Motorola readies ColdFire MPU for low-cost applications

Motorola readies ColdFire MPU for low-cost applications
By David Lammers, EE Times
December 4, 2000 (7:21 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20001204S0041

AUSTIN, Tex. ( ChipWire) -- Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector has created a ColdFire-based standard device aimed at markets needing Ethernet or Universal Serial Bus connectivity at low cost.

Manufactured in a mature 0.35-micron process technology, the MCF5272 standard part uses a ColdFire V2 processor core, just as Motorola is readying its latest V4 ColdFire core for more advanced process technology.

The device's main components include a licensed USB 1.1 core from Phoenix Technologies, along with a 10/100 Ethernet core, said Wendell Smith, a marketing manager at Motorola's ColdFire/68k division.

The chip follows a trend toward extremely high levels of integration, with four time-division multiplexer ports that support the 2B+D channels in the ISDN terminals popular in Europe and Japan, as well as analog connectivity, said Mireille Mazzaschi, ColdFire product marketing ma nager.

Other standard peripherals include two UARTs, four 16-bit timers and dedicated memory controllers.

Migration path

"This presents an easy migration path for customers currently using the 68302 family," Mazzaschi said.

Since Ethernet is "almost everywhere," he said, the device is being aimed at networking as well as industrial applications.

The ColdFire V2 core delivers 63 Dhrystone 2.1 Mips at 66 MHz, and the die is packaged in a 196-pin plastic ball grid array.

Motorola will begin general sampling of the device early next year, with production set for the second quarter. In quantities of 10,000, the V2 will be priced at $11.95.