a range of -40 degrees to +105 degrees
C. These devices also include two enhanced 16-bit timer blocks featuring PWMs
and Capture and Compare, and up to 18 vectored interrupts with programmable
priorities provide increased application flexibility.
The new series also features an on-chip internal precision
oscillator (5MHz/32KHz) as a trimmable clock source that requires no external
components. A new single-pin debugger and programming interface simplifies code
development and allows for easy in-circuit programming, and a full-duplex UART
provides serial communications and IrDA encoding and decoding capability.
Available now, the Z8 Encore! XP F08xA Series sells for $1.63
for a 28-pin SOIC with an A/D Converter, and $1.50 for a 20-pin SOIC without an
A/D Converter, each in quantities of 1,000. Development kits for each will be
available through ZiLOG's distribution channels.
MicroController Pros Corporation (µCPros) is an authorized
distributor for many microcontroller tool vendors, which enables us to offer you
a large selection of Microcontroller Development Tools for almost any major
microcontroller architecture.
Our
MicroControllerShop (http://microcontrollershop.com) puts convenient and
secure online shopping, feature- and price-comparison on your computer's
desktop. Microcontroller Development Tools featured at the
MicroControllerShop
include: Emulators, EPROM programmers, FLASH programmers, microcontroller C-
compilers, assemblers, emulator accessories, pin adapters, pin converters,
microcontroller starter kits and embedded evaluation boards for various
microcontroller architectures and manufacturers.
copyright 2005 by
MicroController Pros Corporation
visit our web
http://www.ucpros.com
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