NEC introduces 19 new 16-bit MCU for Motor Control
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Inverter control systems are found in an ever-wider range of products, in response to consumer demand for more energy-efficient appliances. Fine-tuned control of motors and heating elements can deliver significant energy savings in products ranging from refrigerators and air conditioners to dishwashers and magnetic induction cooking appliances. NEC Electronics’ 78K0R/Ix3 MCUs, with 16-bit performance and 8-bit power consumption levels, are ideal for such applications.
All devices in the lineup share the following features: (1) CPU power consumption of only 1.8 milliwatts (mW) per MIPS (*1), the highest performance-to-power-consumption ratio in the industry; (2) on-chip oscillators capable of driving timers at rates up to 40 megahertz (MHz) for fine-tuned inverter control; (3) integrated hardware multiply and divide functionality for fast processing of mathematical algorithms; (4) integration of all analog circuits required for inverter control, including comparators and an integrated operational amplifier (op amp).
This combination of features responds to strong demand from appliance manufacturers for flexible, low-cost, high-performance MCUs to help shorten time to market. Under pressure to differentiate their products from competitor offerings, manufacturers stress innovative features, stylish design and lower power consumption, but this results in mounting development costs and longer development schedules. NEC Electronics’ new MCUs allow fine-grained control of multiple types of 3-phase motors, making it easy to develop eco-friendly appliances. In addition, an all-flash memory configuration means that programs can be updated even after an MCU is mounted on a system board, allowing manufacturers to accelerate development schedules by developing software in parallel with hardware.
Features
- Industry-leading performance to power consumption ratio
The new MCUs are built around NEC Electronics’ 78K0R CPU core that executes 13 MIPS at a clock speed of 20 MHz. Advances in process technology enable power consumption of only 1.8 mW per MIPS. - Fine-tuned inverter control via integrated multifunction timers
Multifunction timers function as interval timers to generate periodic interrupts, as dividers to generate clock signals by dividing an input frequency, and as event counters to count external signals. The number of timer units has been increased from 8 channels to 12. This allows one channel of 6-phase pulse-width modulation (PWM) (*2) output for the 3-phase motors generally used in inverter control applications, as well as two channels of the half-bridge PWM (*3) output commonly used in magnetic induction cooking systems. - First 16-bit MCUs with integrated inverter control circuits
In another industry first, the 78K0R/Ix3 MCUs integrate all of the basic analog circuits needed for inverter control, including an op amp, comparators, and high-speed A/D converters. By replacing discrete components with an integrated solution, manufacturers can dramatically reduce their bill of materials costs and save space on system boards. - Wide selection of memory and packaging options
Available on-chip memory configurations include 16, 32, 48 or 64 kilobytes (KB) of internal flash memory and 1, 1.5, 2 or 3 KB of internal RAM. Packaging options include SSOP and LQFP packages in pin counts ranging from 30 to 64 pins. With a total of 19 MCUs in the lineup, designers can choose the optimum configuration for their applications. - Full development tools support
NEC Electronics’ MCUs are supported by a comprehensive suite of development tools, including NEC Electronics’ MINICUBE2 on-chip debugger, IECUBE emulator for full tracing, starter kits and software tools. Compiler suites are also available from third-party source, IAR Systems.