Engineers Guide To 8 16bit Technologies

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Engineers Guide to
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Engineers Guide to 8-bit & 16-bit Technologies 2013 2
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Welcome to the 2013
Engineers Guide to
8/16-bit Technologies
For all the hype around todays hottest new high-performance
devices, this 8 and 16-bit Microcontroller Resource Guide proves
that theres still plenty of interesting development going on at the
other end of the performance scale. In many cases, the real chal-
lenge is in doing more with lesswhich is especially true when it
comes to power management.
The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC)
recently announced its intent to create a standardized, industry-
endorsed way to evaluate the energy effciency of ultra-low power
(ULP) microcontrollers. This effort is expected to address the
industrys lack (to date) of a common method to test, validate and
compare the real-world energy consumption of microcontrollers
that target applications such as portable medical devices, security
systems, building automation and smart metering, as well as appli-
cations using energy harvesting devices. Initial participation in the
EEMBCULP working group has come from industry-leading micro-
controller vendors such as Analog Devices, ARM, Atmel, Cypress,
Energy Micro, Freescale, Fujitsu, Microchip, Renesas, Silicon Labs,
STMicro and TI. (See more at www.eembc.org.)
In the meantime, our experts address issues relating to new
applications, sensors, memory and development environments.
Dig in and enjoy. And remember, theres a lot more online at www.
eecatalog.com/8bit. As always, wed love to hear your feedback,
thoughts and comments. Send them to info@extensionmedia.com.
Cheryl Berglund Coup
Editor
P.S. To subscribe to our series of Engineers Guide for embedded
developers, engineers, designers and managers visit:
www.eecatalog.com/subscribe
Engineers Guide to 8/16-bit
Technologies 2013

8-bit Microcontrollers with
Integrated Confgurable Logic
The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, dsPIC, MPLAB and PIC are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their registered owners.
2013 Microchip Technology Inc. All rights reserved. 03/13
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Microchips PIC10F/LF32X and PIC12/16F/LF150X 8-bit MCUs let you add
functionality, reduce size, and cut the cost and power consumption
in your designs for low-cost or disposable products, with on-board
Confgurable Logic Cells (CLCs), Complementary Waveform Generator
(CWG) and Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO).
The Confgurable Logic Cells (CLCs) give you software control of combinational and
sequential logic to let you add functionality, cut your external component count and
save code space. Then the Complementary Waveform Generator (CWG) helps you to
improve switching efciencies across multiple peripherals; whilst the Numerically
Controlled Oscillator (NCO) provides linear frequency control and higher resolution
for applications like tone generators, lighting and ballast control.
PIC10F/LF32X and PIC12/16F/LF150X MCUs combine low current consumption with
an on-board 16MHz internal oscillator, ADC, temperature-indicator module, and up
to four PWM peripherals. All packed into compact 6- to 20-pin packages.
Go to www.microchip.com/cip to fnd out more about
low pin count PIC MCUs with core independent peripherals
Engineers Guide to 8-bit & 16-bit Technologies 2013 4
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Contents
Welcome to the 2013 Engineers Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies
By Cheryl Coup, Editor ............................................................................................................................................................................. 2
Power Drives MCU Evolution
By Cheryl Coup, Editor ............................................................................................................................................................................. 6
Realistically Analyzing Ultra-Low Power Microcontroller Effciency
By Markus Levy, Multicore Association ................................................................................................................................................... 11
The Heartbeat Behind Portable Medical Devices
By Shahram Tadayon, Silicon Labs .......................................................................................................................................................... 14
MEMS, MCUs and Tradeoffs for Sensor Fusion
By Michael Stanley, Freescale ................................................................................................................................................................ 19
FRAM Tears Down Traditional Microcontroller Design Barriers
By Mike Stein, Texas Instruments ........................................................................................................................................................... 22
Flexible Yogurt-Lid Electronics Become a Reality
By John Blyler, Editorial Director ............................................................................................................................................................. 24
Squeeze Power from Your MCU Using the IDE
By Jason Tollefson, Microchip Technology Inc. ...................................................................................................................................... 40
Microchip Partner Guide. ................................................................................................................................................................ 31
Beningo Engineering.............................................................................................32
Ironwood Electronics............................................................................................33
IST GmbH.....................................................................................................................33
LX Design House.....................................................................................................33
microEngineering Labs, Inc..............................................................................33
OccamMD..................................................................................................................34
P. R. Glassel.................................................................................................................36
MPEDesign, Inc........................................................................................................37
Nelson Research......................................................................................................37
RJS electronics.........................................................................................................37
Suntop Electronics, Ltd........................................................................................37
Ramtex...........................................................................................................................38
Products and Services
Microcontrollers and Cores
Microcontrollers and Cores
Microchip Technology Inc.
Core Independent Peripherals ............................................... 25
New 70 MIPS dsPIC33 EP Family:
High Performance & Integrated Op Amps ............................ 26
PIC24 Lite: Lowest Cost, eXtreme Low Power,
Low Pin Count 16-bit MCUs .................................................. 27
PIC24F GA3 Family ............................................................. 28
The Worlds First 3D Gesture Controller:
MGC3130 with GestIC
Technology Colibri Suite ................ 29

Hardware / Hardware Tools
Emulators
Tag-Connect, LLC
Tag-Connect Plug-of-Nails In-Circuit Programming
and JTAG Cables ................................................................... 30
Cover Image: The world-frst functional 8-bit organic microprocessor featuring some 4,000 organic thin-flm transistors processed directly (i.e. without transfer)
onto fexible plastic foil. (Copyright IMEC)
Design With Freedom
For more information, please visit www.zilog.com.
Go With The Best In Motor Control!
Zilog Motor Control Solutions
BLD Universal
and
Brushed DC Motor Control
Z8 Encore! F083A Series (28-Pin)
3-Phase/Single-Phase
AC Induction and
PMSM Motor Control
Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motors
Z16FMC Series Motor Control
Stepper
Motor
Control
Z8 Encore! XP F1680 Series (28-Pin)
Z8FMC16100 Series Motor Control
BLDC Sensor
and
Sensorless Motor Control
Engineers Guide to 8-bit & 16-bit Technologies 2013
6
SPECIAL FEATURE
According to Stan Lee (and Spider-Mans
Uncle Ben), great power brings great
responsibility. For embedded developers,
the opposite is often true. The superhero
task that brings great responsibility is to
do even more with even less power. This
is obvious for portable, battery-powered
devices, but its true also in growing
microcontroller market applications such
as automotive and industrial, where energy-efficiency
drives demand and design parameters. We talked to MCU
experts about power and performance tradeoffsand
morein our roundtable discussion. See what Alexis
Alcott, product marketing manager of MCU16 marketing
and Wayne Freeman, product marketing manager for the
Security, Microcontroller & Technology Development
Division of Microchip Technology, Inc.; Andreas Eieland,
senior marketing manager for flash-based microcon-
trollers at Atmel Corporation; and Steve Darrough, vice
president of marketing at IXYS-Zilog have to say.
EECatalog: Microcontroller vendors are taking a variety
of technology approaches to reduce device size and power.
What are some of the tradeoffs embedded developers
need to consider as they weigh their options?
Alexis Alcott and Wayne Freeman, Microchip Technology
Inc.: With the expansion of embedded systems into por-
table electronics, metering and medical applications,
designers are required to come up with designs that are
both portable and consume low power. One of the most
important considerations for an embedded developer is to
consider the tradeoffs between power consumption and
other factors such as size, cost and complexity. Advanced
process technologies used in the manufacturing of MCUs
can reduce die size and lower costs, but with the trad-
eoff of increasing the leakage currents and static power
consumption. On the other hand, selecting an MCU with
a larger process technology reduces leakage currents
but results in higher dynamic current consumption and
larger die size. Microcontroller vendors who control their
own manufacturing processes offer a special advantage
in being able to control the tradeoffs and design specifi-
cally for lowest power offerings.
Andreas Eieland, Atmel Corporation: There are two
sides to this question: analog and digital. For the analog
portion, there are tradeoffs between accuracy, size and
power and you can only fully optimize two of the three.
Many vendors, including Atmel, design optimization for
a tradeoff between these three by providing a selectable
bias current going into the analog module so that the
developer can select the best power/performance trad-
eoff for his application.
For digital modules, the first tradeoff is to optimize for
active-mode or sleep/static-mode power consumption.
There are many tricks for optimizing leakage such as
making transistors longer. But this affects your maximum
speedso basically transistors get slower the longer you
make them. Another option is to back bias your SRAM,
but this impacts the size of the die. For Atmel, it comes
down to the peripherals available on a product and what
markets and type of applications we believe will be the
best fit. This is all determined when we sit down in our
spec phase and go through the different options.
Steve Darrough, IXYS-Zilog: Several considerations
emerge when trading power utilization against perfor-
mance, depending on the applications and their needs.
An example is the use of state machines and system-
looping techniques in the architecture, which can reduce
consumption yet still allow the microcontroller to have
its required resources to support the application. Some
applications, like wireless, can use polling and other
types of techniques to achieve better power utilization.
EECatalog: Todays users of microcontrol ler-based
mobile devices demand long battery life along with
instant-on response. How are developers balancing
those conf licting requirements?
Power Drives MCU Evolution
Requirements for portable, low-power consumer devices, as well as energy-
effcient embedded systems, drive MCU development and offer options for
embedded engineers.
By Cheryl Coup, Editor
Alexis Alcott, Wayne Freeman, Andreas Eieland, and Steve Darrough

