Freescale eases embedded development with 32-bit industrial connectivity solution

Freescale Semiconductor introduced what it characterizes as a one-stop-shop industrial connectivity solution that combines its most highly integrated 32-bit ColdFire microcontroller (MCU) family with a complimentary offering of the Freescale MQX RTOS.

By Control Engineering Staff

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Austin, TX — To help developers meet embedded-system design challenges, Freescale Semiconductor introduced what it characterizes as a “one-stop-shop” industrial connectivity solution that combines its most highly integrated 32-bit ColdFire microcontroller (MCU) family with a complimentary offering of the Freescale MQX real-time operating system (RTOS).
The company says its MCF5225x MCU family offers the “ultimate industrial connectivity solution” with on-chip USB, Ethernet, controller area network (CAN) and encryption, along with its MQX RTOS and associated tools and software stacks. It says the combined silicon and software solution gives developers exceptional design flexibility, connectivity options and fast time-to-market backed by a full-featured, scalable RTOS platform valued at approximately $95,000 for a fraction of the cost.
The company says its M52259EVB evaluation board is a full-featured development system for MCF5225x family MCUs available now at a suggested price of $299. Furthermore, a cost-effective M52259DEMOKIT demonstration board is available at a promotional price of $49.
“Recognizing that the majority of an embedded development team’s resources are spent on software, we’re offering our next-generation MCF5225x ColdFire devices with the market-proven MQX RTOS at no extra charge,” said Aiden Mitchell, director of industrial and multi-market MCUs at Freescale. “The combination of high-performance ColdFire MCUs and MQX software gives developers a comprehensive, cost-effective solution that helps accelerate their application development success.”
Based on the 32-bit ColdFire V2 core, MCUs are said to be well-suited for a broad range of industrial networking, building/lighting control and medical applications that require high performance and connectivity options. For factory automation systems, the company says the USB port can be used to develop interfaces to standard USB barcode scanners, and supports fast, easy downloads of patient data for medical applications, and its serial connectivity options simplify connection to wireless modules and LCD screens used in personal medical devices.
When used in building control applications, the MCU’s embedded cryptographic accelerator unit is said to enable secure communications through Ethernet. An embedded Fast Ethernet controller is said to make it easy to control various terminals in a networked building.
To ease the development process, Freescale says itColdFire v7.1. Designers can further accelerate development with the help of Processor Expert software, an award-winning rapid application development tool in the CodeWarrior tool suite. The CodeWarrior environment is Freescale MQX RTOS aware, giving developers a highly integrated development ecosystem.
— Control Engineering News Desk
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