http://www.eetasia.com/ART_8800682209_1034362_NP_41914619.HTM?click_from=8800101095,8723946550,2013-03-02,EEOL,NEWSLETTER
ARM-powered MCU touted as world’s smallest
Freescale Semiconductor has addressed the miniaturisation trend driven by the Internet of Things (IoT) with its Kinetis KL02 MCU that the company said is the world’s smallest ARM-powered MCU.
The KL02 targets ultra-small form factor products in applications such as portable consumer devices, remote sensing nodes, wearable devices and ingestible healthcare sensing, added the company.
Measuring 1.9 x 2mm, the Kinetis KL02 MCU is said to be 25 per cent smaller than the industry’s next-smallest ARM MCU.
Within this miniscule device, Freescale has included the latest 32bit ARM Cortex-M0+ processor, cutting-edge low-power functionality and a range of analogue and communication peripherals.
This enables system designers to dramatically cut the size of their boards and products while retaining the all-important performance, feature integration and power consumption characteristics of their end devices. In addition, space-constrained applications that previously couldn’t incorporate an MCU now can be upgraded to become smart applications, adding a new tier of devices to the IoT ecosystem.
Building upon the energy efficiency of the Cortex-M0+ core, the Kinetis KL02 MCU reduces the power consumption threshold of the Kinetis L series to an even lower entry point and is ideal for the demanding power profiles of miniaturized IoT-linked systems.
The KL02 delivers 15.9CM/mA and, like other Kinetis MCUs, it includes autonomous, power-smart peripherals (in this case, an ADC, UART and timer), 10 flexible power modes and wide clock and power gating to minimise power loss. A low-power boot mode reduces power spikes during the boot sequence or deep sleep wake-up.
This is useful for systems in which battery chemistry limits the allowable peak current such as those using lithium-ion batteries frequently used in portable devices.
The Kinetis KL02 MCU features a 48MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ core touting operation from 1.71-3.6V, bit manipulation engine for faster, more code-efficient handling of peripheral registers, 32KB flash memory, 4KB RAM and high-speed 12bit ADC.
In addition, the device boasts a high-speed analogue comparator, low-power UART, SPI, 2x IICI2C, powerful timers for a range of applications including motor control and -40°C to 85°C operation.
The Kinetis KL02 CSP MCU is expected to begin sampling to lead
customers in March 2013.
Broad market availability of production-qualified samples is planned for July 2013 from Freescale and its distribution partners. Suggested resale pricing is $ 0.75 cents in 100,000-unit quantities.
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