Infineon says XMC1000 mcus offer ‘clear advantage’ in 8bit applications

Based on the ARM Cortex-M0 processor, the XMC1000 family is said by Infineon to be the first to offer 32bit functionality at 8bit prices, with support from an advanced 32bit peripheral set. "The XMC1000 family offers clear advantages for making the switch from 8bit to 32bit mcus in a range of systems," said Dr Stephan Zizala, senior director of Infineon's industrial and multimarket microcontroller division. "The mcus deliver true 32bit performance at 8bit prices, application optimised peripherals, scalability with regard to the XMC4000 microcontroller family and the free DAVE development environment." The XMC1000 family, which will sample in March 2013, will be available in three variants: the entry level XMC1100 series; the so called feature series XMC1200; and XMC1300 series, aimed at control applications. Differing mainly memory capacity and peripheral set, there will be 23 products available in 16, 28 and 38pin tssops. XMC1100 devices are said to offer inexpensive access to 32bit processing. The parts have six 12bit a/d converter channels operating at up to 1.88Msample/s and four 16bit timers in a capture/compare unit. XMC1200 devices add application specific features, including a unit for capacitive touch sensing, led display controls and the brightness and colour control unit , which handles led dimming and colour control. Finally, the XMC1300 series is optimised for motor control and digital power conversion. It features a capture/compare unit with two compare channels and asymmetric PWM functionality, along with a mathematical coprocessor which supports field oriented control. This, says Infineon, is unique for Cortex-M0 based products. XMC1000 parts will be built on a 65nm embedded flash process on 300mm wafers. This will allow parts to be sold in volume for as little as €0.25.