June 2007 Embedded News Digest
 

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Welcome to the June 2007 edition of MicroController Pros Corporation's Embedded News Digest, your source for microcontroller and embedded system news.

  • New product additions at the MicroControllerShop:

     

    • Save up to 40% on Hi-Tech C-compilers for ARM, MSP430, dsPIC, PIC18, PIC16, 8051, XA, Z80, H8/300, 68HC11/08 and 68000. See details below.

     

    ARM:

     

    AVR:

     

    Microchip dsPIC/PIC:

    • Modular, stackable Microchip dsPIC board. Easily expandable with communication modules for Ethernet, CAN, SPI, USB, RS422/485, RS232. Erika RTOS support, code generator support.

    • Robotics bundles with Flowcode (flowchart based) programming language for PIC microcontrollers.

     

    Chip Programmers:

    • Universal programmers by Conitec, Germany. USB and Ethernet ports. Support for up to 240 individual pin drivers.High speed programming via exchangeable ZIF socket, In-system (ISP) or JTAG interfaces. SD memory card slot for PC independent programming

    • New Phyton ChipProg48 is now available with USB interface and 48-pin ZIF socket. Supports many microcontroller and memory types.


  • Please help us to spread the word about this free microcontroller news source.
    Let your friends, colleagues or customers know about the Embedded News Digest.

This month's issue:

Atmel Releases ARM SC100-based Secure Microcontroller

Atmel Extends CAP Family with ARM7-based Product

Atmel Releases New SecureAVR Microcontroller

Atmel Extends its AVR 32-bit MCU Family

Atmel Offers Free Development Software for 32-bit AVR Microcontrollers

Atmel Introduces AVR32 Application Processor for Linux-based Embedded Designs

Crossware Adds Support for Atmel AT89C51RE2

Freescale Introduces Compatible 8- and 32-bit Flexis MCUs

Freescale i.MX27 Video Applications Processor

Freescale Develops New Multi-core Architecture

25% to 50% Savings on HI-TECH Compilers

Microchip Adds Smaller Options to 16-bit Microcontroller Family

Microchip Announces New DSC Families

Renesas Adds 12 Models to 32-bit H8SX Family

Sensory Releases New Speech Recognition IC and Firmware

ST Releases Higher-Performance, Lower-Cost ARM9 MCU

ST Announces New 32-Bit Family Powered by ARM Cortex-M3 Core


Atmel Releases ARM SC100-based Secure Microcontroller

Based on the ARM SC100 CPU, the new AT91SC192192CT-USB features 192 kBytes of Flash program memory, 192 kBytes of high-performance EEPROM (fast erase/write time, high endurance) and 24 kBytes of RAM. Also included are a Full Speed USB 2.0 interface with 5 Endpoints, an SPI interface to communicate in an Embedded System environment or to connect to a NOR Flash, and dedicated hardware to connect to a NAND Flash.

Fully compatible with the ROM-based AT91SC512384RCT, the AT91SC192192CT-USB also incorporates the standard ISO 7816 Smart Card and the emerging Single Wire Protocol (SWP) interfaces. This makes the AT91SC192192CT-USB a flexible Flash alternative to its ROM sibling for Smart Card applications such as next-generation (U)SIM cards.

 AT91SC192192CT-USB samples are available now in a LQFP64 package. Pricing starts at $8.84 for 10,000 units.

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Atmel Extends CAP Family with ARM7-based Product

The new CAP7 customizable microcontroller is architecturally compatible with Atmel's range of off-the-shelf ARM7-based MCUs, and incorporates metal programmable cell fabric (MPCF) technology to integrate up to 450K equivalent ASIC gates in a metal programmable block for custom logic netlist conversion.

The initial CAP7 product release includes the AT91CAP7S, based on the ARM7TDMI processor core. The AT91CAP7S has 160 kBytes of on-chip fast SRAM and either a 250k or 450k block of metal programmable ASIC gates. Peripherals include USB device, SPI master and slave, two USARTs, three 16-bit timer counters, an 8-channel, 10-bit analog-to-digital converter, and a full complement of supervisory functions. Additional peripherals from Atmel's extensive IP library or customer IP may be instantiated in the MP block.

