February 1, 2012, Seoul – Infineon Technologies (Korea Representative Director Seung-soo Lee) has launched the XMC4000 32-bit microcontroller family based on ARM®’s Cortex™-M4 processor. In the design of the XMC4000 family, Infineon has applied the technological expertise accumulated over the past 30 years in microcontroller development, application-optimized peripherals, and outstanding real-time performance, combining the various advantages of widely used core architectures. The XMC4000 family supports three major trends in industrial applications: improving energy efficiency, supporting multiple communication standards, and reducing software complexity during development. Target applications for the XMC4000 family include electric drives, solar inverters, and automation of manufacturing facilities and buildings.

Peter Bauer, CEO of Infineon Technologies, said, “Energy conservation plays a crucial role in meeting the increasing energy demand driven by the growing global population. Infineon’s market-leading power semiconductor products and the new ARM-based microcontroller family, the XMC4000, enable energy-efficient control in various types of industrial applications.”

XMC4000 Product Family – Providing diverse solutions on a single platform
XMC stands for “Cross-Market Microcontroller,” which means that the XMC4000 family features configurability and can be used in various types of industrial applications. Infineon aims to bridge the performance gap between the 16-bit XE166 family and the 32-bit TriCore™ family with the XMC4000 family. The XMC4000 family is designed to provide a variety of scalable and compatible solutions and a high level of software reusability. The XMC4000 family includes five series (XMC4100, XMC4200, XMC4400, XMC4500, and XMC4700), classified according to core frequency, memory capacity, peripheral features, and the number of I/Os.

The XMC4000 family provides a powerful CPU subsystem, DSP capabilities, a floating-point unit, high-speed flash memory with 22ns read times and ECC (error correction code) capabilities, large SRAM, and expanded peripheral capabilities. Comprehensive peripherals include a new timer module, up to four parallel 12-bit A/D converters with a sampling rate of 70ns and a conversion time of 500ns, up to two 12-bit D/A converters, up to four high-resolution PWM channels (150ps), an integrated delta-sigma demodulator module, and a touch button module. Additionally, robust communication performance is achieved by providing IEEE 1588 compliant Ethernet MAC (Media Access Control for Ethernet, with time stamping capabilities), USB 2.0, CAN, and SD/MMC interfaces, and up to six serial communication channels (each of these channels can be configured via software as UART, SPI, Quad SPI, IIC, IIS, or LIN). In addition, the XMC4000 family provides high-speed external bus interfaces that support synchronous standards such as SDRAM and Burst Flash, as well as asynchronous standards such as SRAM, NAND Flash, and NOR Flash.

DAVE™ 3 and Third-Party Tools – Efficient Development with XMC4000
The integrated development environment DAVE™ 3 enables fast, convenient, and application-oriented software development. By adding third-party tools, you can extend the Eclipse-based environment, which includes a free GNU compiler, debugger, and data display utilities. DAVE 3 also enables automatic code generation based on predefined software components called “DAVE Apps.” DAVE Apps can be configured in a user-friendly manner on a graphical user interface. Therefore, DAVE 3 allows developers of industrial applications to fully utilize the capabilities of the XMC4000 microcontroller with minimal programming effort. The generated code can be compiled, debugged, and displayed directly in DAVE 3, or imported into third-party tools for further processing. Infineon collaborates with over 20 partners that provide a variety of development tools, software solutions, training, and consulting services available for the XMC4000 family.

Dr. Stephan Zizala, Senior Director of Industrial and Multi-Market Microcontrollers at Infineon Technologies, said, “Infineon’s XMC4000 family combines peripherals optimized for industrial applications with the widely adopted ARM architecture. Industrial customers can benefit from Infineon’s years of accumulated application experience, which enables flexible timers, high-speed ADCs, fast and robust flash memory, and an extended temperature range of up to 125°C.” "In addition, by using a development environment called DAVE, you will be able to design XMC4000 products quickly and conveniently in a familiar way," he said.

XMC4500 for mid-range industrial applications
The first product to be released in the 32-bit XMC4000 family is the XMC4500 series, which provides a 120MHz CPU, up to 1MB of embedded flash memory, 160KB of RAM, and comprehensive peripheral and interface capabilities. These peripherals include modules consisting of four parallel high-speed 12-bit A/D converter modules, two D/A converters, four delta-sigma demodulator modules, six capture/compare units (CCU4 and CCU8), two positioning interface modules, and eight touch buttons. Communication capabilities include Ethernet, USB, and SD/MMC interfaces. Additionally, the XMC4000 family provides three CAN modules, six serial communication channels, and one external bus interface for communication functions. These products are available in LQFP-144, LQFP-100, and LFBGA-144 packages.

Supply timing for XMC4500 and other series
XMC4500 series samples and DAVE 3 are scheduled to be available starting March 2012, with mass production scheduled for May 2012. To support development, a modular design kit is provided, allowing up to three additional application boards to be connected to the base design board depending on the application requirements. Sample supply for the XMC4400, XMC4200, and XMC4100 series is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2012.