22 January 2009
One stop mcu shop
In a move to help embedded system designers maximise their productivity, Freescale has launched a range of microcontrollers with the aim of creating a ‘one stop shop’.
The MCF5225x range, based on the 32bit ColdFire V2 core, boasts a range of connectivity options and is supplied with the MQX real time operating system free of charge.
Jim Stuart, the company’s industrial marketing manager EMEA, said the MCF5225 was an mcu, rather than a microprocessor. “Along with 512k of flash, it has a range of peripherals that you’d expect to find on a microcontroller.” It also supports a range of cryptographic standards.
One of the issues which Freescale has identified for larger mcus is software integration and development. “It needs expertise, time and effort,” Stuart noted. “By offering a one stop shop, users don’t have to go to a range of suppliers.”
Stuart also pointed out the benefit of the MQX rtos. “It’s available free of charge under a simple license. Customers can acquire the source code and, because it’s a GPL license, they don’t need to share any developments or extensions.” Freescale claims the rtos would otherwise cost around $90,000 to acquire.
The rtos can be stripped down to be as small as the application requires; as little as 12k, said Stuart. Even with ‘everything loaded’, the rtos requires only 150k.
Aimed at factory and building automation applications, the part is equipped with CAN and Ethernet interfaces, along with an lcd driver. A 256k version will be available with either 32 or 64k of sram, whilst the 512k part will have 64k of sram. There will also be 66 and 80MHz variants. According to Stuart, the low end parts will sell for less than $5 in volume.
Author
Graham Pitcher
Supporting Information
Websites
http://www.freescale.com
Companies
Freescale Semiconductors
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