There is a one-time charge of US $150,000 for design, mask fees, and prototypes. The CAP7 is available now for design. The AT91CAP7S250 in a 144-pin LQFP package is priced at US $5.44 for 50,000-unit quantities.

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Atmel Releases New SecureAVR Microcontroller

Atmel has introduced the AT90SC9604RU secure microcontroller in replacement of its present AT90SC6404RT chip.

Based on Atmel's optimized 8-/16-bit RISC SecureAVR CPU architecture, the AT90SC9604RU features on-chip high-density, compact memories: 4 kBytes EEPROM, 96 kBytes of user-ROM, and 2 kBytes of RAM. This product has been designed to meet the security standards of Common Criteria EAL4+ and EMVCo. It shares the same common features with Atmel's SecureAVR family including strong security mechanisms, a DES/TDES processor, a true random number generator, DFA/DPA/SPA resistant, firewalls and environmental protections to name just a few.

AT90SC9604RU samples are available now. Production will start in Q2 of 2007. Pricing starts at US $0.67 for 10,000 units.

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Atmel Extends its AVR 32-bit MCU Family

Atmel has introduced a second family based on the AVR32 core, its 32-bit Flash microcontroller with DSP extensions. Developed for low-power PC-centric applications, the AVR32 UC3B Series of MCUs has Full-Speed (12 Mbps) USB 2.0 with On-The-Go (OTG) capability. On-chip SRAM ranges from 16 kBytes to 32 kBytes and on-chip Flash from 64 kBytes to 256 kBytes.

The new AVR32 UC3B devices deliver 72 Dhrystone MIPS (DMIPS) at 60 MHz, include true single-cycle MACs and DSP arithmetic, and consume only 23mA at 3.3V. With power consumption as low as 1 mW/DMIPS, UC3B Series MCUs outperform by a ratio of 3 any other available architectures offering similar features. The standby power consumption of UC3B Series is just 30 micro-Amps using a single 3.3V power supply, and below 15 micro-Amps when the dual power supply (1.8V/3.3V) is used.

The AVR32 UC3B Full-Speed USB 2.0 interface allows communication with PCs through various USB classes such as Human Interface Device (HID) class for serial data communication or mass-storage class for larger bulk data transfers. The On-The-Go (OTG) capability changes a USB device into a USB host on the fly, enabling peer-to-peer communication between two USB devices. The UC3B Series also features a 10-bit Analog-to-Digital converter (ADC), one serial programming interface (SPI), synchronous serial interface (SSC), I2C-compatible two-wire interface (TWI), three UARTs, three general-purpose timers, seven pulse width modulators (PWM) and a full set of supervisory functions. UC3B Series MCUs have DMA-enabled peripherals with a seven-channel peripheral DMA controller, and a five-layer high-speed bus matrix with point-to-point connections from all masters to all slaves at a maximum speed of 240 Mbytes/s at 60 MHz each.

The two first devices of the UC3B series are sampling now. The AT32UC3B0256, with OTG, is packaged in a 64-pin QFP/QFN; the AT32UC3B1256, without OTG capability, is packaged in a 48-pin QFP/QFN. The AT32UC3B0256 and AT32UC3B1256 in a QFP package are priced at $4.96 and $4.66 respectively in 10,000-unit quantities.

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Atmel Offers Free Development Software for 32-bit AVR Microcontrollers

Atmel has released the AVR32 Studio, which ties together the entire tool-chain for code development for the AVR32 AP7 and UC3 families. AVR32 Studio integrates with the AVR32 GNU toolchain including GCC for building applications for AVR32.

The AVR32 Studio Integrated Development Environment includes a source-code editor with syntax highlighting, and support for writing and debugging stand-alone and Linux applications. It can fully control all development tools, such as the STK1000 development board, EVK1100/1101 evaluation kits, JTAGICE mkII emulator and AVR32 Network Gateway kit.

