MCUs cut system cost in industrial control applications

26th October 2014

Mick Elliott

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Datasheet

Texas Instruments has beefed up its Piccolo microcontroller (MCUs) range with a device that boosts execution speeds of control tasks in industrial applications such as telecom rectifiers, server power, solar micro inverters, frequency inverters and automotive HEV/EV. The F2807x MCUs also provide many analogue and control peripherals to enable more integrated control applications. They are scalable with the previously announced C2000 Delfino F2837xS and F2837xD MCU generations.

Designers looking to tap into the performance of the C2000 Piccolo F2807x MCUs can leverage the real-time control accelerator (CLA). The CLA doubles the throughput of the F2807x MCU, providing an additional 120 MHz of floating-point processing capability.

This additional bandwidth allows designers to run parallel math-intensive or time-sensitive signal processing tasks. Offloading these tasks to the CLA enables the CPU to focus on general system tasks such as diagnostics, communications, motion profiling and more.

Also integrated in the main C28x CPU is a trigonometric math unit (TMU) accelerator, which enables the chip to quickly execute trigonometric-based algorithms used in transforms and control functions.

The MCUs boast high-end, smart analogue and control integration — including a flexible, enhanced pulse-width modulator (PWM) that supports all digital power topologies — to decrease digital control system complexity.

Three 12-bit ADCs increase sampling throughput by allowing designers to do simultaneous tasks such as monitor voltages and currents of three-phase motors while simultaneously decoding high-frequency resolver feedback.

Additionally, the F2807x MCUs can simultaneously process eight delta-sigma modulated channels, each with threshold comparators and a seamless interface to the TI AMC1204 isolated delta-sigma modulator, for isolated current and voltage measurements. Window comparators provide critical power stage protection.

Using the same C28x core and many of the same peripherals, the C2000 Piccolo F2807x MCUs are pin- and software-compatible with the previously introduced dual-core Delfino F2837xD and single-core Delfino F2837xS MCUs, enabling motor developers to get to market faster with a variety of products that feature a range of signal processing, flash performance, and analog and control peripheral options. Also easing development, the C2000 F2807x Experimenter’s Kit and controlCARD allow designers ease in evaluating the C2000 Piccolo F2807x MCUs for their latest innovations.