NEC Expands Microcontroller Lineup

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- NEC Electronics America, Inc. today introduced to the Americas twenty-two new 16-bit All Flash microcontrollers (MCUs) for compact, low-power, battery-operated and sensor-enabled systems. Based on NEC Electronics’ high-performance 16-bit 78K0R CPU core, the new 78K0R/Kx3-L MCUs offer very low power consumption to extend battery life, and more on-chip integration to help reduce the size and cost of battery-driven and sensor-enabled systems such as fire and security alarms, meters, industrial sensors, anti-shake digital cameras, handheld medical diagnostics devices, and data-logging and point-of-sale terminals. In addition to low power consumption, the new lineup offers high-performance on-chip oscillators, built-in circuits for sensor functions and extended system operating time.

“As environmental awareness has grown, energy-saving systems have become particularly reliant on MCU technology,” said Jim Trent, vice president, multipurpose microcontroller and automotive group, NEC Electronics America. “Over the past several years, NEC Electronics has delivered many ultra-low-power 8- and 32-bit MCUs that have met the demand for energy efficiency. With the introduction of the new 78K0R/Kx3-L devices, however, NEC Electronics is now delivering the benefits of energy efficiency in its 16-bit products.”

In a separate release:

SANTA CLARA, Calif. -- NEC Electronics America, Inc. today expanded its lineup of low-power 32-bit V850ES/Jx3™ All Flash™ microcontrollers (MCUs) with the new V850ES/Jx3-L™ MCUs, which offer the lowest standby current in their class to help meet stringent power requirements in battery-backed multiphase electricity meters, high-end blood glucose meters, test and instrumentation equipment, point-of-sale systems and other high-end portable devices that demand high performance, low power consumption and an extensive variety of integrated peripherals.

Backward compatibility with earlier generations of NEC Electronics’ V850™ All Flash MCUs provides designers with an easy upgrade path, while compatibility with other MCUs in the V850ES/Jx3 lineup, such as those introduced in September 2007, gives designers the flexibility to select from a variety of compatible devices with higher performance and up to one megabyte (MB) of on-chip memory.The requirement for low-power-consuming components in high-end portable devices has continued to increase steadily, particularly in the home healthcare and test and measurement markets where performance and reliability are critical. NEC Electronics’ new MCUs are based on a combination of established technologies and new advancements that deliver the reduced power levels and increased reliability that designers are seeking.

One key differentiator of these products is the way power is controlled in the flash memory circuit, traditionally the largest consumer of power in an MCU. Due to improvements made by NEC Electronics, the new devices consume only 0.9 milliwatts (mW) of power per Dhrystone MIPS (DMIPS) during active operation, and as little as 1.5 microamperes in standby mode.

In addition to NEC Electronics’ popular V850ES™ RISC CPU core and a highly efficient pipeline architecture that executes up to 43 DMIPS (1.1) at clock speeds ranging from 5 to 20 megahertz (MHz), the V850ES/Jx3-L MCUs offer flash memory capacities of 128 or 256 kilobytes (KB), embedded RAM up to 16 KB, operating voltages from 2.2 to 3.6 volts (V) and an I/O tolerance of 5V. The new MCUs also feature enhanced, integrated digital signal processing (DSP) capability, including divide/multiply functions for high-end applications such as motor control and metering.

To further reduce component count and system cost, the MCUs include up to three UART channels, three I2C channels or five clock serial interface (CSI) channels, a built-in cyclic redundancy check (CRC) circuit, an advanced hardware multiplier for fast execution of algorithms and an external bus interface that supports expanded memory. One channel of 16-bit watchdog timer with a dedicated internal oscillator, a watch timer, up to 12 channels of 10-bit A/D conversion, up to two channels of 8-bit D/A conversion, a direct memory access (DMA) controller with four independent DMA channels, a two-level low-voltage detector, a real-time output port and an on-chip debugging circuit with interrupt functionality complete the MCUs’ highly integrated, highly efficient design.

The MCUs are available in 80- and 100-pin low-profile quad flat pack (LQFP) packages. The 80-pin LQFP is available in standard 14 x 14 millimeter (mm) or 12 x 12 mm sizes that further contribute to miniaturization in portable equipment. The 100-pin LQFP is available in fine-pitch 14 x 14 mm or 14 x 20 mm versions.NEC Electronics America Inc.