The AVR32 Studio is built on Eclipse, making it possible to add numerous plug-ins to further extend the functionality. Features like version-control systems, bug tracking and action lists can be added via third-party plug-ins, which helps developers keep track of their projects, eliminate errors in the code and eventually reduce time to market.

The full release of AVR32 Studio is available for free from http://www.atmel.com. AVR32 Studio can automatically detect and download updates, new parts and tools support without user input.

The GNU toolchain for the AVR32 is available from http://www.atmel.com, along with a full Linux version 2.6.18 port. A single Windows installer including both AVR32 Studio and the GNU toolchain is also available.

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Atmel Introduces AVR32 Application Processor for Linux-based Embedded Designs

Atmel has announced the AT32AP7001, a member of the AVR32 AP7 family of Application Processors optimized for cost-constrained, Linux-based embedded designs. The device is packaged in a 30 x 30mm VQFP for easy integration into a four-layer PCB design.

The new device is built to run the popular Linux operating system in an embedded setting. Atmel provides a free port and support of the OS and toolchain.

On-chip peripherals of the AT32AP7001 include a BT 656 compliant camera interface, three full-duplex IIS audio channels, one AC97 interface, a built-in 2-channel 16-bit audio bitstream DAC, a Hi-Speed (480 Mb/s) USB device interface with 7 endpoints, a dual-port MMC/SD card interface, four USARTs, two SPI interfaces, and a two-wire interface (I2C compatible). The device also offers up to 90 I/O.

The AT32AP7001 memory subsystem consists of a 32 KB on-chip high speed SRAM, 16+16 KB instruction and data caches, a memory management unit, DMA for high-speed peripherals, and a peripheral DMA controller for peripherals that run on a relatively low speed. The on-chip bus matrix contains 4 independent system buses, allowing up to 1.2 GB/s throughput between CPU and peripheral memories.

Atmel provides a free-of-charge port of the Linux operating system for the AVR32 AP7 family available from www.kernel.org. Atmel also maintains and provides a free-of-charge port of the GCC toolchain, device drivers, and popular libraries and applications. This will facilitate the adoption of the many thousands of open-source and free applications available for use in embedded systems.

The AT32AP7001 is available now in a 208-pin VQFP package and is priced at US $8.00 in quantities of 10,000 pieces.

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Crossware Adds Support for Atmel AT89C51RE2

Crossware has enhanced its 8051 Development Suite by adding support for Atmel's latest Flash microcontroller, the AT89C51RE2, which comes with 128 kBytes of Flash program memory.

Crossware's 8051 Development Suite includes extensive support for the features of this processor. The graphical Code Creation Wizards will generate code for all of the microprocessor's on-chip peripherals including a programmable counter array (PCA), three timers, two UARTs, a watchdog timer and a serial peripheral interface. The Wizards will also generate code to configure external memory and will produce interrupt handlers. The code produced for the PCA, timers, UARTs and watchdog timer can all be tested with the simulator as well as on the processor chip itself.

Other notable features include the ability to simulate the extended stack pointer, enabling programmers to wrap the internal RAM stack of the AT89C51RE2 chip into the first 256 Bytes of xdata RAM. In addition, Crossware's debug monitor allows source-level debugging on target hardware with full support for banked Flash and unlimited software execution breakpoints, which results in faster debugging and reduced development timescales.

Crossware has also added register tool-tips to its 8051 Development Suite. These register tool-tips pop up when the mouse hovers over a value in a register view, and display the name of the register, listing all of its bits by name and the value of each bit.

The suite includes an ANSI C compiler, a relocatable assembler, a source-level simulator that can be extended to simulate a complete target system, and a debug monitor which supports source-level debugging on the target system itself. All of these integrate into Crossware's Embedded Development Studio development environment to bring together an extremely user-friendly toolset that can be used to develop and fully debug 8051 programs both with and without hardware.