Adding Connectivity to Your Design
Wi-Fi G Demo Board
(DV102412)
BEFORE YOUR NEXT WIRED
OR WIRELESS DESIGN:
1. Download free software libraries
2. Find a low-cost development tool
3. Order samples
www.microchip.com/usb
www.microchip.com/ethernet
www.microchip.com/can
www.microchip.com/lin
www.microchip.com/wireless
Microchip ofers support for a variety of wired and wireless communication protocols,
including peripheral devices and solutions that are integrated with a PIC Microcontroller
(MCU) or dsPIC Digital Signal Controller (DSC). Microchips Solutions include:
USB
8-, 16- and 32-bit USB MCUs for basic, low-cost
applications to complex and highly integrated systems
along with free license software libraries including
support for USB device, host, and On-The-Go.
Ethernet
PIC MCUs with integrated 10/100 Ethernet MAC,
standalone Ethernet controllers and EUI-48/EUI-
64 enabled MAC address chips.
CAN
8-, 16- and 32-bit MCUs and 16-bit DSCs with
integrated CAN, stand-alone CAN controllers, CAN
I/O expanders and CAN transceivers.
LIN
LIN Bus Master Nodes as well as LIN Bus Slave Nodes for
8-, 16- and 32-bit PIC MCUs and 16-bit dsPIC DSCs. The
physical layer connection is supported by CAN and LIN
transceivers.
Wi-Fi
Innovative wireless chips and modules allowing a
wide range of devices to connect to the Internet.
Embedded IEEE Std 802.11 Wi-Fi transceiver modules
and free TCP/IP stacks.
ZigBee
Certifed ZigBee Compliant Platform (ZCP) for the
ZigBee PRO, ZigBee RF4CE and ZigBee 2006 protocol
stacks. Microchips solutions consist of transceiver
products, PIC18, PIC24 and PIC32 MCU and dsPIC DSC
families, and certifed frmware protocol stacks.
MiWi
TM
MiWi and MiWi P2P are free proprietary protocol
stacks developed by Microchip for short-range
wireless networking applications based on the IEEE
802.15.4 WPAN specifcation.
8
SPECIAL FEATURE
Alcott and Freeman, Microchip: MCUs designed for low-
power applications are loaded with features for managing
power vs. performance. For example, many products offer
distinct modes that can lower power from full run at <1
mW to <100 nW in sleep modes. In between, there are
many modes that allow developers to trade off between
power, response time and performance. Doze mode allows
the core speed to scale down, while leaving the peripheral
speed constant. This has the impact of reducing current,
but offers instant-on response back to full speed run by
the core. A few steps lower, there are several sleep modes,
which shut off the core and flash, but can retain RAM and
register states, along with the ability to run a variety of
peripherals. Sleep mode takes power consumption to just
21 W, but allows for ADC operation, LCD operation,
UART message detection, timers and interrupt detection.
The wake-up time from this mode can be as low as 5 s.
Lower-power sleep modes are also available that further
reduce the current consumption to just 1 W with LCD,
UART, timers and interrupts all still available in this mode,
with RAM and register values maintained with wake-up
times of 110 s. For lowest current consumption, deep-
sleep mode powers off all of the logic on this chip with
the exception of a real-time clock, watch-dog timer and
interrupts, reducing current to just 120 nW. In this mode,
the wake-up time is extended to allow for the power-up of
the core and peripherals and memory initialization, which
can take up to 200 s to 1 ms. As you can see, flexibility
is key to offering designers many choices to manage the
tradeoffs between extending battery life and wake-up
times depending on their application requirements.
Eieland, Atmel: For process geometries 130nm and
smaller, the SRAM leakage is normally what breaks your
power budget, especially if the ambient temperature is
high. The RAM retention is also what you need together
with rapid-stabilizing RC oscillators to ensure an
instant-on response. For larger process geometries, you
do not have any issues with the instant-on/RAM reten-
tion requirements, even over temperature.
Many vendors stay in relatively large process geometries to
keep the leakage down, while others do partial RAM reten-
tion or even just a couple of bytes of retention. However,
retaining only a handful of bytes is normally not enough
to ensure an instant-on response as you will still have to
re-initialize your peripherals, etc., before you can react
to whatever wakesup the device. Atmel allows its device
peripherals to cooperate and make intelligent decisions.
This ensures reduced wake-up frequency by allowing the
device to remain in sleep if the peripheral decides that the
CPU is not required to resolve the situation. At the same
time, the system can identify an important event and
sound the alarm to wake-up the system.
Darrough, IXYS-Zilog: Soft start, memory utilization
and other techniques leverage harvesting to extend and
renew charging of the power source.
EECatalog: Touch sensing is now commonly integrated
with microcontrollers, but with rapid evolutions in user
interfacessuch as voice and gesturewhat capabilities
should developers be watching for moving forward?
Alcott and Freeman, Microchip: During the last few years,
the evolution in user interface technology was very
rapidtouch keys to touchless interface driven by the
consumer market and expanding into all products with
user interfaces. Capacitive touch buttons can be imple-
mented with many PIC MCUs, including open algorithms
and techniques to engineers, so that they can have the
freedom to innovate with touch implementations. Touch
can be integrated into systems with products including
various performance levels, peripheral mixes, eXtreme
Low Power (XLP), small packaging, and unique technolo-
gies such as metal over capacitive. From a system level,
we are seeing touch buttons/sliders integrated with
applications in higher-end microcontrollers in addition
to the low-cost dedicated touch controllers.
In addition to our touchscreen technologies, for analog
resistive and projected capacitive, we also see growing
touch pad solutions, for user interface on end equip-
ment such as remote controls and automotive. Another
new trend is touch-less interface with intuitive, ges-
ture-based, non-contact user interfaces for a broad range
of end products.
Eieland, Atmel: Touch with lower-power consumption,
without the need for external components and sup-
port for hover are features we are seeing, and currently
offering. Gestures on the touch surface can already be
supported by an extra layer of code on most touch imple-
mentations and I am confident we will see products that
support hovering gestures soon.
Darrough, IXYS-Zilog: New navigational technologies are
emerging now that will challenge developers with new
interfacing application models. Emerging examples are
e-ink, flexible paper and the advancement of even optical
navigation are now emerging that create the need for new
and creative solutions.
EECatalog: MCU performance and complexity continues
to rise. What do developers need to consider with respect
to development tools?
Alcott and Freeman, Microchip: When evaluating any devel-
opment tool infrastructure, engineers should focus on four
areas: Te IDE, or integrated development environment,
must be easy to use, highly modular and support a wide range

Design-In Advanced Graphics Displays Quickly and Easily
MICROCHIP MAKES IT EASY TO
EMBED GRAPHICS INTO YOUR
NEXT DESIGN:
Free Graphics Library with full
source code, includes buttons, charts,
scroll bars, images and support for
multiple fonts & languages
Free Graphics Display Designer
Visual Design Tool simplifes
code development and generates
output source fles
Flexible hardware development kits
allow interface to various glass sizes.
www.microchip.com/graphics
Microchip Technologys display solutions ofer the ability to quickly
integrate graphics display functions into existing applications in a single
microcontrollerreducing development risk, total system cost and time to
market. The PIC MCUs can drive everything from simple monochrome LCDs to
full color WVGA user interfaces.
The PIC24F DA family features hardware acceleration and an integrated graphics
controller to directly drive a graphical display. The DA family includes USB and
touch interfaces as well as 96 KB of RAM to store the frame bufer, eliminating the
need for external memory.
PIC32 controllerless graphics solution uses the high performance DMA to render
graphics directly to graphical displays without the need for an external graphics
controller. The PIC32 family includes up to 128 KB RAM for frame bufering and also
integrates touch, USB, Ethernet and CAN for remote interfaces.
10
SPECIAL FEATURE
of MCU price and performance points. C compilers should be
as highly optimized as possible for the target architectures
to ensure the smallest code footprint. Developers should also
look for a wide range of available development hardware,
from simple prototyping boards to highly functional test-
and-measurement kits. We ofer hundreds of development
hardware tools, which give customers the option of selecting
the appropriate tool for their development task. Our tool
ofering is designed to take advantage of a unique feature
of Microchips MCU portfoliothe consistent use of similar
peripherals across the product line. Tis allows for maximum
re-use of existing code base in future projects. Lastly, the
availability of supporting documentation and personal assis-
tance are highly important to consider.
Eieland, Atmel: At Atmel, we believe tools should be
easily accessible, easy-to-use and low-cost so that you do
not have to go to your bosss boss to get the PO signed.
In addition, Atmel ensures that we use our application
engineers to write the basic drivers, stacks and example
applications for our devices so that our customers wont
be required to spend their precious R&D time on writing
code that will not differentiate their end product. Even
more, weve gotten some very good feedback on our inte-
grated development environment that offers compilers,
simulators, documentation and more in one program.
With regards to complexity, we also see more engineers
involved in a typical program; as a response to this, we
have added plug-ins for revision control of documents
and a collaborative workspace inside Atmel Studio
Darrough, IXYS-Zilog: Development environments need
agility now more than ever. Development environments
that are proprietary or even difficult to work in meet
more and more opposition to adoption rate. Value is
better established in providing interoperability and open
development communities
EECatalog: What kinds of safety and security con-
siderations do developers need to keep in mind for
MCU-based applications such as medical or financial
transaction devices?
Alcott and Freeman, Microchip: Financial transaction
devices require a very high level of encryption to protect
data that is being transferred. Developers also need to
consider items such as Privacy (AES-128), Authenticity
(HMAC) and Integrity (SHA-2). Developers need to look
for availability of free software libraries with the ability
to implement flexible solutions ona broad range of micro-
controller options.
Medical applications may also require a high level of
security. For example, access control to a drug-dispensing
station may need to authenticate a user and provide
secure transmission of data.Safety considerations would
apply to products that are implanted in the body for
example. For the implantable device, designers must
consider FDA requirements and provide a high-quality,
reliable product. For example, one safety requirement
is the removal of radio frequencies that are within a
hospital room environment that could interfere with
equipment. New technology such as body area network
(BAN) systems being developed now may not use radio
frequency technology for transmission. One example
of this is the Microchip BodyCom technology that
offers short-range, low-data-rate secure communication
solution utilizing the human body as the transmission
medium as a safe alternative.
Eieland, Atmel: Similar to power consumption, there is
a split in requirements around 130nm. For devices in
larger geometries, CRC checks, tamper proofing, lock bits
and self-programming control commands, etc. are suf-
ficient. Previously there were concerns for single-event
upsets on smaller geometries, but at least for earth-based
applications, we do not see a need for that anymoreat
least for geometries 90nm and up.
For devices around the 130-150nm range and below, a
designer should look into features like memory built-in
self tests (MBIST) and perhaps a hardware CRC solution
to ensure that they can run the CRC algorithm more
frequently and with less overhead. Having a dedicated
device service unit on the silicon that manages IP access,
lock bits, and the previously mentioned CRC and MBIST
is definitely something to look at.
For all geometries, having the possibility to run
encryption in either hardware or software for both
communication and firmware upgrades, as well as
mechanisms to protect against intrusive IP attacks, are
important and something Atmel addresses.
Darrough, IXYS-Zilog: New security threats are surfacing
that compromise not only sensitive data, but now with
DoS attacks meant to disrupt functionality. Many systems
suffer performance challenges due to invasive attacks
mean to even redirect normal operational functionality.
Cheryl Berglund Coup is editor of EECatalog.
com. Her articles have appeared in EE Times,
Electronic Business, Microsoft Embedded Review
and Windows Developers Journal and she has de-
veloped presentations for the Embedded Systems
Conference and ICSPAT. She has held a variety of
production, technical marketing and writing posi-
tions within technology companies and agencies in the Northwest.
www.eecatalog.com/8bit 11
SPECIAL FEATURE
Realistically Analyzing Ultra-Low
Power Microcontroller Effciency
Following the microcontroller datasheet specs for energy or power measurements may
lead to disastrous conclusions, especially if the datasheet fails to indicate the precise
workload that was being applied during this measurement. This article explains an
industry-standard methodology that establishes metrics for microcontroller perfor-
mance and energy, and provides a technique for understanding active operating mode
characteristics as well as the tremendous variety of ultra-low power modes.
By Markus Levy, Multicore Association
Vince is a very diligent engineer, so his manager had complete
confdence that his medical instrument system design would
meet the requirements for the products 9-year battery life.But 6
years after the product shipped, customers started complaining
that the batteries were depleted. What went wrong with the
design? Vince attentively followed the microcontroller datasheet
specs which indicated an active current of 100 microAmps.
However, the datasheet failed to indicate the precise workload
that was being applied during this measurement. Unfortunately,
Vinces design had a more computationally intensive workload
than the specifcation utilized, resulting in a
signifcantly increased amount of power con-
sumption, despite the aggressive utilization of
low power modes.
For all you Vinces out there, have you real-
ized that this is an overly simplifed and
exaggerated story? However, the key point is
that you cannot rely on datasheet numbers.
While you might be able to extrapolate the
specifcations to match your design charac-
teristics, youll never be 100% sure until the
product is completed. Tis issue is further
exacerbated because microcontroller vendors
rarely, if ever, provide specifcations that are
derived from the exact same system-level stresses. So even at
the onset of your system design, when you are selecting the
appropriate microcontroller for the job, the variance on speci-
fcation details makes the comparisons nearly impossible. Tis
topic begs for industry standardization on performance and
energy metrics. It also highlights the topic and issue of data-
sheet values versus real-world behavior.
When designing a product to achieve an extended-battery life,
the workloads and duty cycles must be carefully analyzed,
and you must fully comprehend what functions dominate the
energy consumption. Furthermore, the active periods (and
even more important, the inactive periods) must be accounted
for in the design not just from the perspective of the duty
cycle, but also with attention to the latency associated with
the ramp-up time.
To establish metrics for industry standardization on micro-
controller performance and energy, we evaluated more
than 200 (small battery) applications and determined that
active operating mode difers signifcantly. When it comes
to designing an ultra-low power system, there are many fac-
tors to consider. To begin with, we must rationalize what is
an ultra-low power system, because obviously this is a rela-
tive term. In my view, ultra-low power focuses on systems
achieving battery life that is minimally measured in terms
of weeks, if not months or years. With this in mind when
you begin your system design, youll need
to carefully examine the factors from the
perspective of the microcontroller, software,
and/or architecture (i.e. 8-, 16-, or 32-bits).
System designers are often reluctant to
migrate to a 16- or 32-bit microcontroller in
order to process a growing workload require-
ment of their companys products, believing
that the amount of work will be excessive. But
modern development tools are very sufcient
in helping to make this transition. On the
other hand, system designers often overes-
timate the beneft of increased performance
relative to the increased power consumption.
Consider that 8-bit microcontrollers typically have code ef-
ciency advantages on functions such as I/O control, primarily
due to their simpler bus structures. Furthermore, 8-bit devices
typically have shorter pipelines, resulting in a lower penalty
for tight program loops without adding circuitry for loop
unrolling or branch prediction. Additionally, 8-bit microcon-
trollers have lower RAM requirements (compared to most
16- and 32-bit cores), and smaller core size allows for larger
geometry which yields lower leakage current. In favor of 32-bit
microcontrollers, these will generally ofer better support for
16-and 32-bit arithmetic. In addition, with the use of a more
advanced and layered bus system it becomes easier to do things
such as dynamic frequency control to optimize the operating
frequency for the lowest average power consumption. It should
be no surprise to anyone that in the 32-bit world, most micro-
controller vendors are using an ARM processor. One might
Figure 1: The blood glucose meter
is an example application requiring
ultra-low power operation com-
bining an advanced microcontroller
and a digital display
12
SPECIAL FEATURE
surmise that the silicon vendors are struggling to diferentiate
their devices. On the other hand, an MCU is much more than
a core, and the diferentiation comes from implementation-
specifc bus systems, memory confgurations, and the wide
variety of peripheral functions. Te datasheets of Cortex-M
based MCUs demonstrate a strong diferentiation in terms of
low-power, whereby the silicon providers utilize their own low-
leakage processes, as well as designing proprietary, system-level
low-power modes that are applicable for specifc applications.
Although EEMBC CoreMark has become a very popular
benchmark to measure microcontroller performance and
approximate the typical application workload, it completely
dominates the run-time energy of an ultra-low power (ULP)
device. To put this into context, the energy consumed by
16MHz microcontrollers running CoreMark at the rate of
one iteration per second is the same order of magnitude of
the simple function of analog-to-digital conversions (ADC)
at a modest rate of 4kHz, but two orders of magnitude more
energy than the real-time calendar update function.
Table 1 compares the battery-life time for various functions
running on three diferent microcontrollers. It points out that
the real-time calendar function consumes signifcantly less
energy than the CoreMark workload and the ADC. But it also
shows that battery-life varies substantially depending on the
device used, further complicating the system design choices. To
summarize on this topic, EEMBC is developing a new industry
standard for ultra-low power applications that will take these
factors into consideration to ensure an appropriately balanced
run-time and stand-by mode behavior.
In developing this standard, or perhaps even more importantly,
developing your application, the energy measurement proce-
dure must be carefully established for ultra-low power devices.
Te workload defned must be relevant to the intended appli-
cation, and measurement of the energy must be taken at a high
enough sampling frequency to enable comparison of processor
features such as low power modes. An important point for ULP
applications is that the workload includes not just the work
that must be performed, but how often it is performed (this is
based on the duty cycle). ULP applications also spend signif-
cant time in various low power modes, and the measurement
methodology must account not only for the diferent modes,
but also for the transition between diferent operating modes.
Ideally, these energy measurements should at least allow you
to visualize (and subsequently optimize) the performance and
energy hotspots in your application program.
Another topic of interest in this area of ultra-low power design
relates to the capabilities of intelligent peripherals to ofoad
the CPU. Te goal here is to have the peripheral blocks func-
tion without waking the main processor core until its services
are needed. For example, intelligent peripherals can collect
data (i.e. ADC) into their memory bufers and in turn wake
the CPU core when the bufer is full. Alternatively, a smart
CAN peripheral can wake the CPU only when messages arrive
that the CPU actually must handle. For example, in a system
with multiple sensors and processors that divide the work,
there may be many messages fowing on the CAN bus, but a
specifc controller may only need to analyze messages from
a particular sensor that are identifed by a specifc CAN ID.
In such an application, without a smart peripheral, the CPU
will always be alive to process CAN trafc, where a smart CAN
peripheral will enable the CPU to remain in sleep or other low
power mode for most of the time.
Clearly, designing with low power and ultra-low power micro-
controllers has become an extremely important topic for many
embedded systems. We are looking forward to a standardized
approach to analyzing the microcontroller capabilities.
Markus Levy is head of EEMBC and is working with
Analog Devices, ARM, Atmel, Cypress, Energy Mi-
cro, Freescale, Fujitsu, Microchip, Renesas, Silicon
Labs, STMicro, and TI to create an ultra-low power
benchmark.
Figure 2: The current ramps up (green line) when the microcontroller
begins executing code, coming out of it low-power mode.
Table 1: Battery-life time for various functions (CR2032-230mAh / 90% usable).

