An eclectic mix
31
May
2017
There was an eclectic mix of incremental changes at Microchip/Atmel, Nuvoton, NXP, Renesas, STMicroelectronics and Texas Instruments with new Cortex-M7s and more low power MCUs. Is Microchip starting a slow realignment of its portfolio with DSPIC33 declining in favor of the PIC32? Microchip announced the PIC32MK: another sign that Cortex-M and proprietary architectures are here to stay side by side?
A few parts made it out this month in the AT Tiny family, the ATTiny1614 and 1616 bring new (smaller) package options to the existing ATTiny1617.
The ATMega gave up 10 part numbers mostly tape and reel versions.
On the Cortex-M front, the activity was concentrated on the ATSAME70 and S70, the powerful Cortex-M7 based families. The new parts add LQFP64 and BGA144 packages to the existing portfolio. 38 parts came out in total.
No change.
XMC4400F100F512ABXUMA1 migrated to XMC4400F100F512ABXQMA1.
The parts list for Microchip added 138 new MCUs, and took away only 64. All of the action took place with the PIC32MK and PIC32MX.
In particular, Microchip announced the PIC32MK earlier this month. The PIC32MK family targets precision dual Motor Control applications (PIC32MK MC) and General Purpose (PIC32MK GP) applications. All MC and GP devices feature a 120 MHz 32-bit core that supports DSP instructions. The devices come with up to 1MB Flash, 4 KB of EEPROM and 256kB SRAM.
Microchip also added parts to the existing PIC32MX, the PIC32MX154/174 and PIC32MX254/274, a 72MHz MIPS core packed with 128/256 kB of Flash.
The bleeding happened at the DSPIC33EP256/512 as well as the PIC24EP128/256/512.
No change this month.
10 products saw the light of the day this month. The 72 MHz Cortex-M0 NUC126 sports a crystal-less USB 2.0 FS interface, adjustable VDDIO pins (1.8V to 5.5V). Temperature ranges from -40℃ to 105℃, up to 256/20 kB of Flash/RAM with 48-, 64- or 100-pin packages. Its cousin, the M0564 is similar, but lacks the USB port.
The LPC546xx MCU family got 6 new parts (LPC54606xxx). The 180 MHz Cortex-M4 core is surrounded by USB+PHY, Ethernet and CAN interfaces and packaged in TFBGA or LQFP with 256 or 512 kB of Flash.
Renesas added a few parts to the RX24T, a group focused on dual inverter control with a built-in FPU. It supports 2.7 V to 5.5 V, and is pin-compatible with the RX62T Group.
It’s already the summer at SLAB: no change recorded in the portfolio.
A few parts were added in the PSoC4 family, but we could not find proper documentation. These are Z or ZT-suffix of existing parts.
STMicroelectronics increased its ARM Cortex-based STM32’s by 53 of which, 16 were mere package or temperature variations of existing parts.
The real news is the STM32L451/2 and STM32L462 families that add to the 141-strong STM32L4 series. The STM32L451/2xx devices embeds a Quad SPI, a 12-bit ADC, two comparators, one operational amplifier, one DAC channel. The L451 lacks the USB found on the L452.
Texas Instruments added over 33 new 16-bit low-power MSP430 to their listings.
The bulk of the new comers is found in the MSP430F2131 and MSP430F2132, beefed up versions (8-16 kB Flash) of the existing MSP430F210x/1x.
A Turbo MCU closer to the traditional application processor
30
Apr
2017
ST continues to deliver superior performance with the addition of products to its STM32H7 400MHz Cortex-M7 family at 40nm. We are reaching the realm of applications processors that embed high level OS like Linux. This is reflected by a CoreMark of 2,010, close to other TI OMAP or NXP i.MX6 Quad parts and much higher than any other Cortex-M on the market at the time of this newsletter.
Microchip spun out a new revision of the SAMG55J/G (Cortex-M4, 120MHz) with a new package, in all 5 new part numbers were uncovered.
There were also new packages for the ATMega 16, 32 and 64, 10 products overall.
No change.
