February 2015
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GPS navigation, and even tracking capabilities.
To optimize the watch performance, the pro-
cessor also needs to operate in multiple modes
to match the requirement of the application.
The Kinetis KL03 MCU offers flexible dynamic
modes with fast response time through quick
wake-ups and low-latency interrupts, as well as
low power modes to use for monitoring pur-
poses. It is not just about processing fast, it is
about processing fast and efficiently, and if you
compare the Kinetis KL03 device to competi-
tive chips, you would see at least a 2x improve-
ment in battery life while the application is
running in a typical operation (or watch mode)
throughout the day.
Developing for IoT applications can be over-
whelming. How will my device connect to
the cloud? What type of sensing solution
is needed? How will I secure the data being
transferred? While all these other consider-
ations can be challenging, incorporating the
MCU shouldn’t have to be. The IoT space is
growing - and it is growing fast. Time to mar-
ket is becoming even more critical for design-
ers, and the growing ecosystem of software
and tools available for ARM products makes
it a very logical architecture to begin with. In
addition, Freescale supports Kinetis MCUs by
providing a full complement of development
resources including the new software develop-
ment kit (SDK) for Kinetis MCUs – a compre-
hensive software framework that incorporates
hardware abstraction layers, RTOS adapters,
peripheral drivers, libraries, middleware, util-
ities and usage examples and cost-effective
Freedom development platforms compatible
with the broad Arduino hardware ecosystem.
Another tool is Freescale Processor Expert
software, which helps to create, configure, and
generate software and drivers for its micro-
controllers. Bootloader software for Kinetis
MCUs enables in-system flash programming
over a serial connection and supports erase,
program and verification capabilities. The
broad ARM ecosystem of support with fea-
tured IDEs from Atollic, Green Hills Software,
IAR Systems and ARM Keil tools, along with
a new Kinetis Design Studio IDE from Frees-
cale, is available as well. These expanded soft-
ware and tool offerings build on the strong,
longstanding Kinetis MCU enablement foun-
dation of the MQX RTOS, the Tower System
platform, and application-specific frame-
works. Plus, designing with Kinetis MCUs
means designing with one of the broadest
ARM Powered MCU portfolio; designers pre-
serve their engineering investment with more
than 900 Kinetis products to choose from, all
of which offer some level of software or hard-
ware compatibility.
In the market today, you already see small
devices carrying decent battery life. Phones
for example fit easily into pockets and usually
run a whole day without needing to re-charge.
So how much smaller and how much more
energy efficient do we need to go? Is the desire
to drive miniature devices simply a challenge
that engineers want to take on or is there an
actual market demand? Maybe we don’t have
the answers to those questions, but what
we do know is that the wearable market is
expected to grow >50% CAGR over the next
few years and includes everything from smart
watches to activity monitors (IHS Electronics
and Media, September 2013).When you look
at battery life for the wearable market, you
don’t talk about hours any more, but instead
about days and even weeks.
We have already looked at one application in
wearable devices for the fitness watch, and
for most people, the current size of the watch
is probably acceptable. But wouldn’t it be
more convenient if your fitness watch could
do more? What if it could connect to online
mapping tools in the event you got lost on
M
icrocontrollers
& S
o
C
s
Figure 1. Block diagram of the Kinetis KL03 MCU
H
S
IGH PEED
R
OBUST
F
LEXIBLE
TriCore PowerArchitecture
•
Cortex M/R/ ARM7/9/11
A
•
RH850 • XC2000/XE166
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