Crossware also supports Atmel's existing 16-, 32-, and 64-kByte 8051 Flash family of AT89C51RB2/RC2/RD2/ED2 microcontrollers. For more information on the Crossware 8051 Development Suite, visit: http://microcontrollershop.com/product_info.php?cPath=109_130&products_id=181

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Freescale Introduces Compatible 8- and 32-bit Flexis MCUs

Freescale has introduced the first two members of its new Flexis series of microcontrollers. The MC9S08QE128 (based on the S08 core) and the MCF51QE128 (the first device based on the ColdFire V1 core) are the industry's first 8- and 32-bit MCUs with pin-for-pin compatibility and a common set of on-chip peripherals and development tools.

With pin, peripheral and tool compatibility, migration between 8- and 32-bit processing has been simplified to a quick, easy MCU swap. Using a common integrated tool suite, developers don't have to learn new code and tools.

Flexis QE128 MCUs offer ultra-low-power features to help minimize operating costs and extend battery life. The MC9S08QE128 and MCF51QE128 can run off of an external 32-kilohertz oscillator that consumes less than 1 microAmp of current. The Flexis QE devices also have an internal voltage regulator, which helps enable fast wake-up from stop modes with a typical wake-up time of 6 microseconds. Stop modes for the Flexis QE128 devices are extremely low-power, offering 370 nanoAmps of current in the lowest power stop mode. Clock gating also can be used to disable clocks to unused modules, further reducing run-mode power consumption by as much as 33 percent.

The suggested resale price for the QE128 devices in 10,000-piece quantities starts at $3.59 for the 8-bit device and $3.80 for the 32-bit device in the 64LQFP package. The suggested resale price for the QE64 devices in 10,000 piece quantities starts at $3.09 for the 8-bit device and $3.30 for the 32-bit device in the 64LQFP package.

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Freescale i.MX27 Video Applications Processor

Optimized for a broad spectrum of mobile consumer and industrial applications, the i.MX27 processor combines Freescale's Smart Speed technology, an H.264 hardware encoder/decoder, USB, Ethernet, security features and a powerful ARM9 core. With the addition of an on-chip Ethernet MAC and the H.264 D1 resolution video codec, the i.MX27 processor brings an increased level of video, graphics and connectivity to mobile multimedia devices.

By adding LCD control, DMA channels, memory interfaces, several communications units, security, an ATA host and low 1.2V operating voltage, the i.MX27 processor becomes a prime candidate for both industrial instrumentation and healthcare-related applications.

The i.MX27 multimedia applications processor is commercially shipping in volume and can be ordered direct from Freescale or through its distributors. Suggested resale price is $14.86 for 10,000-unit quantities.

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Freescale Develops New Multi-core Architecture

Freescale has unveiled its new Multi-core Communications Platform. At the heart of the platform is CoreNet technology, a highly scalable fabric for on-chip connectivity. It is designed to eliminate bus contention, bottlenecks and latency issues associated with shared bus/shared memory. CoreNet technology can seamlessly accommodate more than 32 cores as well as heterogeneous core implementations.

The move to 45-nm technology for this new multi-core platform enabled Freescale to engineer a multi-level, cache-coherent hierarchy that endows each core with its own L2 cache while also integrating multi megabytes of shared L3 cache.

Freescale's multi-core platform includes an enhanced Power Architecture e500-mc core, based on the e500 core, targeting a top frequency of 1.5 GHz. It also integrates proven on-demand application acceleration capabilities such as new data path resource management technology that handles intra-chip message passing and memory buffer reservation. To enable safe and autonomous operation, the platform leverages a hypervisor environment that enables multiple individual operating systems to share system resources, including processor cores, memory and other on-chip functions.

Freescale is engineering capabilities into the Multi-core Communications Platform to enable advanced debugging including integrated instruction trace, watchpoint triggers, cross-event triggers, performance monitoring and other debug features as defined by the Power ISA. These features enable dynamic debug, essential for providing visibility into complex interactions that may occur among tasks running on different cores.

Freescale expects to roll out a comprehensive roadmap of products based on the new Multi-core Communications Platform, the first of which is planned to sample in late 2008. A Virtutech simulation environment is now available for Freescale's current generation of multi-core processors, the MPC8572E and the MPC8641D. The simulation environment for the new CoreNet platform is expected to be available in Q4 2007, allowing development and system optimization to begin prior to product availability.

