Top Stories
New Miniature Microcontroller from Freescale
6-Pin MCU Offers Freedom of Choice and Increased Flexibility for Designers of Ultra-Low-End Applications
Freescale Semiconductor is offering engineers easy entry to its expansive
microcontroller portfolio with an ultra-low-end, sub-50-cent 8-bit device
small enough to fit in the head of an electric toothbrush.
The first product to be built on the recently announced RS08 core,
a simplified version of Freescale's high-performance, low-power HCS08 architecture,
the MC9RS08KA family is designed for applications with extreme space and price constraints.
It is ideal for traditional electro-mechanical designs and portable applications ranging from motor control
to use-and-toss health care products.
The MC9RS08KA family offers a robust support environment and a pin-compatible route into the MC9S08QG
when designers need to add new functionality.
Shared peripherals and a common set of development tools help make it easy for engineers to leverage their design investment upstream.
Freescale is positioned to compete aggressively in the ultra-low-end 8-bit market," said Fred Zieber, founder and president of Pathfinder Research.
"This product signals to the market Freescale's dedication to offering a breadth of MCU products suited for any and all customer needs."
The 6-pin KA family extends the low end of Freescale's Controller Continuum (See Freescale unveils microcontroller roadmap
that blurs traditional bit boundaries, March 13, 2006, www.freescale.com).
By providing up to 2K flash and 63B random access memory (RAM),
Freescale's KA family offers more functionality and application options than ultra-low-end, 6-pin devices available in the market today. Additionally, the KA family includes reprogrammable flash across voltage ranges and performs up to 10 MHz at 1.8 volts. The product features a voltage regulator that minimizes voltage variation to logic and keeps voltage supply (Vdd) lower, reducing overall power consumption.
The KA family is supported by the same Freescale development tools that allow designers and programmers using other Freescale 8-bit products to work efficiently and economically.
CodeWarrior(R) Development Studio for HC(S)08/RS08 Microcontrollers v5.1 is designed to accelerate application development with a built-in project wizard that helps create working projects in as few as seven clicks.
"The tiny KA is proof that small devices can be packed with possibilities," said Mike McCourt, vice president and general manager of Freescale's Microcontroller Division.
"This move to the ultra-low-end combined with Freescale's tools and support demonstrates that we have listened closely to our customer base and are providing them the fastest, easiest and most accessible solutions in the market."
MC9RS08KA features
-- Up to 2 KB third-generation flash with extremely fast
byte-writable programming
-- 1.8-volt to 5.5-volt supply
-- Integrated clock source (ICS) up to 10 MHz internal bus
operation with 2 percent deviation over full temperature and
voltage range
-- 8-bit modulo timer with 8-bit prescalar
-- Analog comparator with full rail-to-rail supply operation that
can operate in STOP mode
-- Real-time interrupt trigger with 3-bit prescalar
-- Four bidirectional input/output (I/O) lines
-- Computer operating properly (COP) feature
-- 3/5-channel keyboard interrupt (KBI)
-- Low voltage detect (LVD) with reset, stop or wakeup
-- Auto wakeup
-- Background debugging system
-- 6-pin DFN, 8-pin plastic dual in-line package (PDIP) and 8-pin
narrow-body small outline integrated circuit (NB-SOIC)
The company's Web site address is http://www.freescale.com/.
[Reprinted with kind permission from Freescale Semiconductor]
|
About Us
New More Powerful Multi-Message Voice Record and Playback Chip