Toshiba Cortex-M3 chip CAN, USB and Ethernet

Toshiba Cortex-M3 chip CAN, USB and Ethernet

Toshiba Electronics Europe has introduced a series of ARM Cortex-M3 microcontrollers, its first to incorporate Ethernet, CAN and USB host and device interfaces.

With Cortex-M3 cores running at 80MHz, the four microcontrollers in the TMPM369Fxxx series integrate single-channel CAN2.0B, a full-speed USB Host controller, a full-speed USB device controller and a 10/100BASE single-channel Ethernet MAC.

There are two independent analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs) with conversion times of 1µs or 0.5 µs in interleaved mode.

According to the supplier, this will meet the requirements of barcode readers.

The chip’s multi-purpose timer (MPT) combines three-phase PWM control with an ADC trigger making the new devices ideal for motor control applications.

On-chip memory are ROM options of either 512kbyte or 256kbyte using the firm’s Nano Flash technology, which runs at 80MHz without wait states and allows for very high-speed programming.

Integrated RAM of up to 128kbyte provides capacity for key IP, and a 32-channel DMA controller increases the overall system performance.

All of the new microcontrollers feature two10-bit digital-to-analogue converter (DAC) channels and a 2-channel encoder signal input for motor control.

Also on-board are a Real Time Clock and an Oscillation Frequency Detector (OFD). The latter provides hardware monitoring of the CPU clock in accordance with the IEC60730 (Class B) safety standard for home appliances.

Featuring on-chip regulators, TMPM369Fxxx microcontrollers are designed for operation from a single 2.7V to 3.6V power supply - or 3.0V to 3.6V when USB is in operation. Clock gearing functionality and ‘IDLE’, ‘STOP1’ and ‘STOP2’ standby modes help to keep power consumption to a minimum.

Toshiba’s TMPM369Fxxx microcontrollers are available in LQFP-144 and FBGA-176 package options....RESOURCES

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PredictionsElectronics Industry - Qualcomm - SEMICON Europa

PredictionsElectronics Industry - Qualcomm - SEMICON Europa

“Star Trek has been the predictor to the electronics of the future”, Mike Campbell, senior vp at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies told the SEMICON Europa 2011 Fab Managers Forum in Dresden this morning.

Campbell listed the technologies which the Star Trek cast was using back in the 60s: voice-activated computers, touch-screen controls, motion control, 3D displays, remote sensing, non-invasive diagnostics, real-time DNA analysis.

Flip phones, now the largest industry driver, tablet PCs and diagnostic beds were among nine products first seen on Star Trek.

Campbell had a prediction of his own: “Your first 3D camera will be a phone.” Apparently these are coming for Christmas.

“Semiconductor growth will be driven by ease of access to data,” said Campbell, but he thought that the semiconductor industry is “approaching a discontinuity” with fewer players able to compete in process technology.

In terms of capital spending, the top five players spend 40% of the total; the top ten spend 55% of the total; the top 15 spend 67% of the total, and the top 25 spend 82% of the total.

This is only getting worse with the soaring costs of EUV, double patterning and 450mm, and the increasing concentration of the volume growth driver applications in areas like mobile and automotive.

Mobile growth is enormous. 25% of the world’s population is on the Internet, said Campbell, 5bn mobile phones are in use, 1.5bn phones will be sold this year, 1.67bn next year,1.64bn in 2013 and 1.79bn in 2014. Smartphones are growing much quicker – Campbell expects 40% CAGR in smartphones between 2011 and 2014.

3G is “the biggest platform in the history of mankind” said Campbell, with 1bn 3G subscribers now, and 2.7bn 3G subscribers in 2014....RESOURCES

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ARM next generation with 64-bit processor expected in 2014

ARM next generation with 64-bit processor expected in 2014

ARM has given first technical details of its next generation ARMv8 architecture, the first ARM architecture to include a 64-bit instruction set.

ARMv8 architecture's 64-bit processing and virtual addressing differentiates it from the 32-bit ARMv7 architecture which the Cortex-A9 and Cortex-A15 processors are built on.

"We believe the ARMv8 architecture is ideally suited to enable the ARM partnership to continue to grow in 32-bit application spaces and bring diverse, innovative and energy-efficient solutions to 64-bit processing markets,” said Mike Muller, chief technology officer at ARM

The ARMv8 architecture consists of two main execution states, AArch64 and AArch32.

The AArch64 execution state introduces a new instruction set, A64 for 64-bit processing. The AArch32 state supports the existing ARM instruction set.

It retains the TrustZone, virtualization and NEON advanced SIMD from the current ARMv7 architecture.

Design support for the 64-bit instruction set comes in the form of compiler and Fast Models which are already available to specific ecosystem partners.

Initial support for a range of open source operating systems, applications and third-party tools is already in development. Working together the ARM partnership is collaborating to accelerate development of a 64-bit ecosystem, in many cases as a natural extension to the broad ecosystem in place to support ARMv7 based devices in the market today.

