Microcontrollers Tasked for Energy Efficiency

Microcontroller manufacturers have responded to the dual trends of environmental concerns and the need to extend battery life. They've developed devices that measure out power and control variable-speed motors to conserve energy. "A lot of energy can be saved with more efficient motors, so appliance people are looking for ways to make their motors more efficient," says Steve Marsh, strategic marketing manager for Microchip Technology Inc. "You can save energy using an algorithm to vary the speed of the motor." Marsh says that wasn't practical until recently. "That type of control technique required expensive hardware until recently. Now we have a unit that's under $2. That opens it up to a lot of people."

Low-Cost kit for 32-bit Microcontrollers

STMicroelectronics has produced a low-cost evaluation and development kit for its STR91x 32-bit microcontroller family that is based on the ARM966E core and it's particularly well-suited to networked embedded applications. The STR9-comStick is configured as a USB stick with a built-in USB connector that enables it to plug directly into a host PC. The kit has a resale price of $49 and is supplied with a complete Hitex software tool set.

The STR91x series is a general-purpose Flash microcontroller family combining the ARM966E processor core with a large Static RAM and Flash memories. It also has broad connectivity through 10/100-Mbit Ethernet, Hi-Speed USB and CAN protocols. The STR91E was developed specifically to meet growing demand for higher performance in embedded-control applications and to provide built-in Ethernet capability to reduce the cost of fast networking. Typical applications include point-of-sale equipment, vending machines, industrial and building automation, serial-protocol gateways and security and surveillance systems.

The Hitex software tools included with the STR9-comStick allow the developer to modify and recompile applications source code, program the STR91x MCU and debug applications as they run on the development system.

Stellaris Evaluation kits Paired IAR Embedded Workbench

Luminary Micro partnered with IAR Systems to produce two Stellaris Evaluation Kits paired with the IAR Embedded Workbench KickStart Edition software development tools. The kits were designed for the new class of Stellaris integrated communication MCUs. They take advantage of the capabilities of the new Stellaris microcontrollers with more memory, more GPIOs, enhanced power management and the addition of integrated 10/100 Ethernet MAC and PHY communication and integrated CAN communications.

The IAR Embedded Workbench is a set of essential build and debug tools for embedded projects using both C and C++. The KickStart Edition allows projects of up to 32KB code size, enabling users to seriously evaluate the performance and capabilities of the Stellaris LM3S2965 and LM3S6965 microcontrollers. "The KickStart Edition of IAR's Embedded Workbench — with its generous 32KB evaluation limit for code — combined with Luminary Micro's versatile and popular hardware evaluation boards provides a powerful platform for users to put the kit to full use doing real work," says Jean Anne Booth, chief marketing officer at Luminary Micro.

Development Tool with Multiple Design Options

Texas Instruments has produced the MSP430 Experimenter's Board that includes two 16-bit MSP430 devices. The board includes a TI (Chipcon) radio frequency module connector for developing low power wireless networks. The board also features a number of input and output options such as a microphone, buzzer, liquid crystal display, capacitive touch-pad, push-buttons and pin board prototyping space. The tool was designed to enable designers to develop ultra-low-power medical, industrial and consumer embedded systems using either a highly integrated signal chain or chip or small 14-pin microcontroller. With two MSP430 MCUs, designers can develop a variety of low power and battery-operated products including cost and space-sensitive sensing applications like motion detectors, as well as highly integrated applications like high-precision portable medical and industrial sensing.

The two devices are combined with a host interface and incorporates the MSP430X core architecture with extended 1 MB memory model. The extended memory access was designed for larger system requirements and allows for the development of sophisticated real-time applications completely in modular C libraries.

Multimedia and Multi-Layers Frameworks

Freescale Semiconductor has added four DSCs to its 16-bit 56F8000 DSC family. The 56F8000 family previously required both digital and analog control algorithms and circuits. Now they can be controlled digitally through flexible, intelligent embedded software running on a DSC. The new DSCs provide optimal digital control solutions for motor control (refrigerator compressors, dishwashers, conveyor belts), digital power conversion (ac-dc power supplies, uninterruptible power supplies, frequency inverters) and advanced lighting control) high-brightness LED arrays for architectural lighting and LCD backlights).

The latest 56F8000 DSCs are available in four lead-free package options, ranging from 32 to 64 pins, with Flash memory sizes from 12 to 64KB. The increased Flash memory array enables easier implementation of complex loop control algorithms and system control features. "Sophisticated control algorithms and high-performance processors are often beyond the budget scope of high-volume, cost-sensitive embedded applications," says Will Strauss, president of DSP market watcher Forward Concepts. "Freescale's 56F8000 family changes the game by combining the performance and fast calculation of a digital signal processor with the ease-of-use and control capabilities of a microcontroller — all on a single chip."

Multi-Threading RTOS for 16-bit Controllers

Express Logic Inc. has produced a new ThreadX Microcontroller Edition RTOS for the 16-bit PIC24 microcontrollers and dsPIC digital signal controllers from Microchip Technology. Before, ThreadX was available only for 32-bit processors and DSPs. Express Logic worked with Microchip Technology to create a new version of ThreadX, called ThreadX MCU Edition, to support the 16-bit architectures in Microchip's PIC24 and dsPIC DSC families. The ThreadX/MCU is an upward compatible, reduced-in-size and fine-tuned 16-bit edition of Express Logic's 32-bit ThreadX RTOS.

The ThreadX/MCU provides full preemptive scheduling, interrupt management, message passing, thread synchronization, resource locking, event management and timer control. It supports up to 10 threads, queues, timers, mutexes, event flag groups block pools and byte pools. "Express Logic's ThreadX is an industry leader among 32-bit architectures for many of the same applications that we target for our 16-bit PIC24 and dsPIC DSC product lines," says Derek Carlson, vice president of development tools at Microchip. "ThreadX/MCU is tuned for Microchip's 16-bit line and delivers true RTOS services in a small footprint that nicely fits our customers' needs."

Blackfin Ready for Portable Networked Applications

Analog Devices has expanded its Blackfin line with the ADSP-BF52x family, a series of processors optimized for performance-demanding portable applications, including portable media players, voice over IP phones, IP cameras and mobile TV devices. Analog has advanced the Dynamic Power Management capabilities of Blackfin to get improved power efficiency — as low as 0.16c mW/MHz core power at 250MHz. The goal was to give designers a breadth of choice with a high-performance power series (ADSP-BF527/BF525/BF522) operating at 600MHz and an ultra-low-power series running at up to 400 MHz.

All of these incorporate Blackfin Lockbox Secure Technology to provide capabilities for implementing the next generation of security — for uses that range from safeguarding intellectual property to protected e-commerce and social networking — on digital media devices. "The new Blackfin processors enable developers to flexibly create their next generation of battery-conserving portable products," says Will Strauss, president of DSP market watcher Forward Concepts. "With Blackfin, a system designer can choose the right profile for his application at the appropriate price. The Blackfin value proposition and its scalable performance let developers differentiate their products with features that will be most appealing to consumers."