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25% to 50% Savings on HI-TECH Compilers

HI-TECH Software has made special offers available to MicroControllerShop customers wishing to purchase, upgrade or crossgrade to HI-TECH C Compilers and Real-Time Operating Systems.

Hi-Tech develops high quality C-compilers and Real-Time Operating Systems for  ARM, MSP430, dsPIC, PIC18, PIC16, 8051, XA, Z80, H8/300, 68HC11/08 and 68000.

Customers may take advantage of any one of the following offers:

  • 25% off any single-user, multi-user, commercial or educational user license for first-time HI-TECH users.

  • 40% off any single-user, multi-user, commercial or educational user license for registered users of another HI-TECH product.

  • 40% off any single-user, multi-user, commercial or educational user license for users of a competitor's product (for the same device family).

  • 50% off any PRO version of a HI-TECH product for registered users of a Standard version.

 In addition to one of those savings, customers who purchase the 1-year HI-TECH Priority Access maintenance plan will receive a second year free.

 To take advantage of this limited-time offer, call us at 408 776 7992 and request a HI-TECH Value Bank Number (VBN) when placing your order. Upgrades and crossgrades will require proof of purchase to qualify.

For more information on Hi-Tech software products, visit: http://microcontrollershop.com/advanced_search_result.php?keywords=hi-tech

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Microchip Adds Smaller Options to 16-bit Microcontroller Family

Microchip Technology has announced the PIC24HJ12 family -- their lowest-priced 40 MIPS 16-bit microcontroller, with prices starting at $1.99 each in 10,000-unit quantities. The family is offered in 18- and 28-pin packages as small as 6x6 mm for space-constrained applications.

The PIC24HJ12 family also features Peripheral Pin Select, which allows designers to remap digital I/O to optimize board layout. Other key features of the new family include 12 kBytes of Flash, 1 kByte RAM, ADC with up to 10 channels (10- or 12-bit mode), plus UART, SPI and I2C ports.

Both members of the PIC24HJ12 family are available today for general sampling and volume production, with prices starting at $1.99 each in 10,000-unit quantities. The PIC24HJ12GP201 is available in 18-pin SOIC and SDIP packages. The PIC24HJ12GP202 is available in 28-pin QFN, SOIC and SDIP packages.

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Microchip Announces New DSC Families

Microchip has announced the dsPIC33FJ12GP and dsPIC33FJ12MC families of Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs).

Both families feature Peripheral Pin Select, which allows designers to remap digital I/O to optimize board layout. Key features of both families include 12 kBytes Flash, 1 kByte RAM, 10/12-bit ADC up to 10 channels (6 ch on dsPIC33FJ12MC), plus UART, SPI and I2C ports.

The dsPIC33FJ12MC family includes in addition a Motor Control PWM with two independent clock sources for advanced motor-control algorithms and active power factor correction using a single DSC, and an Analog-to-Digital Converter optimized for motor-control applications. Together with the on-chip quadrature encoder interface, these hardware features provide a highly integrated, cost-effective motor-control solution.

The two members of each the dsPIC33FJ12GP and the dsPIC33FJ12MC families are available today for general sampling and volume production, with prices starting at $1.99 each in 10,000-unit quantities.

The dsPIC33FJ12GP201 is available in 18-pin SOIC and SDIP packages. The dsPIC33FJ12GP202 is available in 28-pin QFN, SOIC and SDIP packages.

The dsPIC33FJ12MC201 is available in 20-pin SOIC and SDIP packages. The dsPIC33FJ12MC202 is available in 28-pin QFN, SOIC and SDIP packages.

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Renesas Adds 12 Models to 32-bit H8SX Family

Renesas Technology has announced an enhancement of the lineup of H8SX Family 32-bit CISC microcontrollers with the addition of the H8SX/1658R, H8SX/1668R, H8SX/1558, and H8SX/1568 groups comprising a total of 12 models. Sample shipments will begin in September 2007 for H8SX/1658R and H8SX/1668R models, and in November 2007 for H8SX/1558 and H8SX/1568 models, in Japan.