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14
SPECIAL FEATURE
The medical industry is undergoing a dramatic trans-
formation as governments, healthcare providers and
consumers seek ways to make healthcare more affordable
and accessible. This transformation is also occurring
in the medical electronics industry as patient care is
increasingly moving away from hospitals and into home
environments through telehealth services enabled by
cost-effective personal medical devices.
Technology Advances Accelerate
Transition to Telehealth
The rapid growth of the personal medical device market
stems from a variety of factors: steadily aging populations
requiring more frequent health monitoring; skyrocketing
costs of traditional, physician-directed medical care;
growing consumer awareness of the benefits of wellness
products; widespread availability of personal medical
devices online and in retail outlets; and the increasing
sophistication, ease of use and affordability of these
consumer healthcare products enabled by continuous
advances in semiconductor technology.
Because medical electronics are getting smaller, more
portable and more intuitive to use, consumers are
embracing the benefits of telehealth especially since it
has the potential of reducing their healthcare costs. Due
to recent advances in embedded wireless technologies, it
is now possible to enable consumers to remotely transmit
information to their healthcare provider automati-
cally through personal medical devices. These types of
advances are helping to make remote telehealth services
a viable alternative to traditional in-hospital care and
doctors office visits.
From a healthcare provider point of view, telehealth
can greatly improve the efficiency and reduce the costs
incurred by doctors. Insurance companies are also actively
influencing this trend by encouraging access to medical
care in the home, which enables reductions in medical
costs while also in many cases enhancing patient care.
The electronics industry is helping to accelerate the
transition to telehealth services by providing signifi-
cant advances in enabling semiconductor technology for
personal medical devices. To succeed in the competitive
home healthcare market, portable medical devices should
offer the following features:
Intuitive, easy-to-use human interface
Highly reliable and safe operation meeting stringent gov-
ernmental regulations
Easy, secure RF connectivity (such as sub-GHz, 2.4 GHz
ZigBee or Bluetooth Low Energy)
Low-power operation, which is essential for long battery life
Support for a wide range of supply voltages (especially lower
voltages)
High measurement accuracy
Small form factors
Afordable cost
Mixed-Signal Microcontrollers Are at the Heart
of Portable Medical Devices
Toprovide these product features at economical prices,
medical device developers must reduce system cost by
minimizing the number of discrete components within
the design. Semiconductor suppliers are also tasked with
The Heartbeat Behind
Portable Medical Devices
Ultra-low-power, mixed-signal MCUs help developers deliver medical devices
to a market that demands the very best in performance and affordability in the
smallest form factors.
By Shahram Tadayon, Silicon Labs
Figure 1: Single-chip USB-to-UART controllers simplify USB implementation.
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16
SPECIAL FEATURE
supplying feature-rich embedded-control solutions that
enable increased performance and reliability within strict
power and cost budgets. At the heart of these portable
medical device designs are mixed-signal microcontrollers
(MCUs) that deliver exceptional processi ng performance
at ultra-low supply currents.
Ease of use is also essential for portable medical products
because it reduces errors in
measurement resulting from
operator error. Such patient-
friendly devices should require
minimal user interaction for
proper operation, a simple user
input (for example, fewer but-
tons and streamlined software
menus) and large, easy-to-view
displays (e.g., large LCDs with
backlighting). To support these
features, MCUs must provide
feld-programmable, non-vola-
tile memory storage (typically
in-system programmable fash
memory), as well as fexible I/O
confgurations to make the best
use of limited pins.
While many portable medical devices today simply display
health monitoring results and leave the interpretation
and logging to end users and their physicians, newer
devices feature simple connectivity to log and transmit
results automatically. Typically, these more sophisticated
products will connect to personal computers or mobile
health appliances with software that can track results,
or they will securely transmit information wirelessly to
medical professionals, caretakers or Web-based applica-
tionsa practice known as telemedicine.
USB Enables Standardized Data Transmission
The healthcare equipment market widely uses the uni-
versal serial bus (USB) interface to enable standardized
transmission of data and messages, regardless of device
manufacturer. Personal medical device manufacturers
can choose from a variety of 8- and 32-bit MCUs with
on-chip USB controllers, as well as single-chip, plug-
and-play connectivity bridge solutions that support USB
to UART, USB to SMBus and I2C, and even USB to I2S
(making it easy to add audio features to end products).
USB connectivity bridges (such as the USB-to-UART con-
troller shown in Figure 1) greatly simplify the process of
implementing USB in personal medical device designs.
The bridge chips are often pre-programmed with all the
necessary USB software, eliminating the need for the
developer to have deep expertise in the complexities of
implementing the USB specification.
Wireless transmission of data will make connectivity even
easier and more convenient for telemedicine applications.
RF transmitters and transceivers working in concert with
MCUs can enable wireless connectivity for a wide range of
portable medical device applications. In addition, wireless
MCUssingle-chip devices that integrate a low-power
MCU core with a high-performance RF transceiverare
now widely available to medical device developers. What-
ever the connectivity method or system architecture
used, communication protocol
stacks will require more code
space in the MCU. As a result,
more memory in smaller
footprint devices will be in
increasing demand.
Biometric Monitoring
Defnes Analog Voltage
Measurement Requirements
While choices in high-perfor-
mance yet energy-efficient
MCUs and wireless communi-
cations options remain very
important, all medical devices
will measure some physical
parameter to quantify some
aspect of a persons health (e.g., blood pressure or oxygen
levels). This requires the ability to sense and measure
light (for blood oxygen), conductivity (for blood glucose),
pressure (for blood pressure) and temperatures, and these
measurements must be extremely accurate and consistent.
Mixed-signal MCUs selected for personal medical device
applications must give superior analog voltage measure-
ment results in the presence of noisy digital processor
and communications signals in small spaces. This is one
of the most challenging engineering problems faced by
semiconductor suppliers, and such specifications will be
scrutinized by product engineers, especially when faced
with low battery voltages for the IC. Measurements must
be low in noise and distortion (good signal-to-noise and
distortion ratios) and highly linear. Analog-to-digital
converter (ADC) operation must be allowed even when
the MCU is in operation as the end user will expect to
At the heart of these portable
medical device designs are
mixed-signal MCUs that
deliver exceptional processing
performance at ultra-low
supply currents.
Figure 2: Fast wake times and short operation intervals will extend
battery life.
SPECIAL FEATURE
observe functions during measure-
ment, and it is likely the MCU will
interpret results in real-time. Fur-
thermore, all MCU features should
be available even at the lowest bat-
tery voltages; what good is the MCU
if you cannot make a measurement
over the full battery life? In short,
MCU suppliers in this market must
integrate accurate analog measure-
ments without compromise.
Portable Devices Demand
Long Battery Life
Te next design challenge for the
MCU supplier is the demand for
long battery life in the end product.
Portable generally means that the
device is battery-powered.Added
features typically increase power
consumption, but developers will not
design a portable medical product that requires end users to
use large, heavy batteries or to change them frequently.
MCUs must support three parts of a low-power strategy:
Low power while in active mode, low power while in
standby mode and reduced time in an active state. The
portable device, and thus the MCU, will be in an off or
lower power state most of
the time; however, it will
often maintain some sort
of function such as clock/
calendar or alarm when not
in use. While active power
consumption is important,
minimizing the time awake
is the key to extending bat-
tery life. MCU designers
must engineer ways to wake
the MCU clock and analog
circuits for fast measure-
ments and then allow the
MCU to settle back to a low-
power state. For example,
making a voltage measure-
ment with an ADC requires
a voltage reference. Such
voltage references typically
require tens of milliseconds to turn on and stabilize
before a measurement can be made. During this time, the
MCU is on and draining the battery.
Todays ultra-low-power MCUs wake up in microseconds
as shown in Figure 2, allowing accurate ADC measure-
ments to begin quickly. In most MCU designs, the ADC
can rapidly accumulate many measurements without
CPU intervention for improved results while further
Mixed-signal MCUs selected
for personal medical device
applications must give superior
analog voltage measurement
results in the presence of
noisy digital processor and
communications signals in
small spaces.
minimizing awake time. The less time spent awake, the
less current is drawn on the battery while still delivering
good performance.
Another important trend in MCU design involves sup-
porting new battery use configurations and technologies
(see Figure 3). Rechargeable batteries are popular and
typically need higher
voltage support, and inte-
grated on-chip voltage
regulators are mandatory.
An emerging trend is to use
only one alkaline battery
to reduce product size or to
save cost when the end user
expects the supplier to ship
an installed battery. Until
recently, this approach
required the added cost and
space of a discrete dc-dc
switching regulator to boost
the alkaline battery voltage
for proper MCU operation
(alkaline batteries have a
useful life to 0.9V). Not only
do these switching regula-
tors create a large amount
of noise in voltage measurements, they must remain on
at all times to allow the MCU to wake from sleep mode,
thereby draining power and reducing battery life.
Advanced ultra-low-power MCUs that integrate a dc-dc
regulator are designed to address these voltage issues. The
result of this integrated approach is lower noise, less cost,
reduced footprint and better control, enabling the dc-dc
regulator to remain off while the MCU is in its low-power
Figure 3: MCUs should support a wide range of voltages supplied by batteries.
18
SPECIAL FEATURE
state, which further extends battery life. Even though this
dc-dc regulator is integrated, it should still output the
boosted voltage supply externally to the rest of the system
for a true low-power, single-battery solution.
All This, and Small Form Factor, Too
While MCU suppliers continue to innovate and integrate
power- and battery-saving features, the trend toward energy
efciency would not be fully advantageous if the cost and foot-
print of the MCU grew substantially. Te goal is to help the
embedded developer deliver a lower cost, smaller end product,
as well as reduce power consumption. Such solutions must
reduce the bill of materials and size. Te best MCUs will deliver
plenty of performance, integrated connectivity, memory and
superior analog peripherals in the smallest form factors. In
other words, semiconductor suppliers must provide increased
functional density without compromise.
Note the ultra-low-power 32-bit MCU example in Figure 4
with flash code storage scaling to 256 kB, up to 32kB of
configurable RAM, an ADC and DAC, low drop-out (LDO)
regulators, a dc-dc buck converter, low-power charge pump
and an array of digital timers and interfaces. This compact
mixed-signal MCU design allows a complete measurement
and interface system on a single chip without sacrificing
performance or battery life. Portable medical device
designers will be careful to choose low-
power MCUs like this with the right set
of peripherals and energy efficiency
to achieve the optimal cost, power
and performance benefits. Another
key factor in selecting the optimal
MCU for a telehealth application is to
determine what core processing per-
formance is required for the personal
medical device. For example, a blood
pressure monitor will have lower core
processing requirements than a blood
glucose meter. Therefore, a 25 MHz
8-bit MCU may be sufficient for a
majority of these types of applications.
On the other hand, a 32-bit MCU may
be more appropriate for much higher
core processing requirements if the
application can justify the higher cost
of these devices.
Embedded developers and product
managers are under continuous
pressure to push the envelope of
cost, size, power consumption and
performance in their next portable
medical device designs. The answer
is to use highly integrated mi xed-
signal MCUs to deliver products to
a market that demands the very best
in performance and affordability in
the smal lest form factors. Ultra-low-power mi xed-signal
MCUs wil l provide the heartbeat for the next generation
of portable medical devices, and healthcare equipment
makers that deliver optimized products that meet con-
sumer needs wil l enjoy the benefits of this fast-growing
market segment.
Shahram Tadayon is a feld marketing manager
for Silicon Labs Embedded Systems products. Mr.
Tadayon joined Silicon Labs in 2002 as a product
marketing manager for the ISOmodem product
line, and he has also served as a product market-
ing manager in the companys AM/FM receiver
product line and as a senior product marketing manager for mi-
crocontrollers. Previously, Mr. Tadayon held design positions at
Hewlett-Packard, focusing on circuit design. Mr. Tadayon holds a
masters and bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
Figure 4: Ultra-low-power32-bit MCUs can provide a high degree of mixed-signal integration.
SPECIAL FEATURE
The last couple of years have seen an explosion in
the use of inertial MEMS and related sensors in
the consumer and industrial spaces. Along with
that has come the need to interpret data from
those sensors. Where to do that processing can
be a complex question. There is no one correct
answer, as each system designer may have dif-
ferent priorities. You, as system designer, need
to determine how you rate each of the following
in terms of overall importance to your product
and business:
1. Accuracy of fusion outputs
2. Power
3. Area / space considerations
4. Ease of integration
5. Cost and fexibility in your supply chain
Lets start in reverse order. In the gray market, the number
one priority is often either cost and/or supply chain flex-
ibility. In this case, the OEM will often go with a least
common denominator in terms of both sensor and
MCU selection. In phones and tablets, the MCU
might be omitted entirely in favor of doing fusion
directly on the apps processor.
Individual sensors (accelerometers, gyroscopes,
magnetometers, etc.) may be a checkbox item,
and one vendors sensor may be swapped out for
another to ensure lowest cost or uninterrupted
supply chain. The consumer will normally pay for
this by having to accept higher power consump-
tion and limited functionality. Apps processors
(APs) consume a fair amount of power when
operating, and take a significant amount of time
when transitioning to and from low power states.
Separate interrupts from each sensor exacerbate
this problem. In addition, the OS running on the
apps processor normally doesnt support real-time
processing, thereby limiting the types of applica-
tions that can make use of sensor data.
The easiest integration is normally supported with a sensor
hub, which encapsulates real-time processing of sensor
fusion. A first-generation system is shown in Figure 2.
Fast transitions to and from low-power states, as well as
low interrupt latency, should factor into the choice of MCU
for this system. Because fusion occurs on the MCU, the
apps processor can access data on an as-needed basis. The
reduced power demands on the AP more than make up for
the power consumed by the standalone MCU. However more
MEMS, MCUs and Tradeoffs
for Sensor Fusion
An explosion in the use of inertial MEMS and sensors in consumer and industrial
applications begs the question: Where is the best place to process and interpret
data from those sensors?
By Michael Stanley, Freescale
Figure 1: Least-common denominator sensor fusion relies on the apps processor.
Figure 2: First-generation MCU sensor hub encapsulates real-time sensor
data processing.
20
SPECIAL FEATURE
board space is consumed and the system cost will go up by
the cost of the MCU and associated passive components.
Developing the system of Figure 2 can be a daunting task for
those attempting to design their frst system incorporating
sensor fusion. Fusion algorithms are complex, and require a
lot of engineering efort to create. But it can be a very easy
system from an integration perspective if the sensor manu-
facturer supplies the fusion software running on the MCU.
Its even easier if that manufacturer supplies schematics and
layout information for the sub-
system (see Figure 3).
Advances in MEMS and
packaging technology have
al lowed sensor manufac-
turers to combine some of
the sensor types shown in
Figures 1 and 2. If cost and/
or board space are most
important, more sensors
in a common package wil l
often make sense. If accu-
racy is most important, you
may want to keep the mag-
netometer packaged separately from the accelerometer
