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Dear Reader,
welcome to the August 2005 edition of MicroController
Pros Corporation's Embedded News Digest, your source for microcontroller and
embedded system news.
This month's issue:
Freescale Begins Production of Industry-First FlexRay Device
Goal Semiconductor MCUs Supported by Range of Industry
Standard Programmers
Goal
Semiconductor Acquired by Ramtron International Corporation
NEC Electronics Announces 78K0/Lx2 Family of 8-Bit MCUs
for Consumer Applications
Renesas Technology Releases SH7261 SuperH
Microcontrollers for Digital Audio Products
TI Launches
First of 50 New Ultra-Low-Power MSP430 MCUs
Freescale Begins Production of Industry-First FlexRay Device
Freescale Semiconductor's MFR4200 FlexRay controller is now available in
production quantities. It is the first automotive-qualified FlexRay device.
The MFR4200 delivers 10 times more throughput than current CAN solutions, and
provides the fault tolerance and time-deterministic performance required for
x-by-wire applications.
X-by-wire automotive subsystems (including braking, steering,
suspension/reaction control and throttle control) are expected to gradually
replace most hydraulic lines and mechanical cables with wire-based networks,
sensors and motors. The MFR4200 is designed to serve the needs of this market by
providing a high level of communication bandwidth and deterministic,
fault-tolerant data transmission.
This MFR4200 device is ideal for chassis control, body electronics and
powertrain applications, and offers seamless integration with a wide range of
microcontrollers. In addition, FlexRay complements the major in-vehicle
networking standards (CAN, LIN and MOST) by adding a high-speed protocol for the
most demanding systems.
The MFR4200 features a bit rate up to a maximum of 10 Mbit/sec on each of two
channels, providing a redundancy for fault tolerance. Each of its 59 message
buffers can carry 32 bytes of data and be configured as receive, transmit
(single or double), or part of the receive FIFO. It comes in a 64-pin LQFP.
Goal Semiconductor MCUs Supported by Range of Industry
Standard Programmers
Goal Semiconductor has announced that its industry standard
microcontrollers are now supported by a variety of third party programmers.
All of Goal's VERSA Microcontroller families of low-cost, drop-in replacement
parts can be programmed using universal programmers from Advantech Equipment,
Elnec, HI-LO System Research, ICE Technology, LEAP Electronic and Xeltek.
Available in 44-pin PLCC, 44-pin QFP and 40-pin DIP packages, Goal's RoHS-compliant
VERSA MCU families include the VRS1xxx series with 64/128K Flash memory, 1K RAM
and In-System/In-Application Programming capabilities; the VRS5xx series with
4/8/16/32/64K Flash and 128/256/1K/4K bytes RAM; the VRS700 with 64K Flash and
4K RAM; and the VRS900 mixed-signal MCU with 8K Flash, 256 bytes RAM, 4-channel,
8-bit ADC and 14 segment LCD driver.
Among the programmers which support Goal MCUs are the Xeltek
SuperPro-Z,
SuperPro-LX,
SuperPro 280U,
SuperPro 580U,
SuperPro 3000U,
SuperPro 8000, and
SuperPro 9000U.
Goal Semiconductor has been acquired by
Ramtron International Corporation> Ramtron is a maker of nonvolatile
ferroelectric random access memories (FRAM). The Ramtron-Goal union plans
to develop a new generation of innovative, highly-integrated data acquisition
and signal processing microcontrollers with nonvolatile FRAM technology.
NEC Electronics Announces 78K0/Lx2 Family of 8-Bit MCUs
for Consumer Applications
NEC Electronics Corp. has announced the latest addition to their line of 8-bit
microcontroller products, the 78K0/Lx2 family of MCUs. The 78K0/Lx2 family
features 36 product configurations with many memory, peripheral and packaging
options.
Each 78K0/Lx2 microcontroller features an integrated LCD driver/controller for
powering displays with up to 160 segments. The MCUs have from 16 to 128 kBytes
of Flash memory and up to 7 kBytes of RAM. An in-application self-programming
capability enables programs to be easily rewritten. With power consumption of
2.5 mA (compared to 7.6 mA in previous mask ROM products) operating at 5V and 10 MHz, the 78K0/Lx2 MCUs still provide a fast wake-up time
typically only five microseconds from standby to full-speed operation. The
78K0/Lx2 MCUs also have a variety of peripherals designed to provide safe
operation, including power-on-clear circuitry and low-voltage indicators.
Operating voltages range from 1.8V to 5.5V.
All of the Lx2 series employ NEC Electronics' advanced 0.15-micron process
technology and SuperFlash technology licensed from Silicon Storage Technology,
Inc. (SST).
Samples of 78K0/Lx2 MCUs will be available in September, with mass production
scheduled to begin in January 2006. Pricing depends on packaging, memory and
peripheral configuration. For example, the 78K0/LG2 MCU with 128 KB of flash
memory is priced at $6 in 1,000-unit quantities. Pricing and availability are
subject to change.
Renesas Technology Corp. has announced four
SH7261 high-performance microcontroller models, incorporating the 32-bit RISC
microcontroller SuperH Family's new SH2A-FPU CPU core, designed for use in car
audio, home audio, and similar digital audio products. Sample shipments will
begin in September 2005 in Japan.
These new devices are high-performance microcontrollers incorporating peripheral
functions suitable for car audio and home audio systems, including a CD-ROM
decoder, CAN controller, and serial sound interface.
