NXP Semiconductors announced its LPC11U00 series – a low-cost ARM Cortex-M0 based microcontroller featuring a new, highly flexible USB architecture, as well as a smart card interface. Equipped with a highly configurable Full Speed USB 2.0 device controller, the LPC11U00 brings unparalleled design flexibility and reliable USB connectivity for consumer electronics and mobile devices.
The LPC11U00 enables maximum USB performance by providing up to 10 configurable physical endpoints with flexible user defined buffer architecture management, faster post-processing of USB data, and robust asynchronous USB operation. In contrast to typical USB implementations, endpoint buffers in the LPC11U00 do not reside within the USB domain but reside in system SRAM space, giving the CPU direct access to USB packets. Unused endpoint buffer space is not wasted and can be fully utilized by reallocating it as system SRAM. This feature is especially suited for protocol converters such as UART-to-USB and SPI-to-USB bridges where data needs to be quickly transferred between serial interfaces.
With the LPC11U00 USB architecture, each non-control endpoint can be configured for either bulk, interrupt or isochronous, and can be double-buffered with maximum packet sizes of 1023 bytes. Further, the flexible clocking architecture supported by a dedicated USB PLL enables asynchronous USB operation, with the CPU and USB operating independently at maximum speeds.
Designed for Small Form Factor Mobile and Consumer Applications
As an extension of NXP's proven LPC1100 family, the LPC11U00 series delivers up to 32KB Flash, 6KB SRAM, a variety of serial interfaces, a smart card interface, 4 system timers with PWM functionality, 8 channel 10-bit ADC and up to 40 GPIOs. The LPC11U00 series is offered in a miniature 4.5 x 4.5 mm TFGBGA48 package especially suited for small form factor mobile and consumer applications, in addition to several standard package offerings.
Maximizing Connectivity While Minimizing Power
Connectivity options on the LPC11U00 series include two Synchronous Serial Port (SSP) interfaces, I2C with Fast-mode Plus feature with 10x higher bus-drive capability, a Universal Synchronous-Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter (USART), and a Smart Card interface. The Smart Card interface (ISO7816-3) provides a plug-and-play interface for smart cards, making the LPC11U00 a good fit for e-commerce applications.
To boost functionality, various design enhancements have been implemented on simple peripherals. For example, the General-Purpose I/O (GPIO) can now be configured as groups with interrupt capability on programmable patterns – a key requirement for applications driven by user input. The LPC11U00 series also offers on-chip power profiles, driven by an Application Programming Interface (API) which can be customized for any low-power application, so that designers can achieve ideal power levels with minimal application intervention.
Freedom of Design Supported by an Extensive Ecosystem
NXP's royalty-free, easily customizable USB driver software offers ready-to-use USB solutions minimizing time-to-market and development costs. The LPC11U00 will offer USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) certification, giving users the assurance and peace of mind that their designs comply with the USB specification and are interoperable with existing USB solutions. The LPC11U00 will be supported by a wide range of third-party development tools, as well as NXP’s LPCXpresso development platform featuring a powerful Eclipse-based IDE with an all-new intuitive NXP-designed user interface, optimized Cortex-M0 compiler and libraries. The LPC11U00 series delivers exceptional design freedom and allows system designers to take advantage of the scalability and compatibility of the NXP Cortex-M platform and development tools.
Availability
The LPC11U00 series offers three devices: LPC11U12 (16K Flash), LPC11U13 (24K Flash) and LPC11U14 (32K Flash). These devices are currently sampling to lead customers and will be available from distribution worldwide in May 2011. Additional family members offering higher memory and package configurations will be available in the second half of the year.