and gyro. Magnetic interference wil l typical ly be least
at the edges of your PCB, whereas accelerometers and
gyros operate best when at the center of gravity of the
device. Similarly, your pressure sensor wil l want to be
placed where it can be vented to the outside world (pos-
sibly near your microphone).
Te system of Figure 2 can further evolve into two diferent
directions. Te most efcient from a power perspective may
be to add a separate MCU, equipped with its own power and
clock management, onto the same die as the AP. Tis generally
is not an option today. Even when (and if) it
is ofered by AP manufacturers, you still have
the question of who provides the software for
the fusion subsystem.
The alternate approach is to integrate
the MCU with one or more of the sensors.
Freescale calls this an intelligent sensor
hub, and introduced the concept with the
announcement of the MMA955x family of
devices in 2011. Other vendors (notably
Bosch and ST) recently announced devices
with integrated MCUs; and Freescale
is expected to announce an additional
product shortly.
When selecting an intelligent sensor hub,
you want to check to see if the vendor
simply bolted on an MCU to an existing
sensor, or optimized the system for sensor
fusion. Generally, this is synonymous with optimizing
for power. Lets look at some of those optimizations in
the context of the system shown in Figure 4.
Memory: Intelligent sensor hubs will tend to operate
from Flash memory. Both Flash and RAM are expensive
resources in terms of die area and cost. Do you have
enough memory to do the job? Alternately, are you paying
for more memory than you need? Is the RAM/Flash ratio
appropriate for your application? Fusion algorithms
typically need more RAM
than basic control applica-
tions. One KB of RAM to
every three or four of Flash
is probably appropriate for
fusion applications. You
wont want to go with less.
Its easy to want more.
Flash memory tends to be
the slowest memory in the
system. Is the performance
of your system hobbled by
Flash access ?Or do you have
some type of Flash cache or
look-ahead buffer?
Clock domains: Can the slave port interface, responsible
for communication with your system master, work even
when the sensor hub is in a low-power state? And just how
low is low? Ideally, you would like the ability to shut down
all clocks on the hub. That implies your serial port needs
to be externally clocked. Most standard MCUs treat serial
port clocks as data, sampling them at 2X or 4X the data
rate. This chews up power, but guarantees no issues when
data crosses clock domains inside the hub. An MCU opti-
mized for the hub will not force you to make this choice.
Figure 3: Freescales 12-Axis Xtrinsicsensor reference platform for Windows 8.
When selecting an intelligent
sensor hub, you want to check
to see if the vendor simply
bolted on an MCU to an existing
sensor, or optimized the system
for sensor fusion.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Clock rates: How fast can you transition the system from
a slow clock rate to a fast one, or back? Phase locked loops
are common functions used by MCUs to multiply slow
clock frequencies up into a useful range. They work great,
but consume (by sensor standards) gargantuan amounts
of power and take a while to lock onto the final frequency.
The system shown in Figure 4 utilizes a single oscillator
that switches between two frequencies on an as-needed
basis. Internally derived clocks often vary by 1% to 3%
over temperature. Depending on your application, you may
not care. But if you do (and you do if you are integrating a
rate), consider using a slow external timebase as input to
one of the on-chip timers. Measure the external clock in
terms of internal clock cycles, and dynamically adjust your
frame rate based on the observed ratio.
Sample rates: How do you manage your sample rates? The
system of Figure 4 includes a custom frame interval counter
that ensures a constant frame rate, regardless of the amount
of time spent in high/low frequency modes of operation. If
your device has a crystal oscillator, is it of a modest fre-
quency (32KHz) so as to not burn excessive power?
ADC accuracy: How many effective bits of resolution do
your converted results have? Is there a tradeoff for conver-
sion accuracy versus speed of conversion?
Hardware accelerators: Does your intelligent sensor
hub ofer any options to perform (in hardware, with no CPU
intervention) recognition of key motion events? How general
is the engine? Similarly, if portions of algorithms are imple-
mented in hardware, are they generic enough for you to use,
or do they require that you use a specifc fusion library?
Other devices: Are there limitations in terms of what
other devices can be mastered by your intelligent sensor
hub? Do you have sufcient bandwidth? RAM for bufering?
MIPS for computation?
Openness: Is your hub fixed-function, or do you have the
ability to customize the code on it? Are the libraries and
tools necessary to do this available? If using Android, are
drivers and c ustom Hardware Abstraction Layers(HALs)
available? If using Windows 8, does the hub manufacturer
provide HID/I2C or HID/USB interfaces?
Generally all of the above will drive system designers
into one of two directions: the minimalist vanilla set of
sensors relying upon higher level software functions for
fusion; or highly integrated sensor sub-systems and ref-
erence designs created by sensor manufacturers for ease
of integration and customization. Your job as system
designer is to know what questions to ask to ensure you
select the right solution.
Mike Stanley manages the consumer Systems & Prod-
uct Defnition team in Freescales Sensors & Actuators
Solutions Division. He blogs on sensor topics at:
http://blogs.freescale.com/author/michaelestanley/.
Figure 4: Intelligent sensor hubintegrates the MCU with one or more
of the sensors
22
SPECIAL FEATURE
Microcontroller memory has seen expansive change
since the first microcontrollers were introduced. Memory
technologies transitioning from PROM and EPROM to
EEPROM and flash were significant factors in the steady
growth of microcontrollers in recent products. Microcon-
trollers with a partition of SRAM and flash have been
a staple in the industry for a long time, but even these
standard memory technologies must
evolve for microcontrollers to become
ubiquitous. Modern memory tech-
nologies aim to bridge the gap between
SRAM and flash, and also eliminate
other shortcomings like limited
endurance and high-power memory
accesses. Ferroelectric random access
memory (FRAMor FeRAM) is one of the
emerging memory technologies today.
There are many advantages of FRAM
microcontrollers over traditional RAM
and flash microcontrollers; in certain
applications these advantages signifi-
cantly advance the application.
Unifed Memory
FRAM provides many of the benefits
of SRAM, but with the added benefit of
being non-volatile. This is achieved by
a fundamentally different approach to
how the memory state is stored in the
cell. An FRAM cell uses the polariza-
tion of a ferroelectric crystal to store
memory content as opposed to aSRAM cell, which uses a
stored charge within transistors. After power is removed,
the state of the FRAM crystal is retained while the charge
in SRAM depletes.
A microcontroller application needs non-volatile memory
to store its program content, and fast, low-power memory
for data storage and manipulation. Tese requirements led
modern microcontrollers to consist of two types of memory:
most commonly, SRAM and fash.
Due to its unique properties, FRAM-based microcon-
trollers can use only one memory type instead of a
combination of SRAM and flash. This is a significant step
in the right direction for flexible memory architectures
because FRAM eliminates the partition between SRAM
and flash on traditional microcontroller devices. FRAM
provides unified memory with dynamic partitioning,
allowing for full customization of the memory to fit
the requirements of any application. Instead of being
confined by a fixed amount of SRAM
and flash on a device, the FRAM can be
partitioned into any ratio of data and
program size.
Unified memory provides many advan-
tages, particularly for applications that
use a significant amount of traditional
RAM. In a traditional microcontroller,
SRAM and flash sizes typically scale
larger together. RAM-intensive applica-
tions usually require a microcontroller
that has both a large amount of SRAM
and flash, causing a large chunk of flash
to go to waste. Wasted flash is a severe
drawback as it increases the physical
size of the die as well as the cost. These
large memory devices are also larger
in size with a higher pin count. Many
applications need a large amount of data
memory without the additional scaling
of other aspects of the microcontroller.
These applications include audio and
video, LCD, signal processing and math-intensive designs.
Common to these applications are large data buffers that
consume traditional RAM memory, but it doesnt need
to be one straightforward operation using RAM. Having
several moderate RAM users can also push an application
into this realm. For instance, one application that consists
of driving an LCD display, running a real-time operating
system (RTOS) and running a USB or wireless stack can
quickly consume large amounts of data space.
FRAM enables flexibility of design by no longer restricting
memory options to the small sample of predetermined
RAM and flash sizes of traditional microcontrollers. As
FRAM Tears Down Traditional
Microcontroller Design Barriers
FRAM is reshaping the landscape of microcontroller applications due to its ability
to provide the best benefts of SRAM and fash architectures.
By Mike Stein, Texas Instruments
Figure 1: FRAM unified memory with
dynamic partitioning allows for full
customization to fit the requirements
of any application.
SPECIAL FEATURE
a segment write. These redundant data blocks and wear-
leveling algorithms require additional flash memory for
the same amount of stored data. FRAM suffers from none
of these shortcomings.
These advantages of FRAM allow for reduced bill-of-mate-
rials, smaller memory footprint and significant power
savings. In mobile applications, the battery life can be
extended or replaced with a
smaller and cheaper battery.
These system simplifica-
tions aid the developer and
allow for a product that is
more robust, sustainable and
lower cost to build.
Conclusion
FRAM memory is reshaping the landscape of microcon-
troller applications due to its makeup as one memory
that provides the best benefits of SRAM and flash archi-
tectures. FRAM is such a revolutionary technology that
microcontrollers are now used in applications where they
were previously never found. With countless ways for
FRAM to be leveraged, this technology is ushering in an
exciting future for the world of microcontrollers.
Michael Stein is an embedded applications en-
gineer focusing on TIsMSP430 MCU customer
applications. His responsibilities include design-
ing and engineering system-level hardware and
software using MSP430 MCUs, providing training
and support to TIs customers and feld teams as
well as providing applications expertise during development of
next generation MCU products such as silicon, tools, software and
more. He holds a bachelor of science and master of sciencedegrees
in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado.
Figure 2: FRAM memory cuts power to reduce batteries in an application.
an application evolves, so does the memory footprint
by simply sliding the divider between data and program
memory. This flexibility during the design phase allows
designers to get the product to market at a much faster
pace. Additionally, the device can accommodate future
applications. The process of adding functionality to an
existing product, or even major application overhauls
during a field firmware update, no longer faces the limi-
tations imposed by memory boundaries.
Ultra-Low-Energy Memory
FRAM memory enables more than just flexible, unified
memory. Its characteristics enable drastic improvements
in low-power applications. When comparing FRAM
memory to flash, memory access requires 2.5 times less
power. This is a significant savings, but more importantly,
FRAM memory access is 100 times faster! To see how both
of these characteristics truly affect an application, total
energy instead of power needs to be evaluated. From an
energy standpoint, FRAM requires 250 times less energy
than flash does!
This ultra-low-energy technology enables a wide range of
improved applications from portable, battery-powered
applications to data-logging and wireless applications. An
energy-harvesting application incorporates several fea-
tures that make FRAM an ideal candidate.
Energy harvesting applica-
tions will typically log data
and transmit the data via
wireless protocol. As shown
above, writing equivalent
blocks of data to FRAM
requires 250 times less
energy than flash. So why not just use the SRAM of the
traditional microcontroller to avoid this energy penalty?
Most of the power used in an energy-harvesting appli-
cation comes from the wireless transmission of data.
Because SRAM is volatile memory, data would have to be
transmitted each time it was received to avoid data loss in
the event of power loss. This isnt a practical use case for
an energy-harvesting application.
FRAM also provides several other features that stand
above flash. It takes so little energy to write to FRAM
memory that in the event of power loss, the data write is
guaranteed to finish. A flash-based architecture would
require a very large external capacitor or battery to finish
a data write. FRAM also has nearly unlimited write endur-
ance compared to 10,000 writes for flash. Flash often
requires wear-leveling algorithms to avoid reaching its
endurance limit. If that is not enough, FRAM memory is bit
addressable like SRAM allowing for added manageability.
Flash memory is not bit or byte addressable; it is required
to be written in segments. To avoid data loss, redundant
blocks of data are often used in case of power loss during
FRAM requires 250 times less
energy than fash does.
24
SPECIAL FEATURE
As leadi ng- edge
semiconductor com-
panies race toward
ever-smaller, atom-
sized chips, its easy
to overlook the
amazing advances
made in higher
nodes especially in plastic and
organic electronics. Tis is good
news for the chip design com-
munity, as the implementations
of fexible and organic electronics
will renew interest in existing
semiconductor intellectual-prop-
erty (IP) designs.
For example, IBM recently dem-
onstrated a thin-flm-like fexible
circuit that resembled a yogurt
lid. Tis extremely fexible flm,
which is rooted in a silicon-on-
insulator (SOI)-based plastic substrate, contained nearly
10,000 transistors. Adele Hars, editor-in-chief of Advanced
Substrate News, described it as follows: IBM has developed
a new, low-cost technique that starts with the Full-Depleted
(FD)-SOI technology developed with ST and Leti, for manu-
facturing silicon-based electronics on a fexible, plastic
substrate. IBMs Gary (Patton) showed a sample (at CPT
2013), and said that research suggests that fexible, aford-
able electronics can be made with conventional processes at
room temperature.
IBMs fexible electronics and related semiconductor advances
were part of my brief conversation with Sean OKane from
Chipestimate. TV: Common Platform 2013Walk and Talk
Sean OKane and John Blyler (http://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=K-jd23DoAMo).
Of course, it will take more than just a processing circuit
to create viable commercial products from flexible and
organic materials. What about a memory system, inter-
faces, and power source? All of these other components
are now available:
Memory Challenges In the
Extreme
Another example of an
extremely low-power, low-per-
formance memory application
is in the emerging market of
flexible, plastic electronics. A
team from the Korea Advanced
Institute of Science and
Technology (KAIST) recently
reported such a device [i.e.,
a fully functional, flexible,
nonvolatile, resistive random-
access memory (RRAM)].
Stretchy Battery Drawn to Three Times its Size
As consumers, the age of flexible, yogurt-lid electronics
may finally be here. With these advances, everything
from our clothes to cereal boxes may serve as personal
computers and communication systems.
John Blyler is the Editorial Director of Extension
Media, which publishes Chip Design and Em-
bedded Intel Solutions magazine, plus over 36
EECatalog Resource Catalogs in vertical market
areas.
Flexible Yogurt-Lid Electronics
Become a Reality
Truly fexible electronics from processor, memory, interface and battery
components are here, thanks to IBM, STMicro, Leti, Imec, Kaist, Kovio and others.
By John Blyler, Editorial Director
Researchers have demon-
strated a fat, stretchy
battery that can be pulled to
three times its size without a
loss in performance.
Kovios near-feld communi-
cations (NFC) wireless tag is
created using electronic inks
and industrial graphics printing
tools instead of more expen-
sive ICs on silicon wafers.
Printing low-power, low-
performance microprocessors
onto organic materials will
open a wide range of cost-
effective alternatives to
traditional silicon wafers.
www.eecatalog.com/8bit Microcontrollers and Cores 25
CONTACT INFORMATION
2355 W. Chandler Blvd.
Chandler, AZ 85224
USA
888-MCU-MCHP Toll Free
480-792-7200 Telephone
480-792-7277 Fax
here2help@microchip.com
www.microchip.com
PSMC (Programmable Switch Mode Controller): The
PSMC is a high performance 16-bit PWM with 6 con-
fgurable outputs that can operate in multiple modes.
With a dedicated 64 MHz clock and the fexibility
to interface to external inputs as well as integrated
peripherals/clock sources, the PSMC offers the highest
level of advanced PWM control and accuracy in an
8-bit MCU. The PSMC can simplify the implementation
of a wide array of applications such as: motor control,
lighting, and power supplies.
AVAILABILITY
PIC MCUs featuring Core Independent Peripherals can be
found at www.microchip.com/CIP
Core Independent Peripherals
Microchip is the leader in 8-bit microcontrollers by
continually investing and expanding upon the PIC

