The Kinetis K50 family, the newest addition to Freescale’s Kinetis 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) line, is targeted for medical and industrial applications. Introduced at Embedded World 2011 in Nuremberg Germany the family consists of four subfamilies (K50, K51, K52, K53) with a total of 40 devices, all compatible with more than 200 other MCUs in the Kinetis portfolio.
An integrated measurement engine, unique to the K50 family, allows reliable processing of external analog signals and eliminates the need for costly additional components, reducing development costs. On-chip signal processing is made possible with the integration of operational and transimpedance amplifiers, as well as a high-speed 16-bit analog-to-digital converter that converts and acquires the signal.
The K50 family offers multiple monitoring interfaces on chip, including Ethernet, an integrated low-power LCD controller, a capacitive touch-sensing module, as well as support for numerous communication protocols (USB, UART, SPI, I2C, I2S and/or external bus), providing multiple connectivity options for constant monitoring. The connectivity capability enables industrial and medical applications to constantly monitor, evaluate and control system variables. Medical device communication can also be achieved with the USB personal healthcare device class and Continua connectivity libraries.
The K50 family offers 128 KB of flash memory in a 64-pin package starting at $3.58 (USD) MSRP for 10K quantities. Freescale intends to offer sample quantities in June 2011, starting with the 144 MAPBGA, 144 LQFP and 100 LQFP packages.