New 32-bit Concerto F28M36x microcontrollers pack a C28x DSP, ARM Cortex-M3 core and advanced peripherals for applications requiring real-time control and communications
Meeting designers' evolving needs, Texas Instruments (TI) announces its latest 32-bit C2000 Concerto microcontrollers for motor control, renewable energy and smart grid applications that require power conversion, remote data sharing, diagnostics, monitoring and control from a single device. The new Concerto F28M36x microcontrollers integrate real-time, precise control provided by its C28x digital signal processor and advanced connectivity enabled through its ARM Cortex-M3 core, plus on-chip peripherals.
The dual-core Concerto microcontrollers are supported by C2000's controlSUITE software which includes an intuitive software ecosystem, application libraries, demos and examples, as well as TI's Eclipse-based Code Composer Studio integrated development environment (IDE) v5.
TI-RTOS, a new, deterministic, scalable real-time operating system (RTOS), is fully integrated with the Code Composer Studio IDE and available at no cost and royalty free. It provides low-overhead communication mechanisms between the ARM Cortex-M3 and C28x cores, enabling developers to get started right out of the box and easily exchange command-and-control data buffers. These newest Concerto microcontrollers are code compatible across the entire C2000 microcontroller platform for scalability and code reuse in energy-efficient applications.
Features and benefits of Concerto F28M36x microcontroller systems:
- Real-time control subsystem with TI's C28x 150 Mhz digital signal processor with floating point and the Viterbi Complex Math Unit.
- Smaller package size and more connectivity than previous Concerto microcontrollers – 289-pin (ball), 16 ×16 mm nFBGA package with .8 mm ball pitch to allow more input/output (I/O) connectivity.
- Industry-leading control peripherals for control and power conversion in energy-efficient applications.
- Robust host communication subsystem based on 125 Mhz Cortex-M3 and connectivity peripherals such as Ethernet, USB On-The-Go, dual CAN and multiple serial communication ports, enable functions such as data sharing, diagnostics and monitoring.
- High-performance pulse-width modulation (PWM) peripherals increase the control resolution in switching power supplies and motor control systems
- Memory includes up to 1.5 MB of flash and 232 KB RAM for storage.
- Simple development environment supports programming each subsystem independently
- TI-RTOS for builds on the SYSBIOS real-time kernel and controlSUITE middleware and peripheral libraries and provides TCP/IP, USB host and device, a FAT file system, and drivers all completely integrated and tested in a multithreaded environment to enable engineers to begin development immediately. It uses the same real-time kernel on both cores to provide a uniform programming environment in which developers can quickly switch tasks from one core to another to optimize system performance.
Tools and training make development easy
The new Concerto F28M36x Experimenter Kit includes a Concerto F28M36x controlCARD and docking station to enable developers to quickly and easily begin evaluation and development. The modular controlCARD is hardware-compatible with TI's C2000 application-specific kits and software to further support development. Free, on-demand Concerto training enables developers to begin further exploring optimized architecture, tailored features and easy-to-use software infrastructure of the devices.
Pricing and availability
Concerto microcontrollers now start at $6.99 in quantities of 1,000 units. The Concerto F28M36x Experimenter Kit (TMDXDOCK28M36) is priced at $195, and the controlCARD (TMXCDCNF28M36) is available for $145.
