Freescale MCU families target cost-sensitive 32-bit applications

June 19, 2008
Freescale Semiconductor (www.freescale.com) has added three new product families to its line of 32-bit Power Architecture microcontrollers.

Freescale Semiconductor has added three new product families to its line of 32-bit Power Architecture microcontrollers. The MPC560xP family targets chassis and safety applications, the MPC560xS is for instrument cluster control, and the MPC560xB is for body electronics and gateways.
Like the MPC563xM family introduced last month (Auto E-lectronics May 22), the MPC560xx MCUs are manufactured on a 90 nm process and result from Freescale’s design collaboration with STMicroelectronics.

The MPC560xP devices target computationally demanding but cost-sensitive chassis and safety applications such as stability control, electric power steering and braking, and hybrid powertrain systems, the new MCUs can help automotive engineers replace bulky hydraulic and mechanical components with lightweight electrical systems that draw power only as needed. Increased use of electrical systems in automotive designs helps reduce vehicle weight and contributes to improved fuel efficiency, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

MPC560xP features include fast analog-to-digital controllers and high-precision timers that work together for field-oriented control of electric motors. An on-chip cross triggering unit enhances system efficiency and reduces system cost by managing sample timing, which offloads the MCU core from frequent interrupts. A 120 MHz PWM module supports key motor control features such as dead-time insertion, dead-time distortion correction, and advanced fault shut-down.

Freescale said the MPC560xP family helps automotive designers implement systems that address key functional safety requirements, such as IEC61508. An on-chip fault collection unit is intended to enhance the visibility of MCU status. SRAM and flash memory include error correction coding (ECC) capabilities. An on-chip temperature sensor and clock monitor help detect system-level conditions. The MPC560xP family also supports the FlexRay networking protocol.

The MPC560xS MCU family is designed to address automotive instrument cluster applications that use color thin film transistor (TFT) displays, which are now being installed in low-end to mid-range vehicles. MPC560xS MCUs drive TFT displays directly and can also drive analog gauges and liquid crystal displays.

MPC560xS MCUs feature an integrated display control unit (DCU) that can drive TFT LCD displays in up to wide quarter video graphics array (WQVGA). Internal memory resources can handle complex graphics contents such as pictures, icons, languages, and fonts, on a color TFT panel. Graphical content on screen sizes of up to half VGA (HVGA) can be addressed by expanding the memory using a quad serial peripheral interface (QuadSPI) for serial flash memory. MPC560xS devices are sampling now with 1 MB flash. Devices with larger and smaller flash sizes are planned for the future.

Freescale’s MPC560xB MCU family targets central body controllers, gateways, and comfort features such as doors, seats, and interior lighting; security/safety features including passive entry systems, immobilizers, and tire pressure monitoring systems, and lighting control systems, including headlights, brake lights, and turn lights.

MPC560xB MCUs include on-chip modules for Controller Area Network (CAN) and Local Interconnect Network (LIN) communications. Starting with a 512 KB version, the MPC560xB family will have a range of flash memory options. The MCUs include an instruction set enhancement allowing variable length encoding (VLE) for code size reduction. Encoding of mixed 16-bit and 32-bit instructions enables developers to achieve significant code size reduction for body applications.

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