MCU takes full "wish list" of peripherals onboard

Motorola is claiming the first 32bit microcontroller with on-chip Ethernet and CAN networking interfaces and Flash memory.

Motorola is claiming the first 32bit microcontroller with on-chip Ethernet and CAN networking interfaces and Flash memory.

The new device, the ColdFire MCF5282, gives designers a powerful, new, cost effective option when developing embedded networked systems.

With its integrated 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet media access controller (MAC) and network-ready applications software, the MCF5282 can bring standards-based networking to a variety of traditional MCU applications including food service equipment, security systems, vending machines, exercise equipment, and industrial controllers.

It also has an ideal feature set for the emerging home automation market.

Applications in all of these areas will benefit from the included software for networking functions such as web-based user interfaces, network time synchronization, and router/gateway functionality for legacy serial protocols.

The MCF5282 is the first microcontroller based on Motorola's 32bit ColdFire architecture.

This new MCU features 512Kbyte of Motorola's high-quality embedded Flash memory.

"In surveys with our customers, embedded Ethernet has consistently ranked as one of the top features they wanted integrated into 32bit MCUs", said Dr Franz Fink, General Manager for Motorola's 32-Bit Embedded Controller Division.

"We've taken that feedback to heart and combined Ethernet, CAN, Flash, UARTs and other popular MCU peripherals together in one of our leading microcontroller architectures.

This device will make it easier to network traditional MCU applications and for designers to create new applications in markets as diverse as security systems and lighting control to home automation and enterprise networking".

In the home networking market alone, the demand for Ethernet-enabled ICs is projected to hit $740 million in 2003, according to Gartner Dataquest.

Ethernet is also the standard in connecting personal computers and office equipment.

CAN, on the other hand, is widely used in automotive and industrial environments because of its low cost and robust performance in harsh environments.

Traditionally, microcontroller networks have used CAN and UART serial interfaces that have distance and bandwidth limitations.

Ethernet - the standard upon which the Internet is built - provides an order of magnitude more bandwidth than common serial network interfaces and can be used to connect devices over virtually unlimited distances.

By combining 32bit MCU processing power with Ethernet capabilities, the MCF5282 can operate as a web server on any Ethernet network running TCP/IP.

For example, when running as an embedded web server, the MCF5282 can serve up simple text and graphic pages to any client machine running a web browser: PCs, Unix workstations, PDAs, cellphones, even other embedded processors running a web browser in specialized client access equipment.

The MCF5282 can also act as a gateway or router for networks running over CAN or RS485 interfaces.

By connecting these networks to Ethernet networks, the devices they control can be monitored and controlled from a PC host residing anywhere on the Internet.

In home networks, the MCF5282 can act as a web server for X-10 or other power line networks, providing a friendly user interface for scheduling lightning, heating/cooling, lawn watering and security system tasks.

The MCF5282 is the first microcontroller based on the Version 2 (V2) core from Motorola's 32bit ColdFire family.

With advanced communications features, a rich peripheral set and a variety of supporting software and development tools, the MCF5282 is designed to simplify embedded Ethernet-networked microcontroller applications.

Features include: a core capable of delivering 59 Dhrystone 2.1 MIPS at 66MHz executing from the on-chip Flash and RAM; 512Kbyte embedded Flash memory; 64Kbyte of static RAM accessible to core and DMA/Ethernet; 10/100 Ethernet MAC with built-in DMA engine; FlexCAN controller area network interface with 16 message buffers; an eight-channel 10bit queued analogue/digital convertor (QADC); four 32bit timers with DMA capability; eight 16bit timers for capture, compare, and pulsewidth modulation; three UARTs with DMA capability; queued serial peripheral interface (QSPI) with four peripheral chip selects; an I2C bus controller; four periodic interrupt timers (PITs) for alarm and countdown timing; a 17 x 17 x 1.6mm 256-ball (1mm pitch) mould array process ball grid array (MAPBGA) package; operation from -40 to +85C at 66MHz; RTXC Quadros embedded networking software suite including real-time operating system and network protocol stack with support for IP, UDP, TCP, ARP, DHCP, ICMP, SNTP, HTTP and TFTP protocols; and full Metrowerks CodeWarrior support and third-party tools support.

The MCF5282 will be available in samples volumes in February 2003 with production volumes available in second quarter 2003.

Suggested list prices in 10,000-piece quantities start at US$17.86.

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