On March 6, 2013, Seoul—Infineon Technologies (Korea Representative Director Seung-soo Lee) launched the XMC1000, a new family of 32-bit microcontrollers featuring the ARM® Cortex™-M0 processor. With the XMC1000, Infineon became the first semiconductor supplier to offer a 32-bit microcontroller supporting an advanced set of 32-bit peripherals at the price of an 8-bit microcontroller.

By applying advanced 65nm embedded flash manufacturing technology to 300mm wafers and integrating ARM® 32-bit processors with advanced peripheral features designed for low-end 8-bit industrial applications, the XMC1000 family has achieved innovative price-performance ratios. Applications supported by the XMC1000 include sensor and actuator applications, digital power conversion such as LED lighting and UPS (uninterruptible power supply), and simple motor drives used in home appliances, pumps, fans, and electric bicycles.

Dr. Stephan Zizala, Senior Director of the Industrial and Multi-Market Microcontroller business unit at Infineon Technologies, said, “The XMC1000 family offers distinct advantages for transitioning 8-bit MCUs to 32-bit in various systems. “The MCU provides full 32-bit performance at an 8-bit price, application-optimized peripherals, scalability to the XMC4000 microcontroller family, and a user-friendly, free DAVE development environment,” he said. “With the XMC1000 microcontroller, Infineon is creating a decisive incentive to transition architectures from 8-bit to 32-bit.”

XMC1000 Family: Provides 32-bit performance at an 8-bit price

For low-end industrial applications where design flexibility is of critical value due to cost pressures, developers are seeking highly scalable MCU platforms. To meet these demands, Infineon has simultaneously launched three series of the XMC1000 family: the XMC1100 (entry series), XMC1200 (feature series), and XMC1300 (control series). The three series are distinctly differentiated in terms of key performance and peripherals.

Because on-chip flash sizes are available from 8KB to 200KB, it provides a wider range of memory sizes than currently used in 8-bit microcontrollers. The XMC1000 family consists of 23 products currently available in 16, 28, and 38-pin TSSOP packages.

The XMC1000 family supports industrial applications that remain in the realm of 8-bit MCUs to this day. In addition to up to 200KB of flash memory, the XMC1000 provides high-performance PWM timers, a 12-bit A/D converter, and a programmable serial communication interface. Additional features include modules for touch control and LED displays, a peripheral unit (also known as a BCCU (Brightness and Colour Control Unit)) for LED dimming and color control, and a computational coprocessor for motor drive control.

The XMC1000 microcontroller meets the requirements defined by the standard IEC60730 Class B, which describes the safety of consumer electronics sold in Europe, and provides, for example, hardware error correction (ECC) and corresponding memory testing. An even more unique feature is a flash loader that provides a 128-bit AES accelerator to support enhanced protection for critical software IP for design engineers, which is particularly important in cost-sensitive applications.

The XMC1100 entry-level series is the most affordable of the XMC1000 family for a wide range of industrial applications. Products in this series provide six 12-bit A/D converter channels operating at up to 1.88 MSPS (mega samples per second), four 16-bit timers within the CCU4 (capture/compare unit 4), and a wide voltage tolerance between 1.8V and 5.5V. These features support a diverse range of applications.

The XMC1200 Feature Series integrates application-specific functions such as a capacitive touch sensing unit, LED display control, and a BCCU. The BCCU supports flicker-free dimming and color control for LEDs without placing any burden on the processor. Other products in this series support an extended temperature range of -40°C to 105°C.

The XMC1300 control series is optimized for motor control and digital power conversion applications. It provides a highly efficient CCU8 (capture/compare unit 8) with two compare channels and asymmetric PWM capabilities, along with a POSIF (position interface) for accurate motor position detection. The XMC1300 also provides a mathematical coprocessor that supports an efficient sensorless field-oriented control (FOC) solution for electric motors. This is unique among Cortex-M0 based products. The XMC1300 series also offers products that support a temperature range of up to 105°C.

Easy 8-bit to 32-bit conversion with DAVE™

The XMC1000 family uses the same free integrated development platform as the XMC4000 family. This platform, called DAVE, makes application-oriented software development familiar to users and simplifies the transition between the XMC1000 and XMC4000 families. Through DAVE apps, software components can be integrated and organized within a graphical development environment and automatically mapped to available microcontroller resources to automatically generate C code and software documentation. DAVE integrates a free GNU compiler and debugger. Furthermore, Infineon collaborates with various development partners that provide compilers, debuggers, software analysis, and flash programmers, as well as embedded software solutions, training, and technical support for the XMC1000 family.

Supply timing of XMC1100, XMC1200, XMC1300, and development kits

The XMC1000 family consists of 23 products currently available in 16, 28, and 38-pin TSSOP packages. Samples of the XMC1000 series and the DAVE development environment for the XMC1000 are currently available, and mass production is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2013.

Comprehensive application kits and book kits are provided for LED, touch panel, and motor drive applications for easy and cost-effective evaluation. The XMC1000 book kit for Arduino™ is modifiable with Arduino™ shields, and various add-on boards can be used for a wide range of applications.