STMicro and Freescale release 32-bit dual-core MCU for safety apps
October 6, 2009 by John Day
Filed under Product News
STMicroelectronics and Freescale Semiconductor have developed and jointly introduced a new family of 32-bit single-chip, dual-core microcontrollers (MCU) based on Power Architecture® technology.
The STMicro SPC56EL and the Freescale MPC564xL target safety applications such as electric power steering, active suspension, anti-lock braking systems, and radar for adaptive cruise control. The MCUs address the requirements of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61508 and International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26262 safety standards for the growing number of safety-critical systems in road vehicles.
“The increasing importance of safety systems in cars, including advanced driver assistance and vehicle dynamics control, strengthens the need for more reliable and robust electronics,” said Paul Grimme, corporate vice president and general manager of STMicroelectronics’ Automotive Product Group.
“This jointly developed technology will enable faster development and validation of advanced safety systems,” said Dr. Reza Kazerounian, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Microcontroller Solutions Group.
The MCUs combine two high-performance cores with up to 1MB of flash memory and a peripheral set optimized for safety and motor-control applications (supporting control of up to two brushless 3-phase motors). The dual-core architecture reduces the need for duplication of components at a system level, thus lowering overall system costs. It also allows system developers to select lockstep (redundant) processing or dual parallel processing for increased performance. In lockstep mode the MCU replicates key device components such as the CPU core and DMA (Direct Memory Access) and crossbar switch, and provides automatic hardware diagnostics and safety features to meet the requirements of ISO Automotive Safety Integrity Level: ASIL D. The on-chip safety approach enables developers to avoid additional circuitry and software and instead concentrate on the application hardware and software development.
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