Nuremberg, Germany. Cypress Semiconductor Corp. this week at Embedded World 2016 introduced a new series from its PSoC 4 programmable system-on-chip architecture that completes its platform for seamless migration of 8- and 16-bit MCU-based embedded systems to 32-bit ARM platforms. Engineers have had limited options to upgrade to the performance and flexibility of 32-bit ARM-based products that also offer the ease of use and broad array of features found in 8-bit products. With the new PSoC 4 S-Series, Cypress offers a broad portfolio of 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0 and Cortex-M0+ products with accompanying on-chip resources for engineers to complete new designs. The PSoC 4 S-Series devices are suitable for a range of industrial systems, wearable electronics, home appliances, and consumer applications, leveraging the ease-of-use and flexibility of the PSoC architecture to quickly design new products and accommodate last-minute feature changes.
PSoC 4 S-Series integrates an ARM Cortex-M0+, 16KB to 64KB flash memory, up to 36 general-purpose I/Os, and Cypress’s CapSense capacitive-sensing technology. The series marks the debut of the fourth generation of CapSense, which consumes half the power of the previous generation and enables the reliable and differentiated user interfaces, as well as contactless, capacitive-sensing solutions such as liquid level sensing. The series includes options that are cost-competitive with 8- and 16-bit products, while providing engineers with nine programmable analog blocks and seven programmable digital blocks to create new, differentiating features. PSoC 4 S-Series, and the scalable PSoC 4 architecture, are complemented by Cypress’s easy-to-use PSoC Creator Integrated Design Environment (IDE), which simplifies system design and accelerates time-to-market by enabling concurrent hardware and firmware design.
“With PSoC 4 S-Series, Cypress’s PSoC 4 portfolio now delivers a complete portfolio of solutions from 8-kB to 256-kB flash, and priced between 25 cents and three dollars, that replace 8- and 16-bit MCU-based products and allow for seamless migration to a 32-bit ARM platform,” said John Weil, vice president of MCU marketing at Cypress. “The PSoC 4 platform enables design engineers to select an optimal mix of on-chip programmable analog and digital blocks for their products, along with the added differentiation of our industry-leading CapSense technology for elegant and durable user interfaces.”
PSoC 4 S-Series includes up to 36 CapSense I/Os to implement buttons, sliders, and proximity sensors. Cypress’s fourth-generation CapSense features a low average current consumption of 3 μA per sensor. With a signal-to-noise ratio greater than 300:1, it enables home-appliance designs to pass IEC 610001 standards on electromagnetic compatibility by delivering robust noise immunity and liquid tolerance three times stronger than previous CapSense solutions.
The PSoC 4 S-Series provides nine programmable analog blocks including up to two high-performance op amps, two current-output digital-to-analog converters (IDACs), up to four low-power comparators, and up to two ADCs. Its seven programmable digital blocks include five timer/counter/PWM blocks and two serial communication blocks. Additionally, PSoC 4 S-Series includes 16 Smart I/Os, providing a programmable interconnect and routing subsystem that can be configured in the PSoC Creator IDE to implement pin-level Boolean operations on input and output signals, even when the device is in deep sleep. Together with PSoC Components—free embedded ICs represented by an icon in PSoC Creator, the IDE enables rapid prototyping of end applications while minimizing PCB spins and firmware changes that are typically required.
Cypress demonstrated PSoC 4 S-Series and its full PSoC and MCU portfolio, along with its automotive, Bluetooth Low Energy, USB-C, and memory solutions, at the Embedded World 2016 exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany.
PSoC 4 S-Series devices are currently sampling with production expected in the first quarter of 2016. Parts with a 10-bit single-slope ADC will be available in 25-ball WLCSP, 24-pin QFN, 32-pin QFN, and 48-pin TQFP packages, while parts with a 10-bit single-slope ADC and a 12-bit SAR ADC will be available in 35-ball WLCSP, 32-pin QFN, 40-pin QFN, and 48-pin TQFP packages
