The UniVersaKit (VERSAKITUVK) development kit and evaluation system, launched by Ramtron, integrates the required support circuitry to minimise startup time, accelerate system prototyping, and shorten time-to-market for most standard 8051 microcontrollers. The UVK, of course, supports all of the company’s Versa products. The kit can be an evaluation platform for Versa mixed-signal and low-cost flash 8051-based MCU families. The board includes voltage regulators (3.3 and 5V), an RS-232 transceiver, DB9 connectors, tact switches for manual reset/interrupt triggering, user LEDs, a serial twowire FRAM, and piezo buzzer and driver circuitry. Also integrated are chip peripherals and I/Os that are easily accessible through probe vias and header footprints, as well as character LCD display expansion capabilities. There’s ample space for prototyping. The kit ships complete with IDE (Integrated Development Environment), C compiler, and assembler. There’s also a development board that supports all Versa product families and Versa-ICP (In-Circuit Programmer) for programming and in-circuit debugging of Versa Mix 8051 MCUs (VMX51C1020/16). It can be used for in-system programming in end product production, too.