The H8SX/1658R and H8SX/1668R groups are functionally enhanced versions of their current H8SX/1653 and H8SX/1663 groups featuring an on-chip USB Function, while the H8SX/1558 and H8SX/1568 groups are 5V-interface products much in demand for industrial applications.

Products in these four groups have an H8SX high-performance 32-bit CISC CPU core. H8SX/1658R and H8SX/1668R group models feature a 50 MHz maximum operating frequency at 3.3V operation, and H8SX/1558 and H8SX/1568 group models feature a 40 MHz maximum operating frequency at 5V operation.

Models in all groups include on-chip Flash memory, with capacities of 384, 512, and 1024 kBytes available in the H8SX/1658R and H8SX/1668R groups, and capacities of 256, 512, and 1024 kBytes available in the H8SX/1558 and H8SX/1568 groups.

Two or three 10-bit A/D converter units are provided that feature independent operation and high-speed conversion capability. The on-chip SCI allows the use of 8-bit timer input as a basic operating clock, and programmable variable setting as necessary, enabling flexible transfer rates to be implemented. Two of the SCI channels have 720 Kbps high-speed transfer capability. The number of programmable pulse generator and timer pulse units has been increased to two. Peripheral functions also includes an 8-bit D/A converter, a DMA controller allowing high-speed data transfer to and from external memory, and an I2C bus interface.

The H8SX/1658R and H8SX/1668R groups also feature an on-chip EXDMA controller. EXDMA is a data-transfer function that uses a separate external bus, making it possible for the internal system bus to be used during external memory transfers, thus enabling processing efficiency to be improved.

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Sensory Releases New Speech Recognition IC and Firmware

Sensory has released the latest member of its award-winning speech recognition integrated circuit (IC) family, RSC-4192O, with one-time programmable (OTP) memory, aimed at consumer product markets where low cost and high quality are essential. To complement the new IC, Sensory also released an enhanced version of its firmware, FluentChip 3.0, to improve noise immunity, speech and music synthesis, and multi-language speech recognition accuracy.

Based on an 8-bit general-purpose microcontroller, the RSC-4192O offers 192 kBytes of on-chip OTP memory with cost-effective volume pricing and lightning-fast lead times. The RSC-4192O is a completely self-contained speech input/output (I/O) system with on-chip ADC, DAC, output amplification, and everything expected from a state-of-the-art 8-bit microcontroller.

Sensory has added new capabilities to FluentChip 3.0 including enhanced speech features which dramatically improve recognition accuracy in high-noise environments, new international lexicons and pronunciation predictors, Real-time LipSync enabling robotic animation such that the character's mouth will move synchronously and accurately in real time with the user's speech, and new acoustic models with 50 percent smaller code size.

FluentChip 3.0 includes Sensory's unique T2SI (text-to-speaker-independent) technology; SD (speaker dependent; trained to one voice); T2SISD (allows both speaker independent and speaker dependent customized commands in the same command set); and SV (speaker verification; voice biometric password) speech recognition.

A whole suite of technologies for enabling electro-mechanical animation is also included, such as Real-time LipSync, SoundSource tracking, and Beat Predict for dancing. FluentChip 3.0 also offers speech synthesis and MIDI-like music synthesis capabilities. Specialized tools are offered to facilitate fast prototyping and product development for members of the RSC-4x family, including the RSC-4192O.

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ST Releases Higher-Performance, Lower-Cost ARM9 MCU

STMicroelectronics has announced the release of a new version of its 32-bit ARM9-based STR910F Flash microcontrollers. The new STR910FA delivers 25% greater system performance at a more competitive price, compared to the previous STR910F devices.

Autobench test scores for the STR910FA registered an average of 25% better than those of the STR910F, indicating improved overall system performance due to the improved memory accelerator.

In addition to improving performance, pricing for STR910FA devices has been reduced relative to equivalent STR910F devices, with resale prices for the new series starting at $4.98 (STR910FAM32X6 in quantities of 10,000). This places powerful Flash ARM9-based MCUs in the same price range as similar Flash ARM7-based MCUs.

