Product category:
Design and Development Hardware
News Release from: Texas Instruments (April 2001-March 2006) | Subject: EZ430-F2013
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial
Team on 15 February 2006
Full MCU development tool comes in a USB
stick
A new development tool aids evaluation of the MSP430 MCU architecture and gives experienced developers all the resources they need to complete an entire MSP430F20xx project from start to finish.
New from Texas Instruments, the eZ430-F2013 development tool allows both new users to evaluate the MSP430 MCU architecture in minutes and, for the first time, also gives experienced developers all the resources they need to complete an entire MSP430F20xx project from start to finish In a compact Universal Serial Bus (USB) stick form factor, the eZ430 tool is the world's smallest complete microcontroller (MCU) development and evaluation tool available for just $20
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 8 Nov 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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"We take our customers' time and development costs very seriously", said Mark Buccini, TI's Advanced Embedded Controls Director of Marketing.
"The eZ430 is not only great for fast MCU evaluation, but it is also the only full MCU development tool contained in a USB stick available today".
"With the eZ430, developing embedded design projects with MSP430F20xx MCUs is a snap".
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The eZ430-F2013 tool connects to a standard PC USB port and is self-powered, requiring no extra cables or power supplies.
Contained within the USB stick is an emulation interface board and an easily removable MSP430F2013 target board, which differentiates the eZ430 from other fixed-function evaluation systems.
Using TI's innovative Spy bi-wire debug interface, only two signals - power and ground - are needed to connect the emulation interface and target, enabling very compact, high-performance MCU development in a low-cost environment.
The emulation board communicates with the MSP430 MCU target devices' emulation logic unobtrusively, in-system and subject to the same electrical characteristics as the final application, which eliminates costly, time consuming intermediate steps.
This board uses a TI TUSB3410 for the USB interface and a TPS77301 to provide 3V regulation to the system.
The target board makes all 14 MSP430F2013 pins available on an industry standard 0.1 inch though-hole header and includes an LED for immediate development feedback.
The eZ430 tool includes a free IAR Kick Start Embedded Workbench IDE containing a debugger, assembler and C compiler.
This is the same IDE currently used for all MSP430 MCUs, meaning designers can leverage existing code and expertise.
To jump-start new projects, users can tap into more than 100 free C and assembler source code examples that are available from TI's website.
The MSP430F2013 MCU is part of the recently introduced MSP430F20xx series, operating up to 16MIPS in a robust failsafe environment with no external components.
The MSP430F20xx series' fully programmable clock system is stable over temperature and voltage, providing wake-up from an industry-leading 500nA standby to full-speed operation in less than 1us.
Ultralow power combined with on-demand high-performance lets designers tune their systems to stay in standby longer so their applications conserve more power and use smaller, lower cost batteries.
Operating from 1.8 to 3.6V, MSP430F20xx MCUs allow direct battery operation and are available in a 14-pin footprint as small as 4 x 4mm.
A choice of convertors includes an analogue comparator for very cost sensitive applications, a 200Ksample/s 10bit analogue to digital convertor (ADC) for real-time signal processing or a 16bit sigma-delta ADC for high-precision systems.
All devices include an enhanced watchdog timer for extreme reliability, a multifunction 16bit timer and in-system programmable flash for greater design flexibility and field upgrade capability.
With 128B of RAM, a full-featured 16bit RISC CPU and complete development in C, developers can reuse existing MSP430 instruction set architecture (ISA) libraries for faster time to market.
TI's MSP430 broad platform of MCUs answers market demands for ultra-low power applications including metering, portable instrumentation and intelligent sensing and enables new forms of embedded power supplies including solar, motion and heat.
The eZ430-F2013 tool is available now for $20 from the TI e-store.
The new tool is currently showcased at TI booth at Embedded World, Nuremberg, Germany.
Free eZ430-F2013 tools will be provided to delegates at the fourth annual 430 day, to be held at more than 100 locations worldwide beginning in May 2006.
This free, three-hour lunch-and-learn event provides a detailed overview of MSP430 ultra-low-power architecture and application solutions, new product updates and live eZ430 demonstrations.
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