Freescale Semiconductor has introduced the ColdFire MCF5301x 32-bit family of microprocessors which is based on the V3 ColdFire core, combining low power and extensive connectivity options with an audio subsystem for general industrial control applications, including the optional digital voice solution for intercom and public address systems.
The audio subsystem includes a speech coder-decoder, microphone, headset and loudspeaker amplifiers. In addition, an optional non-recurring engineering-free VoIP-based digital voice software solution was designed in partnership with Encore Software and Arcturus Networks specifically for industrial and consumer applications.
The MCF5301x family includes multiple connectivity options, including dual 10/100 Ethernet media access controllers, two smart card interfaces, two USB controllers and an SDIO host controller for easy connection to flash memory cards or wireless connectivity modules, such as the Redpine’s n-Link 802.11n Wi-Fi modules. In addition, the V3 ColdFire CPU with enhanced multiply accumulate unit, 16 KB of cache and 128 KB of integrated SRAM, provides a high level of performance for embedded control with low power consumption across operating modes.
The MCF5301x is supported by a rich ecosystem of Freescale and third-party hardware and software tools. Freescale’s CodeWarrior Development studio for Microcontrollers v.7.2 offers a comprehensive tool suite designed to support software development for future migration opportunities for 8-bit, 16-bit or 32-bit designs.
Wolfgang Patelay, Editor Print & Online 