Six additional members of the series have been added to the family, offering more memory size combinations, plus tiny new BGA144 packages measuring only 10 x 10mm.

The STR910FA MCU series offer Flash memory up to 544 kBytes and SRAM to 96 kBytes with a full set of peripherals that include an Ethernet MAC, USB, CAN, three UARTs/IrDAs, two SPIs, two I2Cs, eight-channel 10-bit ADC at 0.7 microsecond conversion, four 16-bit timers, a 3-phase AC motor-control unit, complete supervisor functions with Low Voltage Reset and Brown-out Detect, a full-featured real-time clock at just 1 microAmps, an external memory interface, an ETM9 debug and trace interface, and up to eighty 5V tolerant I/O. All devices operate between -40 to +85 degrees C.

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ST Announces New 32-Bit Family Powered by ARM Cortex-M3 Core

ST has announced a new family of 32-bit Flash Microcontrollers based on the ARM Cortex-M3 core -- a core with features specifically designed for embedded applications requiring a combination of high performance (1.25 Dhrystone MIPS/MHz), low power and low cost. The STM32 family benefits from the Cortex-M3's many new architectural enhancements, including the Thumb-2 instruction set, to deliver improved performance combined with better code density, and a tightly-coupled Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller for significantly faster response to interrupts, all combined with industry-leading power consumption.

Designed to deliver impressive levels of performance and energy efficiency while retaining all the benefits of working with the open, industry-standard ARM architecture and development environment, the STM32 is offered in two lines: the STM32F103 "Performance" line, with 72 MHz clock frequency, provides best-in-class 32-bit MCU performance, while the STM32F101 "Access" line, with 36 MHz clock frequency, offers users of 16-bit devices a significant increase in performance at the same 16-bit price levels. Both lines offer from 32k to 128k of embedded Flash memory but differ in maximum SRAM size and peripheral combinations. At 72 MHz, executing from Flash, the STM32 consumes only 36mA, corresponding to 0.5mA/MHz.

Ideal for battery-operated applications, the STM32 operates from a 2.0 to 3.6V power supply and has a power consumption down to 2 microAmps in standby mode with reset circuitry active. Other power-saving features include an integrated RTC with dedicated pin for battery operation and a dedicated 32 kHz Oscillator, and four low-power modes.

In performance terms, the STM32 family offers up to 30% faster processing than an equivalent ARM7TDMI-based product, or, for the same processing power, STM32 devices require 75% less power. Similarly, the Thumb 2 instruction set of the new core allows designers to reduce code size by up to 45%, almost halving the amount of memory they need to hold their applications.

The peripheral set includes up to 128kB embedded Flash, up to 20kB of RAM, up to two ADCs (12-bit at 1 microsecond conversion time), up to three USARTs; up to two SPI (18 MHz master/slave); up to two I2C; up to three 16-bit timers (4 input capture/4 output compare/4 PWM each) and a dedicated 6-PWM timer with embedded dead times for regulation and motor-control vector drive applications, as well as USB, CAN, and seven DMA channels. Embedded reset circuitry includes Power-On reset, Power-Down reset and Voltage supervisor, an embedded accurate 8 MHz RC factory-trimmed oscillator that can be used as the main oscillator, an embedded 4-16MHz oscillator for external crystal, and dual watchdogs. As a result of this high integration level, only 7 capacitors are needed (in addition to a power supply) for LQFP100 packaged devices.

STM32 is currently sampling at lead customers, and samples soon will be available generally. Both STM32 lines are offered in LQFP48, LQFP64, LQFP100 and BGA100 packages, with 32, 64, and 128k embedded Flash options. Distribution pricing (10,000 units) for LQFP devices ranges from $1.80 (Access line, 32k Flash, 48-pin) to $3.60 (Performance line, 128k Flash, 100 pins).

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About MicroController Pros Corporation

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.

The 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 2007 by
MicroController Pros Corporation
visit our web http://www.ucpros.com

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