Texas Instruments has introduced what it says is the industry's first floating-point microcontroller (MCU) for extreme temperature operation (from -55 degrees Celsius to 210 degrees Celsius). Exceeding the traditional 150 degrees Celsius limit for other high-temperature semiconductors, the SM320F28335-HT Delfino 32-bit MCU is designed for manufacturers of electronics operating in harsh and hot environments, such as downhole drilling, commercial jet engines, motor control, military applications, and medical instruments and surgical tools requiring sterilization.
The SM320F28335-HT Delfino MCU is based on TI's TMS320C2000 MCU platform, which combines control peripheral integration and embedded flash memory with the processing power of a 32-bit floating-point architecture. Enabling operation at up to 210 degrees Celsius eliminates the need for expensive up-screening and qualification tests of industrial grade MCUs, allowing for faster design of applications operating in harsh environments and cutting development time by up to one year, according to TI.
The TMS320F28335 Experimenter Kit, which is based on the commercial grade, code-compatible version of the F28335 Delfino MCU, is also immediately available for experimentation and code development for the new high-temperature version. The kit is priced at $99.
The device is available in a hermetic ceramic pin grid array package. Pricing is $406.25 in 100-unit quantities.
