TI Korea (CEO Kent Chon, www.ti.com/ww/kr ) November 5, 2013 – TI (CEO Kent Chon) announced the addition of new products to its Tiva™ C Series microcontroller (MCU) platform. The Tiva TM4C129x MCU, an ARM® Cortex™-M4-based MCU, supports Ethernet MAC+PHY for the first time in the industry, enabling customers to develop sophisticated and highly connected products of a whole new level that connect to the cloud and extend the capabilities of the ever-increasing Internet of Things (IoT). The feature-rich Tiva TM4C129x MCU supports an unprecedented number of connectivity options, as well as an LCD controller that offers on-chip data protection and saves board space. This enables a variety of advanced connected applications, such as home/building automation gateways, connected HMIs (Human-Machine Interfaces), sensor network gateways, security access systems, and programmable logic controllers.

The development kit being announced is the Tiva DK-TM4C129x Connected Development Kit, which includes an on-chip Ethernet MAC+PHY, allowing developers to easily evaluate the Tiva TM4C129x MCU. This kit is also the first to enable the TI MCU Launchpad ecosystem to be directly connected to the Internet by including two ports for connecting Booster Packs. By combining such advanced development hardware with an unrivaled, fully integrated software platform, it provides the most powerful development ecosystem currently available. This new Tiva TM4C129x MCU supports a powerful TivaWare™ software platform containing over 50 software application examples, enabling developers to reduce programming time and focus their capabilities on developing differentiated products to bring them to market more quickly. The extensive ecosystem offers integrated development options, including TI's Eclipse-based Code Composer Studio (CCS)™ IDE and various third-party tools and software.

Key Features and Advantages of the Tiva TM4C129x MCU

● Product and Service Access and Communication: Cabling issues can be intelligently identified by accessing and communicating with products and services through a 10/100 Ethernet MAC+PHY that provides the latest line diagnostic functions. By integrating CAN and USB, high-speed connectivity is enabled, allowing for the implementation of a seamless gateway solution.
● Output control and multi-event management: Output can be controlled and multiple events such as lighting, sensing, motion, display, and switching can be managed using sensor set functions including 10 I2C ports, 2 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), 2 quadrature encoder inputs, 3 comparators, external peripheral interfaces, and pulse-width modulation (PWM).
● Meeting the memory requirements of various applications by enabling pin compatibility with the TM4C129x portfolio: It provides 256KB of SRAM and 6KB of EEPROM to support higher functionality, and a wide range of flash memory from 512KB to 1MB enables continuous field updates and reliable operation with program cycles reaching 100,000.
● Added Data and Unauthorized Modification Protection: Data and unauthorized modification protection can be added to applications and processing overhead can be reduced through hardware acceleration utilizing key encryption/decryption and Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) functions. Critical data can be protected even more securely by using unauthorized modification protection inputs and related functions that monitor and log external events and take appropriate action.

Price and Supply Timing

The Tiva TM4C129x MCU adds 20 new devices to the Tiva C Series portfolio, with pricing starting at $6.24 per unit for 10,000-unit quantities. The Tiva DK-TM4C129x Connected Development Kit is available for $199 through the TI eStore and authorized TI distributors. Using TI's WiFi-enabled SimpleLink™ CC3000 Booster Pack, wireless connectivity can be conveniently added to the Tiva DK-TM4C129x Connected Development Kit, thereby reducing development time for IoT applications. Additionally, TivaWare™ software and TI's CCS™ v.5 IDE are currently available for download. Developers can utilize the TI Design Network to find training opportunities and receive support from the TI E2E community.

The entire system can be completed using TI's isolation devices, gate driver ICs, and high-voltage switcher solutions. The ISO7xx digital isolator family can be used in combination with the UCC27xxx gate driver family to enable compact, high-speed industrial automation systems and offline isolated switch-mode power supplies. TI's UCC28910, UCC25230, and LM34927 PWM controllers are more convenient to use by integrating auxiliary bias power supplies.