The new SH2A-FPU CPU core features the addition of an FPU to the real-time
control capabilities of the SH-2A CPU core. Two versions are available, with a
maximum operating frequency of 80 MHz and 120 MHz respectively. Operation at 120
MHz provides high processing performance by integer operation capability of 288
MIPS (Dhrystone 1.1) and floating-point operation performance of 240 MFLOPS.
Processing previously performed by two devices a system control processing
controller and a digital audio processing DSP or the like can thus be handled
by a single SH7261 microcontroller, enabling the number of component parts to be
reduced and lower system costs to be achieved.
The SH7261 microcontrollers have an on-chip CD-ROM controller implementing CD
player playback functions, enabling CD-ROM support functions to be configured
with inexpensive external components.
Data communication functions are provided by a 2-channel in-vehicle LAN CAN
controller in the SH72611 and an IEBus controller in the SH72612, offering a
choice of models appropriate to car audio, industrial, or other applications.
The comprehensive set of on-chip peripheral functions also includes serial
communication functions such as a serial sound interface (SSI) for digital audio
data input/output, a serial communication interface with a 16-stage FIFO, and an
I2C bus interface, as well as a multifunction timer unit (MTU2), 10-bit A/D
converter, and 8-bit D/A converter useful for various kinds of industrial
applications.
The instruction set is upward-compatible with those of the SH-2A and earlier
SH-2 CPU cores, enabling existing programs to be used while improving ROM code
efficiency by approximately 75% compared with the SH-2, an improvement that
makes it possible to reduce program size by approximately 25%.
These high signal processing capabilities enable MP3, WMA, AAC, and other
audio data compression/expansion processing to be executed at a lower frequency
and by a smaller program. In addition, system control and digital audio
processing previously performed by separate devices can be handled by a single
SH7261 chip, enabling fewer component parts to be used. This makes it possible
to implement a low-power-consumption system at low cost.
An external data bus expandable up to 32 bits allows direct connection to flash
ROM, SDRAM, SRAM, and so forth, without the use of external parts.
On-chip debugging functions are provided, enabling real-time debugging to be
carried out at the maximum operating frequency.
These new microcontrollers come in 176-pin LQFP. Sample shipments begin this
month in Japan. Dependent on model, the sample prices range from ₯1650 to ₯1800.
TI Launches
First of 50 New Ultra-Low-Power MSP430 MCUs
Texas Instruments Incorporated has begun a massive expansion of the MSP430
ultra-low power microcontroller platform with plans to add over 50 new devices
in the next 18 months. The first devices introduce TI's smallest, lowest power
MCUs ever the MSP430F20xx MCU series which offers a tiny 14-pin, 4x4 mm
footprint and 16 MIPS of 16-bit performance with pricing starting at $0.49 (for
100,000-unit quantities) for the MSP430F2001 MCU.
New MSP430F20xx MCUs are TI's first devices based on the recently announced F2xx
architecture that operates with a cool active current of 200 micro-amps per
MIPS. A flexible clock system allows operation up to 16 MHz with no external
components using an improved digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) that is fully
programmable and stable over temperature and voltage. The ability to switch from
standby to a fully synchronized 16 MIPS active mode in less than one
micro-second allows interrupt event-driven programming that extends time in
power-saving modes and allows the use of smaller, lower cost batteries. The
14-pin footprint combined with a sub-1micro-amp standby current provides
benefits in space-constrained applications such as fire and motion detectors for
which OEMs may choose to reduce cost and liability with factory-installed,
sealed batteries that last over ten years.
All F20xx devices offer in-system programmable flash for greater design
flexibility, field upgrades and elimination of external EEPROMs. 128 bytes of
RAM, when combined with a full featured CPU, allows full development in C. To
further reduce system cost, all 10 GPIO pins include programmable
pull-up/pull-down resistors eliminating external components. A zero-power
brown-out reset function and an enhanced watchdog timer enhance reliability. All
the failsafe features of F2xx devices are available during all modes of
operation with no power penalty.
The MSP430F20x2 and MSP430F20x3 MCUs include a universal serial interface (USI)
that can be configured for either I2C or SPI master or slave communication. To
accelerate F20xx MCU design-in, designers can begin development with TI's
existing MSP430 USB or Parallel Port JTAG pods that support the new Spy Bi-Wire
interface and provide designers with world-class emulation from day one.
Following the MSP430F20xx MCU series, TI will introduce in Q4 2005 the first in
a family of enhanced MSP43FG46xx processors with an extended 1MB memory model,
allowing access to 16 times more memory compared to the 64kB available today.
Extended instructions designed for the large memory allow optimal high-level
code density with full backward compatibility, making it possible to develop
very sophisticated real-time applications completely in modular C libraries.
The first enhanced device from the MSP430FG46xx generation the FG4619 MCU
will incorporate 120kB of embedded flash memory and a complete signal chain on
chip (SCoC), making it ideal for applications like portable medical devices that
require the high integration and large memory options of a single chip solution.
Later in 2006, TI's MCU expansion will continue with new families of devices
with increased MIPS, 5V and 125°C capabilities, USB 2.0, low voltage operation
and wireless connectivity.
MSP430F20x3 MCUs have begun sampling to high-volume customers, with full
production scheduled Q4 2005. MSP430F20x1 and MSP430F20x2 MCUs will sample Q4
2005 with production early 2006.
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MicroController Pros Corporation
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