Frugal MCU takes sigma-delta ADC onboard

The H8/38086F is a super-low-power-consumption single-chip 16bit microcontroller with on-chip Flash memory.

The H8/38086F is a super-low-power-consumption single-chip 16bit microcontroller with on-chip Flash memory.

The device is based on the H8/300H CPU core, offers excellent cost-performance and is the company's first microcontroller to incorporate a high-precision delta-sigma type 14bit A/D convertor.

This eliminates the need for an external dedicated high-precision A/D conversion IC, reducing end-product costs.

The device is suitable for use in industrial measuring instruments such as electric power meters and consumer products such as glucose meters.

The delta-sigma type A/D convertor is capable of high precision at high resolution, offering an approximately 30x improvement in nonlinear characteristic error with a 3.0V full-scale range at +/-274uV (typical) compared with the +/-7.3mV (typical) of a conventional successive approximation type A/D convertor with 10bit resolution.

The convertor also features an operating voltage range of 2.2 to 3.6V and a conversion time of 64.1 to 1282us, enabling it to be used for a wide range of user applications.

Peripheral functions such as a PGA (programmable gain amplifier) and reference voltage bandgap reference circuit enable highly accurate A/D conversion to be achieved.

Other on-chip peripheral functions include an LCD controller/driver with a built-in 3V constant-voltage circuit for display use, an RTC (real-time clock), and an I2C bus interface, allowing end-product implementation with a single chip.

The H8/38086F can operate on a low voltage of just 1.8V, enabling longer battery life in battery-powered devices.

The device also has eight versatile power-down modes, including an active (medium-speed) mode, subactive mode and watch mode, enabling the user to achieve low power consumption by selecting the most suitable mode for device operation.

Power consumption is a low 900uA (typical) at 1.8V/1MHz operation, and ultralow current dissipation of 0.5uA (typical) can be achieved in watch mode, in which only the watch function is operated.

This makes it possible to greatly extend the standby time of devices in which only the watch function normally operates.

The device is available in three packages: an 80-pin QFP; an 80-pin TQFP; and an 85-pin P-TFLGA.

The 85-pin P-TFLGA is an LGA (land grid array) type package that is suitable for high-density mounting and thinner board use, helping to reduce end-product size.

Sample shipments will begin in Q2/2004 in Europe.

A simple type E7 emulator is available as a hardware development environment, and the current H8 Family C assembler, C/C++ compiler and linkage editor can be used as a software development environment.

The H8/38086F also features instruction compatibility with H8 Family microcontrollers, facilitating the use of existing software.

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