Power Architecture MCUs gear up for automotive

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Freescale Semiconductor has expanded its portfolio of Power Architecture MCUs to address a broad range of cost-sensitive automotive applicationsrequiring 32bit performance. The company has introduced threeautomotive MCU families optimized for safety, chassis, instrumentcluster, body electronics and gateway designs.
Manufactured on 90nm technology, the three Power Architecture MCU families weredeveloped collaboratively with STMicroelectronics as part of a joint design program initiated in January 2006. Basedon the e200 Power Architecture core, the MCU products share acommon hardware and software ecosystem, which enables systemdesigners to streamline the development process by reusing code anddevelopment tools.
"Power Architecture technology is becoming the de facto 32bitstandard for the global automotive market as the core architecturecontinues to gain traction in application segments that requireexceptional performance and scalability," said Paul Grimme, seniorVP and general manager of Freescale's microcontroller solutionsgroup. "The three advanced product families are optimized forcomputationally demanding applications that will help make the nextgeneration of automobiles safer, more affordable anddriver-friendly."
Chassis, safety control solutions
Freescale's MPC560xP MCU family is designed to help automotivedevelopers replace bulky hydraulic and mechanical components withlightweight electrical systems that draw power only as needed.Increased use of electrical systems in automotive designs helps reduce vehicle weight and contributes to improved fuelefficiency, as well as reduced greenhouse gas emissions. TheMPC560xP family is designed to benefit automotive chassis andsafety applications, such as stability control, electric powersteering and braking, as well as hybrid powertrain systems.
The MPC560xP devices feature fast ADC controllers andhigh-precision timers that work in concert for efficientfield-oriented control of electric motors. An on-chip crosstriggering unit enhances system efficiency and reduces system costby managing sample timing, which offloads the MCU core fromfrequent interrupts. The high-resolution 120MHz PWM module supportskey motor control features, such as dead-time insertion, dead-timedistortion correction and advanced fault shutdown.
The automotive industry trend to replace mechanical systems withelectromechanical systems is driving the need for electroniccomponents to meet higher safety standards. The MPC560xP familyhelps automotive designers implement systems that address keyfunctional safety requirements, such as IEC61508. Integratedfeatures, such as an on-chip fault collection unit, are designed toenhance the visibility of MCU status. SRAM and flash memory include error correction coding (ECC) capabilities. An on-chiptemperature sensor and clock monitor help detect system-levelconditions. The MPC560xP family also supports the FlexRaynetworking protocol, which is engineered to enable robust,redundant in-vehicle communications at up to 10x the speed of otherprotocols.
Instrument cluster control
The MPC560xS MCU family is designed to address the next wave ofautomotive instrument cluster applications using color TFTdisplays. Once limited to high-end vehicles, TFT displays aregrowing more prevalent in low-end to mid-range vehicles. TheMPC560xS product family addresses the system requirements ofentry-level, yet sophisticated, instrument cluster applicationswith a cost-effective, single-chip solution that directly drivesthe TFT display. The MPC560xS devices not only are designed tosupport TFT displays in automotive dashboards, they also can driveanalog gauges and LCDs.
The MPC560xS MCUs feature a sophisticated, integrated displaycontrol unit (DCU) designed to drive TFT LCD displays in up toWQVGA. Internal memory resources easily handle complex graphicscontents (pictures, icons, languages, fonts) on a color TFT panel.Graphical content on screen sizes of up to half VGA (HVGA) can beaddressed by expanding the memory using a quad SPI (QuadSPI) forserial flash memory. The MPC560xS family provides a scalablesolution, with 1Mbyte flash sizes sampling now, as well as largerand smaller flash versions that are planned for the future.
Body electronics, gateway apps
Freescale's MPC560xB MCU family is designed to provide exceptionalprice/performance for use in central body controllers, gateways,comfort features (doors, seats, interior lighting), security/safetyfeatures (passive entry systems, immobilizers, tire pressuremonitoring systems) and lighting control systems (headlights, brakelights, turn lights).
The MPC560xB MCUs include on-chip modules for Controller Area Network and Local Interconnect Network communications, in addition toother peripherals necessary to implement a wide range offunctionality in automotive body networks. Starting with a 512Kbyteversion, the MPC560xB family will have a wide range of flash memoryoptions, enabling developers to migrate to higher performancesolutions. The MCUs include an instruction set enhancement allowingvariable length encoding for code size reduction. Encoding of mixed16bit and 32bit instructions enables developers to achievesignificant code size reduction for body applications.
Samples of MPC560xP, MPC560xS and MPC560xB family MCUs are plannedto be available to lead automotive customers throughout 2008.