Freescale’s MAC7100 line gains larger memory models

Freescale Semiconductor, now NXP, says it’s leveraging its experience in powertrain microcontrollers with two new 32-bit devices aimed at body, chassis and safety markets. The newest members of the MAC7100 family--the 768KB MAC71x5 and 1MB MAC71x6--integrate networking, control and diagnostic features that support the consolidation of multiple functions in a single device, and facilitate application development. They also feature larger memory blocks, compared with earlier models in the series.

Volvo Car Corporation plans to implement the MAC71x6 in several car body applications.

“Over the years, we’ve developed a large portfolio of specialized modules that can free up a core processor’s bandwidth,” says product marketing engineer Wayne Freeman. The new MCUs feature FlexCAN modules with message buffers that contribute to more efficient network routing. Enhanced serial communications interface (eSCI) modules automate LIN master functions. An enhanced modular input/output system (eMIOS) provides 16 channels, each of which can be configured for input capture, output compare or PWM operation. A crossbar switch enables a core processor and direct memory access module to communicate simultaneously, and a high-bandwidth Nexus interface aids debugging. “These are the first microcontrollers in the ‘body’ space that include Nexus,” Freeman notes. “It allows designers to ‘get it right’ the first time, and to reprogram in the field if necessary.”

The new MCUs include boosted on-chip program flash memory and 32 kilobytes of data flash memory with built-in "read while write" capability. The design eliminates the need for external EEPROM. The chips offer execution speeds of up to 50 MHz and improved system performance through enhanced direct memory access (eDMA) combined with the ARM7 processor, crossbar switch, and smart peripherals that include configurable timers, dual analog-to-digital converter modules and the eMIOS interface.