Freescale Semiconductor is an embedded processing solution provider to the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. From microprocessors and microcontrollers to sensors, analog ICs and connectivity – Freescale’s technologies found in environmental, safety and security and medical and networked solution.
Embedded Processing and DSP
Microprocessors, controllers and sensors are unseen by the average consumer, but enable products we use every day to be smarter, greener, safer and significantly advance our quality of life. Exactly where is Freescale contributing to the era of embedded intelligence? Stories from our customers - see Freescale semiconductors in action. Freescale has a long history of technology breakthroughs and has developed some of the most world changing inventions. From transmitting the first words from the moon to the sensors for life saving airbags, take a timeline tour to learn more about Freescale's innovations.
8-bit Microcontrollers
Freescale portfolio of 8-bit MCUs provides a wide ranges of low-power, highly-functional solutions for industrial, consumer and automotive markets. From tiny RS08 devices to highly functional S08 controllers with LCD interfaces to ultra-low-power Flexis
S08 MCUs that offer a connection point in the Controller Continuum to advanced 32-bit solutions, Freescale has the right 8-bit solutions for your applications.
16-bit Microcontrollers
Freescale S12 and S12X MCUs provide high-performance 16-bit control for automotive and industrial applications. The S12X MCUs feature the innovative XGATE module, designed specifically to handle interrupt events without CPU intervention. As a result, the S12X controller has the high-performance capabilities you would normally expect of a 32-bit controller. The 16-bit portfolio also includes a large family of digital signal controllers (DSCs), which combine microcontroller functionality with DSP performance. They are particularly well-suited for advanced motor control applications.
Digital Signal Controllers
Freescale DSC technology's combination of DSP speed with MCU control makes it the ideal solution for industrial control, motion control, home appliances, general purpose inverters, smart sensors, advanced lighting, fire and security systems, switched-mode power supply power management, and medical monitoring applications. These flexible 16-bit devices are particularly well suited for electric motor control and have significantly impacted the home appliance market, spawning quieter and more energy efficient washing machines and dishwashers, for example.
With a wide range of 32-bit microcontroller solutions, a rich choice of performance and peripherals, and low power operation, the ColdFire
32-bit MCU offers good flexibility and choice. A healthy ecosystem of development tools and design resources, makes 32-bit straightforward. ColdFire is derived from the 68k microprocessor architecture, which was designed and manufactured for embedded systems development . ColdFire+ 32-bit microcontrollers build upon ColdFire's heritage and signify the next step in evolution of this architecture family.
Designed for entry-level 32-bit applications, the V1 ColdFire core is a simplified version of the V2 ColdFire core, featuring the same address modes and instruction definitions. It is a memory-configurable hierarchical architecture that is 100-percent synthesizable, specifically designed for reuse and ease of integration into custom designs. The 32-bit core supports up to 150MHz of performance using a standard cell-based design methodology in a generic 130-nm process technology and interfaces to the System-on-Chip (SoC) using the standard AMBA-AHB bus. The core supports a variable-length RISC architecture that allows instructions to be 16, 32 or 48 bits in length. The result is more efficiently packed code in memory, reducing memory requirements and lowering overall system cost.
The ColdFire V2 core is based on a memory-configurable hierarchical architecture that is 100 percent synthesizable and specifically designed for reuse and ease of integration into custom designs. The core supports up to 166 MHz of performance on a 0.13 µm process using a single-issue, standard cell-based design with 32-bit address and data buses and an integrated debug module. The core uses a variable length RISC architecture that allows instructions to be 16, 32, or 48 bits in length. The result is more efficiently packed code in memory, reducing memory requirements and lowering overall system cost.
- Coldfire V4 MCUs
The ColdFire V4 core delivers exceptional performance - more than 500 MIPS - while maintaining a low cost and small size. Upward compatibility from ColdFire V1, V2 and V3 cores provides a smooth roadmap to higher performance designs, giving customers exceptional design flexibility. The ColdFire V4 core can provide over 500MIPs of performance using a standard cell-based design methodology in a generic 90-nm process technology and interfaces to the System-on-Chip (SoC) using the standard AMBA-AHB bus. The core supports a variable-length RISC architecture that allows instructions to be 16, 32 or 48 bits in length.
Kinetis ARM MCUs
The Kinetis portfolio of microcontrollers pairs the efficient ARM Cortex-M4 core with cutting-edge, low-power design techniques. The result is the industry's lowest power Cortex-M4 based MCU solutions. Freescale's Kinetis K series includes more than 200 compatible low-power, high-performance 32-bit MCUs built on the ARM Cortex-M4 core. This series is designed for scalable performance, integration, connectivity, communications, HMI and security and features exceptional integration with multiple fast 16-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and a programmable-gain amplifier (PGA), along with powerful, cost-effective signal conversion, conditioning and control.
The Kinetis L series is an entry-level 32-bit MCU family built on the ARM Cortex-M0+ core. It combines exceptional energy-efficiency and ease-of-use with the performance, peripheral sets, enablement and scalability of the Kinetis 32-bit MCU portfolio, while leveraging the inherent low-power and high-performance features of the ARM Cortex architecture. Manufactured using Freescale’s low-leakage, 90 nm thin film storage (TFS) process technology, the Kinetis L series frees power-critical designs from 8- and 16-bit MCU limitations by combining excellent dynamic and stop currents with superior processing performance. A broad selection of on-chip flash memory densities and extensive analog, connectivity and HMI peripheral options enable increased energy efficiency and intelligence for a range of applications, including battery-operated devices, medical systems, smart meters and motor control systems.
The most versatile platform for multimedia and display applications, Freescale i.MX processors based on ARM technology deliver an optimal balance of power, performance and integration to enable next-generation smart devices. i.MX solutions include processors based on ARM9, ARM11, ARM Cortex-A8 and ARM Cortex-A9 core technologies, and are powering applications across a rapidly growing number of consumer, automotive and industrial markets. Our solutions bring interactivity to a whole new world of products. The i.MX family is part of Freescale's Energy Efficient Solutions.
Power Architecture Host Processors
General-purpose processors based on the e600 core, built on Power Architecture technology, offer performance from 500 MHz to 1.8 GHz, including a dual-core option. Ideal for high-performance processing in networking, aerospace and defense, storage and pervasive computing applications, such as home media, printers, computer clusters, blade servers, thin clients and gaming systems. AltiVec technology is a single instruction multiple data (SIMD) engine defined by 162 “vector” instructions in the instruction set architecture. Freescale’s e600 core built on Power Architecture technology includes the AltiVec engine, enabling software developers to achieve dramatic acceleration in performance-driven, high-bandwidth computing and communications applications.