microcontroller lineup. Emphasis is persistently focused on
reducing costs while developing products with a strong mix
of peripherals such as LCD drive, PWM, ADC, comparators,
timers and communication. Beyond standard peripherals,
Microchip is constantly bringing additional value to PIC
microcontrollers by developing unique and exclusive
peripherals. These unique peripherals allow embedded
engineers to simplify their designs and create ever more
innovative applications and products. The following Core
Independent Peripherals take 8-bit MCU performance to
a new level, while requiring no processor overhead.
KEY PERIPHERALS
CLC (Confgurable Logic Cell): The CLC provides
programmable combinational and sequential logic. It
also enables on-chip interconnection of peripherals
and I/O, thereby reducing external components, saving
code space, and adding functionality.
NCO (Numerically Controlled Oscillator): A program-
mable precision linear frequency generator, ranging from
HRPWM (High Resolution PWM): A Patented solution
using the CLC and NCO to provide High (effective)
Resolution Pulse Width Modulation at much higher
switching frequencies than achievable with standard
PWMs. This feature allows the use of smaller inductors
and capacitors, and has the ability to induce jitter, lower
cost, and improve EMC performance.
COG (Complementary Output Generator)/
CWG(Complementary Waveform Generator): The CWG
provides a complementary waveform with rising and
falling edge dead band control, enabling high effciency
synchronous switching, with no processor overhead.
The CWG also incorporates auto shutdown, auto restart,
and can directly interface with other peripherals/external
inputs. The COG takes the CWG and improves its
performance with blanking and phase control.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
26 Microcontrollers and Cores Engineers Guide to 8-bit & 16-bit Technologies 2013
Chandler, AZ 85224
USA
480-792-7277 Fax
www.microchip.com
AVAILABILITY
All products and supporting tools are available now.
dsPIC33 EP Family: dsPIC33EP256MC506 includes
variants from 32256 KB Flash and from 28 to 64 pins
All devices are available in I temp. (-40 to 85C), E temp.
(-40 to 125C, Q100 Grade 1 qualifed), and H temp.
(-40 to 150C, Q100 Grade 0 qualifed) options.
Supporting Motor Control and General Purpose
Development Tools:
MCLV-2 Board for Low Voltage Motor Control
Development (DM330021-2)
MCHV-2 Board for High Voltage Motor Control
Development (DM330021-2)
dsPIC33EP256GP506 General Purpose PIM for
Explorer 16 (DM240001 and MA330030)
APPLICATION AREAS
Automotive fans
Sewing machines
Washing machines
Residential air conditioners
Power tools
Advanced sensors
Pumps
New 70 MIPS dsPIC33 EP
Family: High Performance
& Integrated Op Amps
Microchips new 70 MIPS dsPIC33EP devices offer high
performance, advanced peripherals, and integrated
analog. The 70 MIPS dsPIC
Digital Signal Controller core

