8bit MCUs eat into consumer applications

The L Line (78K0/Lx2) series is the latest addition to the broad range of 8bit microcontrollers from NEC Electronics Corp.

The L Line (78K0/Lx2) series is the latest addition to the broad range of 8bit microcontrollers from NEC Electronics Corp.

The L Line MCU series features a range of 36 product configurations, with many memory, peripheral and packaging options.

The L Line also incorporates an integrated LCD driver/controller and in-application self-programming Flash capability.

Theses are features that support the requirements of the consumer appliance, home healthcare, HVAC, sprinkler and security system applications.

"Semiconductors continue to drive down into the most common consumer applications, replacing traditional analogue or mechanical systems with digital electronics", said Shigenobu Ishikawa, General Manager, Multipurpose Microcomputer Systems Division, 4th Systems Operations Unit, NEC Electronics Corp.

"Accordingly, NEC Electronics offers a range of low-cost, high-performance 8bit microcontrollers to serve this growing market".

"We augment our existing offering with today's announcement of the 78K0/Lx2 series of MCUs, a high-performance yet low cost family of products that offer various features and peripherals that makes the series ideally suited for consumer applications".

The MCUs in the L Line feature an integrated LCD driver/controller for powering displays with up to 160 segments.

Integrating the display driver onto the controller reduces a system's component count and power consumption.

The MCUs are available in configurations supporting up to 128Kbyte of Flash memory and up to 7Kbyte of RAM.

The MCUs' Flash memory allows for in-application self-programming, enabling easy rewrite program capabilities.

The L Line MCUs provide a fast wakeup time, typically only 5us from standby mode to full-speed operation.

The series also supports a variety of peripherals designed to provide safe operation of products using these MCUs, including power-on-reset, low-voltage indicators and POC.

The MCUs in the L Line also feature a wide range of operating voltages, from 1.8 to 5.5V.

The L Line employs NEC Electronics' advanced 0.15-micron process technology, and SuperFlash technology licensed from Silicon Storage Technology (SST).

Samples of L Line MCUs will be available in September, with mass production scheduled to begin in January 2006.

Availability is subject to change.

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