n
Freescale Semiconductor announced an ad-
dition to its Kinetis mini portfolio with the in-
troduction of the Kinetis KL03 MCU, the
worlds smallest and most energy-efficient 32-
bit MCU based on ARM technology. The
MCU builds on the previous generation Kinetis
KL02 device with new features, advanced inte-
gration, and greater ease-of-use – all in an
even smaller 1.6x2.0mm package. The company
sees the miniaturization of MCUs as a key
driver of IoT evolution. With the ground-
breaking form factors of the new Kinetis KL03,
systems designers for edge node products now
have the technology they need to develop en-
tirely new product categories capable, quite
literally, of changing the world. It is ideal for
the fast-growing Internet of Things (IoT) mar-
ket, where edge nodes increasingly require
more intelligence in ever-smaller form factors.
The Kinetis KL03 MCU combines the power
efficiency of the Kinetis L series based on
ARM Cortex-M0+ cores with enhanced low-
power functionalities including register files,
SRTC, low power UART, and additional low
power wake-up pins.
Additionally, the new product offers greater ease
of use over the previous generation. An added
ROM-based boot loader allows factory pro-
gramming and on-line system firmware upgrades
without adding circuitry to the board, reducing
programming-related costs for customers. An
internal, highly accurate voltage reference (Vref)
delivers improved analog performance by sup-
plying an embedded 1.2 volt reference for the
ADC, enabling several use cases for applications
requiring high ADC accuracy. The Kinetis KL03
MCU is code compatible across 900+ Cortex-
M products. In addition, a FRDM-KL03Z
Freescale Freedom development platform, as
well as Processor Expert development system,
Solution Advisor guide, and comprehensive
Freescale and third-party enablement support
in the ARM-ecosystem will be available to
support development targeting the new MCU.
Customers can begin evaluation immediately
with the FRDM-KL02Z board.
Renesas unveiled the RX64M group of micro-
controllers (MCUs), its first product in the
flagship RX Family of 32-bit MCUs to be fab-
ricated in a 40 nm process. Based on the new
RXv2 CPU core, the new MCU group consists
of 112 products running up to 120 MHz with
zero wait state from the high-speed embedded
flash memory, and feature both the high-speed
real-time performance as well as large memory
capacities required by industrial applications
and network equipment. With the expansion
of the connected society and Internet of Things
(IoT) markets, there has been rapid growth in
diverse IoT-related products such as connected
network and industrial equipment used in fac-
tory automation and building automation,
driving the need for greater CPU computing
performance, improved real-time response,
and ever lower power. Part of the RX family,
which covers a wide range of applications,
from mid-range to high-end products, the
RX64MMCUs provide a high-end MCU solu-
tion for applications that require the higher
performance, on-chip memory and lower
power. Since the new MCUs maintain com-
patibility with the existing product line, system
designers working with current RX products
can migrate easily to these new MCUs. In ad-
dition to a full complement of communications
functions, the RX64M group of MCUs adds
new PWM timer functions. Furthermore, the
devices are highly backward compatible, as
they feature the functions included in the ex-
isting Renesas RX600 series of MCUs. By in-
cluding motor control timer functions and an
IEEE 1588-compliant Ethernet function, which
is required by industrial applications, the new
MCUs can improve inter-system synchroniza-
tion performance and provide flexible support
for all types of motor control.
In addition to the vast amount of general-pur-
pose serial interfaces, these devices support
high-speed communications functions such as
two Ethernet MAC and two USB interfaces,
supporting the device, host as well as OTG
functions, an SD host interface, and a QSPI
(quad serial peripheral interface). Furthermore,
embedded world: Internet of Things
applications gain momentum
E
MBEDDED
W
ORLD
R
EVIEW
By Wolfgang Patelay,
Editor
embedded world 2014 ended with a
new record: 26,688 trade visitors
from all over the world (+18 % over-
all) and 856 international exhibitors
from 35 countries made the twelfth
embedded world the biggest in the
history of this event. This year's main
topic: applications for the Internet-of-
Things (IoT) and their impact for the
embedded industry, were discussed
all over the show by exhibitors and
visitors. This article outlines some
selected product news also well
suited for IoT applications
April 2014
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