includes DSP acceleration, enabling high speed control
algorithm execution. Beyond performance, the dsPIC33EP
features advanced peripherals, including motor control
PWM modules, a charge time measurement unit (CTMU),
and multiple communication interfaces, including CAN
and LIN. Finally, the dsPIC33EP integrates a high speed
10/12-bit ADC and three high speed op amps onto the
device, reducing the need for external components and
lowering costs. These features make the dsPIC33EP an
excellent device for many applications including pumps,
fans, power tools, white goods, and advanced sensors.
SPECIAL FEATURES
70 MIPS of performance with DSP acceleration for high
speed control algorithm execution
Intelligent peripherals and integrated analog:
Up to 6 advanced motor control PWM outputs
Integrated, high performance on chip op amps
Charge time measurement unit for temperature and
touch sensing
Improved motor energy effciency and quiet operation
Reduce system costs:
dsPIC DSC performance enables sensorless control
On-chip op amps reduce external components

TECHNICAL SPECS
Flexible PWM Peripherals:
Dead-time insertion
Complimentary waveforms
Fault detection modes
Intelligent interrupts:
Multiple PWM ADC triggers
Autonomous ADC controller
Analog comparators for fault detection
On chip, high performance op amps:
Reduce external components
Lower system cost
Multiple package options ranging from 28 to 64 pins
including new 5 x 5mm VTLA package
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Chandler, AZ 85224
USA
480-792-7277 Fax
www.microchip.com
eXtreme Low Power (XLP) Technology:
Typical sleep currents of 30 nA at 25C
Typical run mode current consumption of 150 A/MHz
at 1.8V
AVAILABILITY
All products and supporting tools are available now.
PIC24 KA family: PIC24F16KA102 (1428 pins, 416 KB
Flash, 3V)
PIC24 KA3 family: PIC24F32KA304 (2044 pins, 1632
KB Flash, 3V & 5V)
PIC24 KL family: PIC24F16KL402 (1428 pins, 416 KB
Flash, 3V)
PIC24 KM family: PIC24F16KM204 (2044 pins, 416
KB Flash, 3V & 5V)
Microstick for 3V PIC24F K-series (DM240013-1)
Microstick for 5V PIC24F K-series (DM240013-2)
APPLICATION AREAS
Ideal for battery powered, power constrained, and cost-
sensitive applications:
Consumer
Medical
Safety/Security
PIC24 Lite: Lowest Cost,
eXtreme Low Power, Low
Pin Count 16-bit MCUs
Microchips PIC24 Lite Portfolio of MCUs combine the
advantages of low cost, eXtreme Low power and low
pin count for the most cost sensitive applications. These
devices give up to 16 MIPS of performance and have
the ability to add functionality while keeping the costs,
power consumption and space to a minimum. The PIC24
Lite MCUs feature Microchips XLP technology and
are ideal for battery powered and power constrained
applications. These families offer integrated EEPROM,
new level of intelligent integrated analog such as op amps,
8-bit DACs along with 12-bit ADCs, Single and Multiple
Capture Compare and PWM modules (SCCP/MCCP) for
advanced PWM control, Confgurable Logic Cell (CLC) for
real time logic control and a Charge Time Measurement
Unit (CTMU) that allows precision time and capacitive
measurement for touch applications. The PIC24 Lite
portfolio also includes devices that operate up to 5.5V.
Many customers prefer 3V operation for portable, battery-
operated applications and the 3V PIC24 Lite products are
all eXtreme Low power devices for optimal battery life.
Other customers prefer 5V operation with the PIC24FV
product variants, for applications where more dynamic
range, noise immunity and robustness are the key factors.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Lowest Cost 16-bit PIC MCU Family
5V operation enables more dynamic range, noise immu-
nity and easier interface for some applications
Intelligent integrated analog provides lower BOM, lower
noise and higher speed
Low power extends battery life for portable applica-
tions and minimizes power consumption for power
constrained designs
Low Cost Microstick Development Board with integrated
programmer and debugger
TECHNICAL SPECS
16 MIPS Performance With Flexible Peripherals:
Confgurable SPI/I
2
C
Confgurable Logic Cell (CLC) - user confgurable real
time logic control
Flexible and powerful 16-bit PWMs with dedicated
timers (MCCP)
Charge Time Measurement Unit (CTMU)
Analog includes 12-bit ADC, 8-bit DAC, op amps
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CONTACT INFORMATION
28 Microcontrollers and Cores Engineers Guide to 8-bit & 16-bit Technologies 2013
Chandler, AZ 85224
USA
480-792-7277 Fax
www.microchip.com
AVAILABILITY
All variants of the PIC24FJ128GA310 family are in production.
A PIC24FJ128GA310 General Purpose PIM (MA240029) and
the LCD Explorer Development Board (DM240314) are also
available to support development with the GA3 family.
APPLICATION AREAS
Consumer
Thermostats
Door Locks Industrial
Security
Wired & Wireless Sensors
Medical
Blood Pressure Meter
Glucose Meter
Metering
E-Meters
Gas/Water/Heat Meters
Automated Meter Reading
PIC24F GA3 Family
The PIC24F GA3 family features the industrys lowest
active current for 16-bit Flash MCUs along with fexible new
low-power sleep modes. The PIC24F GA3 devices feature
150 A/MHz active current, a new low-power sleep mode
with RAM retention down to 330 nA and a dedicated Vbat
pin to back up the RTCC function to minimize the power
consumed and maximize battery life. As an eXtreme Low
Power Microcontroller the GA3 family has typical Deep
Sleep currents of 10 nA and can maintain the RTCC with
only 400 nA. The PIC24F GA3 family is also the frst PIC24F
to include segment LCD driver providing an expansion
path for 8-bit designs requiring additional performance,
Flash, RAM, or pins. Six channels of general purpose
DMA increase the throughput of the family by offoading
much of the data transfer associated with high bandwidth
peripherals. Multiple serial channels and timers round out
the feature set creating a versatile low power CMU family.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Integrated LCD display driver provides the ability
to directly drive up to 480 segments, with an eight
common-drive capability, enabling more informative
and fexible displays that include descriptive icons
and scrolling
Dedicated Vbat pin for battery backup of the on-chip
Real-Time Clock Calendar
6 DMA channels increase throughput by reducing CPU
intervention required for high bandwidth peripherals
Includes 24 channels of 12-bit 200 Ksps ADC with thresh-
old detect. Threshold detect will allow the MCU to wake
from sleep when the ADC meets a specifed threshold.

