16bit MCU aims for portable applications

Combining low-power operation with a built-in display controller, the latest highly integrated 16bit microcontroller from Toshiba will suit PDAs, data loggers and other portable applications.

Combining low-power operation with a built-in display controller, the latest highly integrated 16bit microcontroller from Toshiba will suit PDAs, data loggers and other portable embedded applications where high-performance, minimum component count and extended battery life are critical.

Toshiba's new TMP91C815F offers a high level of onboard functionality that will help engineers to simplify design and minimise component count.

For power-sensitive applications the device will operate with voltages down to 1.8V.

The maximum clock frequency is 27MHz and the typical current consumption is only 6mA.

Supplied as a 128-pin TQFP or bare chip, the TMP91C815F features 61 I/O ports and incorporates an LCD controller capable of driving displays with resolutions up to 240 x 320pixel and a tone generator suitable for producing melodies and alarm signals.

A built-in memory management unit can be used to address up to 136Mbyte of external memory, while integrated serial and I2C interfaces and connectivity for keypads, loudspeakers and IrDA devices significantly reduces the need for external components.

Additional on-board peripherals include a 10bit ADC, dedicated clock circuit (hours, minutes, seconds, month, day etc), timers, UARTs and an interrupt controller.

The new microcontroller, which is available as a ROMless version incorporating 8Kbyte of RAM, is based on Toshiba's TLCS-900/L1 low-power core.

This core combines a general-purpose register bank for rapid context switching with high-speed, four-channel micro-DMA and powerful bit manipulation and arithmetic instructions.

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