Switch From 8-bit To 32-bit Easily With Infineon XMC1000 Industrial Microcontrollers

With 32-bit performance at 8-bit cost, the XMC1000 family addresses sensor and actuator applications, LED lighting, digital power conversion, such as uninterruptible power supplies, and simple motor drives, such as those used in household appliances, pumps, fans and e-bikes.

“Design of the XMC1000 family started with a deep understanding of the system requirements of 8-bit industrial applications. By aligning the product architecture and peripherals towards the requirements of applications typcally addressed by 8-bit MCUs, developers can use XMC1000 devices to design a better product in a cost-effective way and bring it to market faster,” says Dr. Stephan Zizala, Senior Director, Industrial and Multimarket Microcontrollers at Infineon Technologies AG. “XMC1000 creates a decisive incentive for switching architecture from 8 to 32 bit, with its combination of 32-bit performance at 8-bit prices and the user-friendly, free DAVE development environment.”

Development tools for the XMC1000 family comprise the free DAVE™ development platform of Infineon, boot kits and comprehensive applications kits for LEDs, touch panels and energy efficient motor controls. Numerous development partners also offer compilers, debuggers, software analysis tools and flash programmers, as well as embedded software solutions, training and technical support for the XMC1000 family.

The XMC1000 family: 8-bit price for 32-bit performance

The XMC1000 family includes three series: XMC1100 (Entry series), XMC1200 (Feature series) and XMC1300 (Control series). The three series differ essentially in terms of their memory capacity and peripheral set.

XMC1000 MCUs feature 8KB to 200KB flash memory, high-performance PWM timers, 12-bit A/D converters and programmable serial communication interfaces. Different members of the family offer dedicated peripherals, including a module for touch control and LED displays, a peripheral unit for the dimming and color control of LEDs (Brightness and Colour Control Unit, BCCU) and a mathematical coprocessor for motor drive controls. The XMC1000 microcontrollers satisfy the requirements defined by the standard IEC60730 Class B, which is prescribed for the safety of household appliances sold in Europe, and offer, for example, hardware error correction and corresponding memory tests. A further unique feature is a flash loader with a 128-bit AES accelerator, which allows a developer’s valuable software IP – particularly important in cost-sensitive applications – to be better protected.

Simple, rapid development with DAVE

Infineon’s DAVE is a free, graphically-driven development environment that reduces development complexity while taking full advantage of all XMC1000 capabilities. Using pre-configured DAVE Apps, developers benefit from application-specific software components that help to drastically reduce the software development time for microcontrollers. DAVE also eases transition between the Infineon XMC1000 (ARM Cortex-M0) and XMC4000 (ARM Cortex-M4) microcontroller families. The platform incorporates a free GNU compiler and debugger. To provide additional flexibility to design engineers, Infineon collaborates with numerous development partners, who offer compilers, debuggers, software analysis and flash programmers in addition to embedded software solutions, training and technical support for the XMC1000 family.

Availability of XMC1100, XMC1200, XMC1300 and development kits

The XMC1000 family currently comprises 23 products in TSSOP packages with 16, 28 and 38 pins. Samples of all three XMC1000 series and the DAVE development environment for XMC1000 will be available from March 2013. Volume production is planned for Q4 2013. Depending on the particular XMC1000 series and peripheral set, prices for order quantities of several million units can range between Euro 0.25 and Euro 1.25.

For easy and cost-effective evaluation there are boot kits available for all XMC1000 series, as well as comprehensive application kits for LED, touch panel and motor drive applications. The XMC1100 boot kit for Arduino can be amended by Arduino Shields allowing the use of a large number of add-on boards for a huge range of applications.