TECHNICAL SPECS
Advanced Low Power Features:
Reduced Active Current - 150 A/MHz
Deep Sleep Currents down to 10 nA
Watchdog Timer down to 270 nA
Vbat Battery Backup and RealTime Clock/Calendar
down to 400 nA
Low-Power RAM Retention with 330 nA Current

Up to 128 KB for Flash Program Memory and 8 KB of
Data Memory
4 UART, 2 SPI and 2 I
2
C serial channels
5 16-bit Timers, 9 IC and 9 OC
CTMU for mTouch Capacitive Touch sensing
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CONTACT INFORMATION
Chandler, AZ 85224
USA
480-792-7277 Fax
www.microchip.com
AVAILABILITY
The MGC3130 is available today from Microchip. For develop-
ment purposes, the Sabrewing Evaluation Tool (DM160217)
offers a complete solution for exploring low-cost, high-
performance MGC3130 SoC. Features include selectable
5/7 sensing electrode, USB-powered, GestIC Technology
Colibri Suite and Microchips AUREA Graphical User Interface
(GUI) running on Windows 7 Operating System. Evaluation
of the MGC3130 3D Gesture Controllers next-generation UI
includes sensor output data display, visualization of real-time
positional data and gesture control. The AUREA GUI provides
full control of the MGC3130s parameters and settings making
it easy to update and save parameters.
APPLICATION AREAS
Win 8 Control (Notebooks, keyboards,
peripherals), mobile phones, electronic readers,
remote controls, game controllers
The Worlds First 3D Gesture
Controller: MGC3130 with GestIC

Technology Colibri Suite
The design of the User Interface (UI) plays a crucial role
in a consumers buying decision. Over 40 years ago,
the mouse revolutionized the way in which humans
communicated with the PC: Then, 15 years later, touch
technology was introduced to the mass market and
continues to dominate the way we interact with our
devices. Through comprehensive analysis of existing
input technologies and consumer trends, Microchip has
created a solution which marks the next breakthrough
in UI design: the MGC3130 3D Gesture Controller SoC.
By introducing the worlds frst chip to use E-feld
sensing for free-space input control, Microchip is
unleashing a new dimension in user interface design.
TECHNICAL SPECS
Patented Technology
The MGC3130 is a three-dimensional (3D) gesture
recognition and tracking controller chip that enables user
command input with natural hand and fnger move-
ments in free-space.
Smart Design
Implemented as a low-power mixed-signal System-
on-Chip (SoC) the MGC3130 offers a rich set of smart
functional features including automatic noise suppres-
sion and a digital signal processing unit.
The MGC3130s utilizes thin sensing electrodes made of
any conductive material that allow an invisible integra-
tion behind the devices housing. Even the reuse of
existing conductive structures, such as a displays ITO
coating, is feasible making MGC3130 overall a very cost
effective system solution.
Easy to Implement
The integrated GestIC Technology Colibri Suite of
gesture-recognition and hand position control algo-
rithms minimises software development for a faster
time-to-revenue. The chips inherently low power
consumption combined with advanced power modes,
enables always-on 3D sensing even for battery driven,
mobile devices.
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CONTACT INFORMATION
30 Hardware / Hardware Tools Engineers Guide to 8-bit & 16-bit Technologies 2013
Tag-Connect, LLC
Tag-Connect, LLC
469 Cherry Ave
San Bruno, CA 94066
United States
+1 877 244 4156 Telephone
+1 877 244 4156 Fax
www.Tag-Connect.com
Legged version snaps to PCB for a prolonged secure
connection. No-Legs version is hand-held during a
quick programming operation.
TC20x0-IDC cables terminate in standard ribbon
connectors compatible with many device program-
mers. TC2030MCP cables have RJ12 modular plugs
to suite Microchip IDC3 . -MINIHDMI cables connect
to Altiums USB JTAG adaptor.
AVAILABILITY
Purchase now at Digikey, Mouser, MicrochipDirect,
CCSinfo, Telexsus.com, TheDebugStore, and others. See
website for full details.
APPLICATION AREAS
MCU, DSP, FPGA & CPLD device programming and
debug. Test Signal and ATE Access.
Tag-Connect Plug-of-Nails In-Circuit
Programming and JTAG Cables
Supported 8-bit Architectures: PIC, dsPIC, ARM, MSP430, Atmel,
Generic JTAG, Altera, Xilinx, BDM, C2000, PICCOLO & More
Tag-Connects Plug-of-Nails cables provide a simple,
reliable means of connecting Debuggers, Programmers
and Test Equipment to your PCBs while lowering board
costs, reducing board space and facilitating effcient pro-
duction programming.
Tag-Connect uses specially designed connectors which
eliminate the need for a programming header or other
mating connector on every PCB. Instead, Tag-Connect
uses tried and tested spring-pins to make a secure con-
nection to a special footprint of pads and locating holes
in your PCB.
The PCB footprint can take up as little board space as
0.02 square inches (about the space needed for a couple
of 0805 SMT resistors).
Plug-of-Nails Cables are available with 6, 10 and 14-pins
and come in Legged and No-Legs versions. The
Legged versions have feet that snap into your PCB for
prolonged debugging or programming operations
whereas the No-Legs versions are designed for fast and
effcient hand-held operations and are well suited to pro-
duction programming.
A growing range of adapter boards and cables makes
these cables compatible with most families of MCUs,
FPGAs and other JTAG devices including PIC, dsPIC,
MSP430, ARM, ATMEL, Freescale, Altera, Xilinx, PICCOLO
as well as being great for SPI / IIC and test point access.
Tag-Connects TC2030-CTX cable for ARM Cortex has
been selected as a Finalist in the EETIMES / EDN 2013
ACE awards.
FEATURES & BENEFITS
Zero Connector Cost per Board!
Tiny Footprint!
No mating connector required on your PCB!
High-Reliability Spring-Pins for a Secure Connection!
Save Cost & Space on Every Board!
TECHNICAL SPECS
Available in 6, 10 and 14-pins Legged & No Legs
versions.

E
m
u
l
a
t
o
r
s
E
m
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l
a
t
o
r
s
Partner Guide
Microchip Partner Guide Engineers' Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies 2013

Free Monthly Embedded Software Newsletter
Beningo Engineering publishes a free monthly embedded software newsletter targeted for
individuals at all skill levels. It includes embedded fundamentals, tips and tricks, advanced concepts,
tools of the trade, industry news, safety critical software with MISRA and a readers corner for
feedback, questions and solving issues. Visit www.beningo.com and select Login to sign-up!

Embedded Software Training Courses
Staying up to date on the latest technologies and techniques is critical to an engineer. The demand
to produce products in less time and for less money requires always being on your A game. Beningo
Engineering offers a wide variety of on-site, online and personalized embedded software training to
ensure you are up to the challenge. Visit www.beningo.com and select Training to see courses being
offered near you and online. If you dont see what you need please contact us!

Embedded Software and Systems Consulting
Beningo Engineering consulting services are designed to assist at any stage of the design cycle.
Whether you are starting a project fresh or need a second pair of eyes, our consulting service can
help you get your product in shape to get to market. Our unique background and understanding of
embedded systems and the design cycle allow us to successfully deliver quality products, on-time
and on-budget. For additional information please visit www.beningo.com.

MCU Driver Frameworks and Application Components
Beningo Engineering has developed a robust, configurable embedded software framework designed
to aid product development by decreasing cost and time to market. The frameworks provide
common interfaces for low level drivers on MCUs such as the PIC18, PIC24 and PIC32. This allows
teams to not only accelerate the driver phase, but also allows for reusable application layer
components. For additional information please visit www.beningo.com.

Embedded Design Services
Beningo Engineering offers a range of design services to help bridge the gap through-out the design
cycle. These services include requirements definition, process improvement, schematic design, PCB
layout, mechanical design, rapid prototyping and manufacturing. Our close partners allow us to
provide turn-key end-to-end design services at affordable costs and high-end quality.

Please Contact Us at:
www.beningo.com
info@beningo.com
248-719-6850
Beningo Engineering is an embedded systems company
focused on training engineers and delivering robust
embedded software at an affordable cost. Our products and
services can accelerate your design cycle so call us today!

Microchip Partner Guide Engineers' Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies 2013 33 Engineers' Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies 2013 Microchip Partner Guide
Microchip Partner Guide
Burn-In & Test Sockets
0.4mm to 1.27mm
Industrys Smallest Footprint
Up to 500,000 insertions
Bandwidth 23 GHz
2.5mm per side larger than IC
Ball Count over 3500,
Body Size 2 - 100mm
<25 mW Contact Resistance
-55C to +180C
4A to 8A @80C rise
BGA, LGA, QFN, QFP, & SOIC
Optional heatsinking to 100W
Six different Lid options
Ironwood Electronics
Ironwood Electronics
1335 Eagandale Ct
Eagan, MN 55121
Tel: (800)404-0204
Fax: (952)229-8201
info@ironwoodelectronics.com
www.ironwoodelectronics.com
LX is an innovative contract elec-
tronics design company special-
ising in embedded systems and
wireless technologies. We offer a
professional turnkey experience,
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cept to production. We focus on
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Our high caliber engineering team has won international awards.
We have experience across a wide range of technologies and in-
dustries, and work with clients both in Australia and abroad.
We strive to develop long-term relationships with clients through:
A culture of innovation
Industry-leading engineering expertise
Leveraging experience in a multitude of technologies
Harnessing experience across wide range of industries
Ongoing commitment to clients
Clear and professional outsourcing experience
LX Design House
LX Design House
Tel: (61) 2 9209 4133
www.lx-group.com.au
info@lx-group.com.au
The PICBASIC PRO Compiler bridges the gap between
ease of use and professional level results. The simplicity of
the language allows both hobbyist and engineer to master
it quickly.
This is a true compiler that produces fast, optimized ma-
chine code that's stable and dependable with execution
times that rival C compilers.
Support for PIC10, PIC12, PIC16, and PIC18
MPLAB-compatible language tool
Source-level debugging in MPLAB
Direct register access in Basic
32 bit signed integer math for PIC18
WWW.MELABS.COM
Providing development tools for PIC
microcontrollers for
more than a decade.
microEngineering Labs, Inc.
microEngineering Labs, Inc.
2845 Ore Mill Road, STE 4
Colorado Springs, CO 80904
(719) 520-5323
(719) 520-1867 fax
email: support@melabs.com

Free Monthly Embedded Software Newsletter
Beningo Engineering publishes a free monthly embedded software newsletter targeted for
individuals at all skill levels. It includes embedded fundamentals, tips and tricks, advanced concepts,
tools of the trade, industry news, safety critical software with MISRA and a readers corner for
feedback, questions and solving issues. Visit www.beningo.com and select Login to sign-up!

