TI promotes Cortex-M4 MSP432 to MCU top level
28
Jun
2016
Ah, summer time. TI has quietly promoted the Cortex-M MSP432 to the same level as the prolific MSP430. Don’t rejoice too soon, no new parts were announced nor can you find a MSP432 at catalog distributors. Changes are coming… slowly.
The Cortex-M7 based SAMV70 and V71 went through their rev B silicon, 25 products total.
AVR has a couple of products with higher temperature in the ATXMEGA family.
Infineon had only documentation updates this month.
Microchip added 13 variations of the DSPIC33EP16GS502 part while removing 118 of the DSPIC33FJ06 and PIC24.
The NUC123ZC2AN1 came out this month, a 72 MHz Cortex-M0 based variant of the ZC2AE1 with +85C max temperature.
There were no changes at NXP.
Renesas released new package variants of the RX630. With the web site revamp, we are seing close to 300 new products in the R5F10 but with NRND status. We are checking on it.
Silicon Labs EFM8 had 23 new products: these are all extended temperature version of existing parts.
Spansion was quiet this month.
ST released 58 products, in 2 groups: the first group includes extended temperature versions of existing parts. The second group adds no less than 23 parts to the STM32L4x1, 4×2 and 4×3 product lines. These boast 84uA/MHz dynamic current consumption with a Cortex-M4.
The STM8 added a few extended temperature parts to the STM8L101 family.
TI gave birth to 22 new MSP430 in the F53 and FR59 families. The big change was the promotion of the MSP432 family to the top of the MCU hierarchy, a move that shows TI commitment to bring more products to market – hopefully. No MSP432 part were announced, and the device is stil not available broadly either at TI or at catalog distributors.
Low power, touch and Flash sale for Memorial day
28
May
2016
TI declares MSP432 Cortex-M4 part with 90 µA/MHz while Nuvoton tackles touch-enabled human machine interfaces, and Infineon has a flash-sale for its XMC4400-F100K512AB. How better can it get before Memorial day?
A handful of new products appeared in the ATXMEGA family, covering higher temperatures. On the Cortex-M based side, we had a similar pattern with either different memory size or packages in the SAMD10, D11 and S70 families.
We initiated coverage on the Dialog SmartBond family last month. There were no changes this month in the portfolio.
Here is the recap of the portfolio:
There are 5 segments for an overall of 12 part numbers. All products are equipped with a 16 MHz Cortex-M0 core and a 2.4GHz RF analog front-end and support Bluetooth 4.1. The latest and higher end DA14680 supports Bluetooth 4.2 and is clocked at 96MHz. Although the majority of the portfolio is Flashless (serial Flash), 2 devices have 128kB while the DA14680 embeds 1MB. Prices range from roughly $1.5 to $2.25@1k at major eDistributors.
Infineon released new silicon revisions of their XMC4100 family. Also, the XMC4400-F100K512AB (512kB Flash) launched to complement its smaller 256kB Flash sibling (XMC4400-F100K256AB). Interestingly, the former is a bargain at only EU0.06@1ku for an extra 256kB of Flash compared to the latter – according to the product table – we want one… No other changes this month.
Microchip added 131 products, mainly in the PIC16(L)F18 families, adding variations of the flash size and the packages.
We initiated coverage on the Nordic integrated RF+MCU portfolio last month. There were no changes this month in the portfolio.
Here is the recap of the portfolio:
the BT Smart / BT Low Energy portfolio is larger than Dialog’s with 36 part numbers advertized. 2.4GHz RF, 16 MHz Cortex-M0 and 64 MHz Cortex-M4 are on the menu with support for BT4.1 and ANT protocols.
There are no flash-less parts but rather a range of sizes from 128 to 256 and 512 kB parts. Prices range from $1.9 to $2.6 at 1ku at major edistributors.
Nuvoton launched the M4TK series a few days ago, a Cortex-M4 based MCU with touch key capability. With 128 or 256kB of Flash, 72MHz and a max temperature of 105 for industrial environments, the M4TK targets human machine interfaces applications.
6 devices were released, from 6 to 16 keys. No prices were presented.
There were multiple changes at NXP this month, but we believe these reflect teething troubles following the merger. We have not detected any significant portfolio changes. We expect these troubles will decrease gradually as the dust settles.
The RL78 and RX portfolios were steady this month.
Silicon Labs EFM8 and EFM32 were quiet this month.
Spansion was quiet this month.
ST released 2 new STM8 products, mostly 125C versions of existing parts.
On the STM32 front, 59 products appeared:
- Some with a Tape & Reel variant,
- A de-featured F765 (no LCD support vs. F767, 1 or 2MB),
- A few 1MB F767,
- F777 with an array of new packages, but keeping the same memory sizes and finally,
- New F779 parts with new package combinations and no Ethernet.
TI has just revamped its MCU pages and in particular its Cortex-M4 based MSP432 family’s. 16 new products appeared, all with 48MHz, no CAN or USB and split evenly between 128 and 256kB of Flash. The family sports a supply voltage range of 1.62 V to 3.7 V with a regular -40°C to 85°C temperature range and active power of 90 µA/MHz. We could not find prices yet.
No changes for the other families: Simple Link, Tiva and F2823.
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