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Product category: Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Freescale Semiconductor | Subject: S08AC60, S08AC48 and S08AC32
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 08 April 2008

MCUs have more power for domestic duties

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Upgraded 8bit microcontrollers provide flexible, scalable control in white goods, including washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers and cooking products.

Three highly integrated 8bit S08AC microcontrollers from Freescale expand the range of Flash memory and performance options for cost-sensitive large appliance applications The S08AC60, S08AC48 and S08AC32 join the existing S08AC16 and S08AC8 MCUs for the industrial and consumer appliance market and also offer an upward migration path from Freescale's MC9S08AW products

These latest S08AC family devices are designed to provide flexible, scalable general-purpose solutions for control modules in white goods, including washing machines, dishwashers, refrigerators, freezers and cooking products.

Operating at 40MHz with bus speeds of up to 20MHz, the S08AC60/48/32 MCUs offer developers a choice of 60, 48 and 32Kbyte of Flash memory, in addition to the existing 16 and 8Kbyte options.

The devices' exceptional performance, coupled with on-chip timers and an analogue-to-digital convertor (ADC), makes them ideal for advanced motor control techniques.

Designed to enable shorter washing cycle times, these techniques can be used to help reduce water consumption and enhance energy efficiency.

To enhance system integrity, the 8bit MCUs integrate hardware and software safety features to help manufacturers of automatic controls used in large appliance and industrial equipment meet the IEC60730 class B regulation.

The devices' integrated system integrity software includes periodic test routines for CPU register, program counter, hardware and software cyclic redundancy check (CRC) engines, RAM March X and C, and independent watchdog timeout.

These software routines have been certified by the VDE Institute and are designed to enable manufacturers to accelerate their development time by achieving compliance with the Class B IEC60730 regulation.

The S08AC60/48/32 devices' high level of on-chip integration helps reduce development cost, saves board space and enhances system-level quality by eliminating the need for peripheral board components, such as external clock sources.

Integrated hardware modules include an independently clocked watchdog timer, which provides a safety mechanism to monitor the flow of software, interrupt handling and execution, and the CPU clock.

The devices' CRC engine is designed to provide a fast mechanism for testing Flash memory and checking serial communication protocols, such as SCI, I2C and SPI.

Offering on-chip SPI, I2C and two SCI modules, the MCUs support a broad range of communications protocols typically used in the large appliance market.

The SCI modules are designed to simplify development of LIN systems by enabling LIN break detection and synchronisation without the use of an external timer channel.

To help streamline the large appliance design process, the S08AC60/48/32 MCUs are backed by a comprehensive ecosystem of hardware and software development tools.

The DEMO9S08AC60E demonstration board is available for a suggested retail price of US $85, providing a cost-effective platform for evaluating MCU performance and features.

The MCUs are supported by Freescale's CodeWarrior Development Studio for Microcontrollers v6.1, an integrated tool suite designed to help developers take advantage of the Freescale MCUs selected for their application.

Freescale also offers extensive online training to help developers get on the design fast track.

The S08AC60/48/32 devices offer an on-chip background debug mode (BDM) capability that enables developers to perform nonintrusive debugging and emulation on the fly.

The BDM feature is critical for debugging MCU-based systems without interfering with software execution.

Samples of the S08AC60/48/32 devices are available now.

Suggested retail pricing (USD) for these devices in 10,000-unit volumes starts at US $1.98 for the S08AC60, $1.91 for the S08AC48 and $1.84 for the S08AC32.

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