Embedded Software Training Courses
Staying up to date on the latest technologies and techniques is critical to an engineer. The demand
to produce products in less time and for less money requires always being on your A game. Beningo
Engineering offers a wide variety of on-site, online and personalized embedded software training to
ensure you are up to the challenge. Visit www.beningo.com and select Training to see courses being
offered near you and online. If you dont see what you need please contact us!

Embedded Software and Systems Consulting
Beningo Engineering consulting services are designed to assist at any stage of the design cycle.
Whether you are starting a project fresh or need a second pair of eyes, our consulting service can
help you get your product in shape to get to market. Our unique background and understanding of
embedded systems and the design cycle allow us to successfully deliver quality products, on-time
and on-budget. For additional information please visit www.beningo.com.

MCU Driver Frameworks and Application Components
Beningo Engineering has developed a robust, configurable embedded software framework designed
to aid product development by decreasing cost and time to market. The frameworks provide
common interfaces for low level drivers on MCUs such as the PIC18, PIC24 and PIC32. This allows
teams to not only accelerate the driver phase, but also allows for reusable application layer
components. For additional information please visit www.beningo.com.

Embedded Design Services
Beningo Engineering offers a range of design services to help bridge the gap through-out the design
cycle. These services include requirements definition, process improvement, schematic design, PCB
layout, mechanical design, rapid prototyping and manufacturing. Our close partners allow us to
provide turn-key end-to-end design services at affordable costs and high-end quality.

Please Contact Us at:
www.beningo.com
info@beningo.com
248-719-6850
Beningo Engineering is an embedded systems company
focused on training engineers and delivering robust
embedded software at an affordable cost. Our products and
services can accelerate your design cycle so call us today!

IST Group
For more than 15 years, the IST Group has been de-
signing and manufacturing high quality, cost efficient
embedded computer solutions for world-leading
companies.. We offer low-power computer systems
and small form factor embedded flat-panel and
boxed computers as well as full custom designs .
Assembling in our own manufacturing facility in
Asia enables us to deliver world-class products at
very attractive prices.
ECS 2 Series
Low Cost Touchpanel Controller
The PIC-32-based ECS2 family is a power-efficient, small flat-panel computer platform,
available in different screen sizes, with capacitive touch and as open-frame versions.
Typical applications include embedded control, automation, mobile computing, test
and measurement, point of sales and many others.
Cost optimized HMI solution for volume applications
1,8 and 4 Touch TFT version
PIC32MX795/965 80MHz, 32 bit CPU
Versatile General Purpose I/O (10/100Mbit, CAN, WiFi, serial, Digital I/O,
USB OTG, MP3 codec)
Expandable I/O with mezzanine board through I2C or SPI
IST GmbH
IST GmbH
Peter-Henlein-Str. 11
89312 Guenzburg, Germany
Microchip Partner Guide Engineers' Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies 2013
30255 Fir Trail - Stacy, MN 55079 651-408-9007 www.prga.com
Engineering Solutions for Your Ideas
www.prga.com
Feeling the Pressure ?

We can Help!

Put Our Engineering Resources
to Work for Your Company!
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30255 Fir Trail - Stacy, MN 55079
651-408-9007
Prototype Development
Concept Feasibility
Embedded Systems
Linux / Embedded Linux
Real-time software development
Wireless Systems, Including ZigBee
Industrial Controls
Interactive Displays
Application Design & Implementation
Analog & Digital Design
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Complete listing: www.prga.com
PRGA is a Software & Hardware Engineering Firm
Contract Engineering Resources
Short & Long Term Staffing
Complete Project Management

sales@prga.com sales@prga.com 651 651- -408 408- -9007 9007
Microchip Partner Guide Engineers' Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies 2013 37 Engineers' Guide to 8/16-bit Technologies 2013 Microchip Partner Guide
Microchip Partner Guide
We have over 20 years of experience designing and developing
8, 16, and 32 bit embedded systems for industrial and commer-
cial applications.
Our mission is to provide great service and to engineer innova-
tive, economical, on-time, and on-budget solutions that meet or
exceed customer requirements.
MPE Design is available to assist with your needs at any level
from limited hourly consulting services to complete turnkey
project designs.
Services
Analog/Digital circuit design
Programmable devices
Firmware design and debug
Standard and custom RTOS
implementations
PCB layout
Prototype validation
Platform-based monitor/
confguration tools
Suntop is specialized in the development
& design of technology products, and
technical services of related feld. The pro-
moted products and programs have made
great achievements in various felds. In Suntop, there is a powerful
R&D and service team of microcontroller software, hardware, in-
cluding power and motor control and management etc. Our char-
acteristic technical services including customized products, mass
production test, standard certifcation and OEM electronic control-
ler board.
Support for MICROCHIP, SST,
SMSC, Roving Networks full
product family.
MICROCHIP original development
tools.
Battery charge-management.
Qi Compliant Wireless Power
Transmitter Manager.
Bluetooth & Wif applications.
BLDC Motor Control applications.
PCBA OEM/ODM support.
Suntop Electronics Co.,Ltd
Suntop Electronics Ltd
Tel:+86 591 87767244
sales@1632bit.com
www.1632bit.com/en
Authorized Gold Level Master Consultant
Certifed since inception of program
Fully equipped Laboratory
Participation in Every Masters Conference
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Analog, Digital, Embedded Processor designs
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Root cause analysis of failures
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MPE Design, Inc.
MPE Design, Inc.
Voice: 773.726.1876
Email: info@mpe-design.com
Web: mpe-design.com
Applications
Battery chargers
Motor controls
Valve actuators
Air compressors
Industrial band saws
Hydraulic presses
Machine tool controllers
Display Controller GUI Libraries
C source Libraries for Embedded Processor Applications
Graphic User Interface software libraries for small and medium-sized
embedded processor systems. Can be used with any processor type
supported by Standard-C conforming compilers.
The advanced GUI libraries provide a versatile
and powerful set of functions, which facilitate the
creation of the GUI style most suited for the given
embedded application.

A uniform function interface and use of adaptive
design styles make it simple to reuse application C
source code across different graphic controller types.
Low-level driver code
support for more than
200 graphic display
controller types.
Support for b&w, grey-
level, and color displays.
The libraries have been optimized for a small memory footprint. Support direct read-modify-write
update of display controller memory. Can be used without video buffer in processor RAM.
The tool chain supports :
! Creation of graphic icons and multi-language fonts.
! Graphic image conversion for easy use with small embedded systems.
! Handling of large international fonts and text in external memory devices.
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! PC-simulation. Display controller simulation and fast prototyping using PC compilers.
! IOTester tool. Do GUI testing on the PC using real display module hardware for screen output.
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Today is the golden age of low-power microcontrollers. There
are a half-dozen vendors offering advanced features in their
MCUs that can help you to save power in your next micro-
controller designs. However wading through all of these
features can be daunting. To make matters worse, the pay-
off is often unknown. Which
features are big impact and
low effort? Which features
are all effort and no impact?
Perhaps the most pressing
question is: What is the effect
on my performance? Many
features in todays MCUs
dramatically affect the pro-
cessing performance.
One way to address these con-
cerns is to choose an integrated development environment
(IDE) that ofers integrated current measurement. How does
this help? It takes the guesswork out of introducing low-power
features into your code base. In the past, the trusty ammeter
was the tool of choice, but the ammeter does not link current
consumption to code execution in real time.
By choosing an IDE that features integrated current mea-
surement, you can get immediate feedback on how a feature
is afecting both power and performance. Tis allows you to
instantly gauge the trade of being made.
Lets look at an example case with a typical microcontroller.
Tis microcontroller features a power mode called Idle. In Idle
mode, the CPU is stopped but the peripherals continue to run.
Te CPU wakes upon interrupt, and this represents a trad-
eof between power and performance. In normal Run mode,
the current consumption is 150 A/MHz, but by using Idle
mode, the current consumption is cut by 73% to just 43 A/
MHz. Lets say you decide to use the Idle feature whenever you
transfer data over a universal asynchronous receiver/trans-
mitter (UART). An IDE with real-time power measurement
would allow you to see the incremental current savings, and
the negligible performance impact that results fromsitting in
a while loop and waiting for the UART to fnish transmitting.
Te impact on power and application performance can be mea-
sured directly, rather than indirectly with an ammeter.
With integrated measurement,
you can now be deliberate in
your approach to power sav-
ings. Starting with a power
budget, you can construct sce-
narios that adopt low-power
modes. Ten, using an IDE
with power measurement,
you can test these scenarios
and validate the savings. In
addition, the tools will help
you understand the efects of
coding style on your application by giving real-time feedback.
Te golden age of low power is upon you, but you have to
use the right tools. Budgeting gets you started, but having
integrated measurement takes the guess work out of imple-
menting low-power features in your design. You can achieve
dramatic improvements by incorporating the advanced fea-
tures on todays MCUs, but the impact on performance must
be managed. Tat task is made easier and can be done in real
time with an IDE featuring integrated current measurement.
Jason Tollefson is senior product marketing man-
ager for Microchip Technologys MCU16 Division,
specializing in low-power microcontroller products.
His responsibilities include new-product defnition
and low-power marketing for Microchips PIC24
and dsPIC microcontroller product lines. Jason
holds a bachelors degree in electrical engineering from the Univer-
sity of Minnesotas Institute of Technology, and a MBA from the
University of Phoenix. Jason worked in new-product development,
including design/test/product engineering, for 8 years before mov-
ing to marketing.
Squeeze Power from Your
MCU Using the IDE
An IDE that offers integrated current measurement can help
developers take advantage of advanced MCU features that can
dramatically affect processing performance.
By Jason Tollefson, Microchip Technology Inc.
In the past, the trusty ammeter
was the tool of choice, but the
ammeter does not link current
consumption to code execution
in real time.
VIEWPOINT

eXtreme Low Power MCUs Maximize Battery Life
XLP 16-bit

Development Board
(DM240311)
GET THE MOST FROM YOUR
BATTERY IN YOUR NEXT DESIGN!
1. Visit www.microchip.com/XLP
2. Download the Low Power
Tips n Tricks
3. Use the Battery Life Estimator Tool
XLP 8-bit

Development Board
(DM240313)
Extend the battery life in your application using PIC MCUs with nanoWatt XLP
Technology and get the industrys lowest currents for Active and Sleep modes.
Low Sleep Currents with Flexible Wake-up Sources
Sleep current down to 9 nA
Brown-out Reset down to 45 nA
Real Time Clock down to 400 nA
Low Dynamic Currents
As low as 30 A/MHz
Power efcient execution
Battery Friendly Features
Enable battery lifetime > 20 years
Operates down to 1.8V with self write and analog functions
Low-power supervisors for safe operation (BOR, WDT)
Flexible Peripheral Set
Integrated USB, LCD, RTC & touch sensing
Eliminates costly external components
Large Portfolio of Over 160 XLP MCUs
8 pin to 100 pin options
4 KB to 128 KB Flash

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