Microcontroller Delivers Secure Ethernet

Recognizing the need for more secure network devices, Freescale Semiconductor combined hardware security with Ethernet support. Its latest PowerQUICC III, the MPC8541E communications processor, incorporates on-chip encryption hardware supporting DES, 3DES, MD-5, SHA-1, AES, PKEU, RNG, and RC-4 encryption algorithms.

The chip also houses dual Gigabit Ethernet and dual Fast Ethernet controllers. The e500 PowerPC core runs from 533 to 833 MHz with a 256-kbyte level 2 cache. A 64-bit, 333-MHz double-data-rate (DDR) SDRAM memory controller provides access to plenty of memory.

A four-channel DMA controller, dual serial ports, a local bus controller, two I²C controllers, and a serial peripheral interface (SPI) are included. In addition, dual 32-bit PCI controllers can be configured as a single 64-bit PCI controller. The MPC8541E comes in a 783-pin PBGA package.