Off-The-Shelf ARM9 MCU Handles Java

The LPC3000 microcontroller (MCU) family from Philips Semiconductor is based on a 200-MHz ARM926EJ-S core with DSP and Java/Jazelle support. The chip has 64 kbytes of RAM but no flash. A boot ROM can load executable images from a variety of sources, including NAND flash. The MCU provides access to off-chip mobile SRAM and MMC/SD cards. The chip supports 3.3-V I/O, and it has an ultra-low-power 0.9-V operation mode. The standard E-ICE JTAG interface provides access to a 6-kbyte emulation trace buffer (ETB) that stores compressed trace data. The architecture doesn't employ the AMBA hardware bus (AHB), though. Instead, it has a switch matrix that gives the DMA and processor simultaneous access to peripherals and memory, assuming they aren't accessing the same device. Peripherals include dual serial port, dual I²C, ADC, USB On-the-Go, SPI, PWMs, and GPIO. Production quantities of the 256-pin BGA part are expected in the third quarter for less than $10.