A few part numbers at Infineon changed packages slightly:
– Two 105°C 32 MHz ARM Cortex-M0-based XMC1300
– Three 120 MHz ARM Cortex-M4-based XMC4400F
The parts list for Microchip Technologies added 134 new MCUs, and took away only 19. Most of the new parts were the more powerful 8-bit data/14-bit instruction 8 MHz PIC16 with another chunk being 8-bit data/16-bit instruction 64 MHz PIC18, all with an assortment of packaging choices.,. That still leaves over 3200 PIC16 and over 1900 PIC18, so there is still plenty of selection in these proprietary architectures. Added were:
– 34 newly released PIC16F153 MCUs with up to 28kB Flash, 2kB RAM, and as many analog, PWM, and comms peripherals as their 8- to 48-pins allow
– An identical number of the same parts but in the low-voltage/power “LF” SKU with identical peripherals and packages. This smells of “binning” for low-power.
– 14 of last year’s 64 MHz PIC18LF24K40 MCUs with 16kB Flash, 1024B RAM, 256B EEPROM, and many analog, timer, PWM, touch, and comms peripherals in 28-pins
– An identical number of the same parts labeled _LF25K40 having double the Flash and RAM.
– 11 of last year’s more robust 64 MHz PIC18LF27K40 MCUs with a large 128kB Flash, 3728B RAM, 1024B EEPROM, and more analog, timer, PWM, touch, and comms peripherals on 28-pins.
– An identical number of the same parts but labeled _LF47K40 come in 40/44-pin packages offering more I/O lines and A-to-D channels.
– Note that perhaps 20% of the Microchip part number changes simply indicate Tape-and-reel containers for already-specified surface mount packages.
A dozen dsPIC33EP_GM_ parts dropped from the database, the 16-bit DSP/MCUs sporting PWMs and analog with drive output for Motor control applications. Dropped were 128kB and 256kB with a couple 512kB Flash parts in given feature/IO/package configurations, -40 to 85°C.
No change this month.
No change this month.
Certainly NXP Semiconductors continues to gird up for its pending acquisition by Qualcomm, while considering the advantages of being a Dutch company versus an American company in an ever-changing territorial political climate.
With regards to microcontrollers the last month, the only changes from the company was the removal of 30 of the formerly-Philips ARM 32-bit Cortex-M0-based LPC1100 and 1200 products of 48- and 64-leads, plus an odd Cortex-M3. A dozen of the LPC1100’s were the USB variety, which leave only 60% still remaining, according to our database. Worse are the LPC1200s that are being decimated to one lone part.
One stray that was abandoned was a well-loaded LPC4357 containing 1MB of Flash, pairing a 204 MHz Cortex-M4F with a Cortex-M0 sidekick; maybe the similar package didn’t justify existence.
Renesas released the RX24U, a family focused on motor control with a dual inverter control including a FPU supporting complex inverter control algorithms. There were only 6 parts with a RXv2 core running at 80 MHz, 256, 384 or 512 kB of Flash and 32 kB of RAM with 100 or 144 pins.
No change.
No change.
STMicroelectronics increased its ARM Cortex-based STM32’s by 27 without seeing the need for removing any. Thirteen of these are screaming new 400 MHz Cortex-M7’s engulfed in 2MB Flash, 1MB RAM (various sorts), all forms of connectivity and communications up through Ethernet, graphics and even hardware cryptography support in the new STM32H753 line announced last year that pushes the definition of microcontroller.
A half-dozen more Cortex-M4’s show up in the low-power STML4’s and mid-grade STMF4 product families, with a little new life even in the “old” Cortex-M3 lines.
Texas Instruments added nearly 60 new 16-bit low-power MSP430 to their listings while 70 parts vanished.
For fifty of the new parts, TI inserts _A_ after the MSP430 in the order number and may indicate a mask revision in what looks like some very errata-riddled parts.
Fully identifying the functionality of the components is elusive, although these appear to be re-markings of what might normally be called MSP430F parts, perhaps of very different p/n’s. See here for examples, noting the “Device Marking” column to the right. Also note the errata showing a comprehensive but somewhat complex view of all the changes in the revision table.
Most of the deleted parts are MSP430F2’s, with a handful of parts in each of assorted other 430 lines with Flash (and a few with the company’s FRAM).
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