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| Freescale Intros S08 Microcontrollers with Integrated LCD Driver Freescale Semiconductor has introduced a family of highly integrated, power-efficient 8-bit microcontroller devices optimized for one of the electronics industry's most pervasive display technologies: liquid crystal displays. The MC9S08LC60 (LC60) family features Freescale's first S08-based flash MCUs to include an integrated LCD driver module with an internal charge pump. Freescale's LC60 family addresses the display, power, memory and communications requirements of portable LCD applications, handheld consumer and industrial devices. Supporting displays with up to 160 (4x40) segments, LC60 MCUs give developers the flexibility to design LCD applications for portable health care devices, thermostats, exercise equipment, personal diagnostics, calculators, metering equipment, alarm clocks, toys, cameras and many other consumer products. The LC60 family combines a low-voltage S08 MCU core (operating at 1.8V-3.6V) with an LCD driver module, a rich set of communications peripherals, dual flash memory arrays and an integrated programmable timer. This high level of integration helps reduce total system cost and board space by providing a configurable, flexible single-chip solution that minimizes the need for external display driver, memory and timing components and eliminates the need for off-chip EEPROM. The low-power LC60 LCD device is capable of driving a display using the high performance, low-voltage operation, C compatibility, single-wire background debug mode and on-chip in-circuit emulator of the S08 architecture. The LC60 family's integrated LCD driver supports both standard 3V and 5V LCD glass applications, giving developers the flexibility to select the ideal glass for display quality, system cost, bill of materials and power consumption. An internal charge pump enables the application to run off of a single power supply, a dual supply for sustained contrast, or a customized implementation of contrast control. On-chip integration of an LCD driver and charge pump ultimately means fewer required external components, lower overall system cost, reduced power consumption and faster design time. The LCD driver is designed to support up to 160 segments for a rich graphical display, without requiring the added cost of dot matrix or "chip-on-glass" capabilities. The LCD driver for the 80-pin LC60 package gives developers the flexibility to configure 4x40 or 3x41 segment displays, including up to 16 alphanumeric displays. In addition, numbers, text and icons can easily be mixed and matched within displays. The LCD driver can be configured to operate a display even when the MCU core enters STOP or "sleep" mode. The blinking of individual segments in STOP mode is an innovative feature that helps reduce overall system power consumption and preserves battery life. The LC60 family features a dual flash memory block for enhanced EEPROM emulation. Eliminating extraneous EEPROM from the system helps reduce system cost and board space. The dual flash block enables continued execution of code out of one block while programming or erasing the other block. On-chip integrated serial peripheral interface, serial communications interface and inter-IC (12C) modules make it easy to connect LC60 MCUs to external power measurement ICs or to ZigBee enabled modules for wireless communications applications. The LC60 family is supported by a comprehensive ecosystem, including the Processor Expert rapid application design tool, CodeWarrior Special Edition for HC(S)08/RS08 a demonstration board, compiler, debugger, initialization tool, samples, documentation and application notes for the demo board, enabling faster time to market. A demonstration kit optimized for the LC60 family contains the equipment designers need to develop and evaluate application code, including an integrated background debug module and a custom glass LCD that demonstrates LCD segments in an end-application format. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Computing News :: home page |