"The evolution of ARM to support a 64-bit architecture is a significant development for ARM and for the ARM ecosystem," said KD Hallman, general manager at Microsoft.

According to ARM, the ARMv8 architecture will enable the development of ARM architecture compatible devices that can be designed to maximize the benefits across both 32-bit and 64-bit application areas.

The 64-bit architecture will be of interest for high-end servers and computer designs.

The ARMv8 architecture specifications describing all aspects of the ARMv8 architecture are available now to partners under license. ARM will disclose processors based on ARMv8 during 2012, with consumer and enterprise prototype systems expected in 2014....RESOURCES

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Qualcomm S2 processor inside Nokia Lumia smartphone 2011

Qualcomm S2 processor inside Nokia Lumia smartphone 2011

Qualcomm has confirmed that its Snapdragon mobile processor has been designed into Nokia's latest smartphones, the Lumia 800 and Lumia 710.

The Lumia launch marks Nokia's entrance into the Windows Phone community, and as such is a significant design-in for Qualcomm on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 platform.

"We are proud that our deep collaboration with Nokia resulted in smartphones that were developed in only six months based on our Snapdragon platform," said Enrico Salvatori, senior vice president and president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies Europe.

The smartphone is based on the Snapdragon S2 processor. It is a high end 45nm chip running at up to 1.5GHz. There is a 205 GPU supporting a 1024×768 resolution display as well as stereoscopic 3D.

The S2 is already in Android smartphones - the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play and the HTC EVO shift 4G....READ MORE

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downturn driven by falling demand in the US, Asia and Europe, says Rich Beyer, CEO of Freescale Semiconductor.

downturn driven by falling demand in the US, Asia and Europe, says Rich Beyer, CEO of Freescale Semiconductor.

He believes falling GDPs (gross domestic product) in the economies of the US and European countries is now a major concern for the chip industry.

“Everyone has been worried for the last three to four months,” Beyer, told Electronics Weekly.

“We are in a normal downturn, a demand driven downturn,” said Beyer.

"Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, we expect the weakness in the semiconductor market to continue to negatively impact our business," said Beyer.

The build up of inventory in the supply chain began in the first half of the year following the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

“Inevitably companies stocked up on parts and this created inventory build,” said Beyer.

“This inventory build was largely worked through in the third quarter, but now the market is being affected by falling demand as a result of falling GDPs,” said Beyer.

But these up and down movements of the market are nothing new for semiconductor companies.

“In the semiconductor industry we are used to cycles,” said Beyer. “We all have variable cost structures.”

“Despite challenging macroeconomic environment conditions, we continued to generate solid gross margins," said Rich Beyer, chairman and CEO.

Net sales for the third quarter were $1.14bn, compared to $1.22bn in the second quarter and flat with a year ago.

Profit from operations in Q3 was $110m, compared to $31m in the second quarter of 2011.

Costs and debt charges resulted in a net loss for the third quarter of $88m. But this was an improvement on the $168m loss in Q2....RESOURCES

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Zuken tools to analyse ICs and PCBs in 3D

Zuken tools to analyse ICs and PCBs in 3D

Zuken has introduced a software tool which allows designers to analyse IC package and PCB design in 3D.

The PCB design tool, called Design Force, uses native 64-bit, multi-CPU, and multi-threading. Its graphics support includes OpenGL and DirectX.

The intention is to provide a PCB analysis tool which allows designers to place and manage embedded components, view and modify layers and optimise chip-package-board and multi-board interconnects in both 2D and 3D.

It is possible to switch between 2D and 3D.

“This represents a major step forward in PCB design," said Steve Chidester, head of product marketing at Zuken EAS.

High speed circuit design is supported with signal integrity, EMC, and power integrity analysis.

The tool allows designers to co-design a chip, package and board, embed components in the dielectric as well as verify manufacturing rules.

The package and PCB analysis tool is part of Zuken’s latest CR-8000 multi-board PCB design suite.

As part of the CR-8000 system-level design flow, Design Force will be integrated with System Planner (system-level design planning) and Design Gateway (system-level circuit engineering).....READ MORE RESOURCES

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NEC rolls out LifeTouch ‘cloud communicator’ Android-based 2011

NEC rolls out LifeTouch ‘cloud communicator’ Android-based 2011

NEC's LifeTouch Android tablet wasn't exactly turning heads for all the right reasons when it was first unveiled it back in June, but it looks like the company has managed to at least slightly refine it for its official launch today. In addition to ditching a handful of buttons, the tablet is also now being pitched specifically as a "cloud communicator" that's especially well-suited for corporate customers, although exactly what that means in terms of capabilities still isn't clear. The tablet's specs apparently remain unchanged, however, and include a 7-inch pen input-capable display (described as a "Retina Touch Panel"), an ARM Cortex A8 processor, a 3 megapixel camera, an SD card slot, built-in WiFi and GPS, and Android 2.1 for an OS. Don't count on this one being released over here, but folks in Japan will be able to pick it up by the end of the month for a yet to be specified price......READ MORE

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