Development Tool from TI Adds High Speed ADC and Precision FIR Filter Target Boards
Giving designers of portable, battery-powered applications added flexibility and functionality in a low cost, full-featured development environment, Texas Instruments target boards for the eZ430 development tool: the T2012 and the MSP-Mojo. At $10 for a pack of three target boards, the T2012 features the MSP430F2012 ultra-low power microcontroller (MCU) with an integrated high performance 200 ksps, 10-bit analog to digital converter (ADC). In a compact Universal Serial Bus (USB) stick form factor, the popular eZ430 evaluation and development tool allows both new users to evaluate the MSP430 MCU architecture in minutes and also gives experienced developers all the resources they need to complete an entire MSP430F20xx project from start to finish.
The T2012 target board comes on the heels of the recently introduced MSP-Mojo from TI third party, Quickfilter Technologies. The MSP-Mojo target board features a 512 tap embedded single-channel precision digital filter chip, the QF1D512 Simple and Versatile FIR engine (SavFIReT). The FIR engine allows MSP430 MCU developers to perform precision digital filtering for applications that include vibration monitoring, audio filtering and medical patient monitoring. Previously, this type of precision filtering would have required a higher performance, higher power processor. The MSP-Mojo target board features the QF1D512 SavFIRe chip acting as a filter co-processor that offloads the filtering task from the MSP430 MCU and increases available bandwidth of the signal source. The SavFIRe chip also reduces power draw and simplifies coding. An expansion header with header pins included lets
users connect to a target system, application breadboard or QF1D512-DK Development Kit, which is available directly from Quickfilter Technologies.
The eZ430 development tool connects to a standard PC USB port and is self-powered, requiring no extra cables or power supplies. Contained within the USB stick is an emulation interface board and an
easily removable MSP430F2013 target board that can be replaced with the new T2012 target board or when digital filtering is a requirement, the MSP-Mojo board.
As part of the new MSP430F20xx series, the MSP430F2012 and F2013 MCUs operate at up to 16 MIPS in a robust failsafe environment with no external components and a fully programmable clock system that is stable over temperature and voltage variations. This provides wake-up from what is said to be an industry-leading 500 nano-amp standby to full-speed operation in less than one micro-second. Ultra-low power combined with on-demand high-performance lets designers tune their systems to stay in standby
longer, so their applications conserve more power and use smaller, lower cost batteries. The broad MSP430 MCU platform answers market demands for ultra-low power industrial, medical and consumer applications including metering, portable instrumentation and intelligent sensing.
The T2012 target board is available immediately for $10 (three target boards included) from the TI e-store at www.ti.com/t2012. The $20 eZ430 development tool, required to use the T2012 target board, is also available from the TI e-store at www.ti.com/ez430. The eZ430 tool includes a free IAR Kick Start Embedded Workbench IDE containing a debugger, assembler and C compiler. To jump-start new projects, users can tap into more than 100 free C and assembler source code examples
that are available from TI's website at www.ti.com/msp430. The MSP-Mojo target board is available through authorized distributors for $39.95.
From ultra low power MSP430 devices and 32-bit general purpose TMS470 ARM7T-based MCUs to high performance TMS320C2000T digital signal controllers, TI offers designers the broadest range of embedded control solutions. Designers can also accelerate their design to market by
tapping into TI's complete software and hardware tools, extensive third party offerings and technical support.