New 16-bit Microcontroller Greatly Enhances Home Appliance Interfaces

- Single-chip solution for controlling displays, touch panels, music & voice

– TOKYO, Japan.-Seiko Epson Corporation (“Epson,” TSE: 6724) today announced that it has recently developed a 16-bit microcontroller that enhances the user interface of control panels used in items such as white goods and factory automation equipment. Samples of the new microcontroller, called the S1C17803, will be available to ship from the end of March 2009. Epson expects to launch volume production in August 2009, with a monthly output of 500,000 units. The company plans to make the new microcontroller available in two package types, a TQFP (0.4-mm pitch) and a QFP (0.5-mm pitch).

Microcontrollers are essential for the increasingly complicated user interfaces employed on control panels for home appliances, which are now commonly being equipped with higher-resolution displays, touch panels, voice guidance and a host of other functions. The S1C17803, positioned as the high-end model in Epson’s S1C17 family of 16-bit microcontrollers, will dramatically improve the performance of these operation panel user interfaces.
Features of the S1C17803

1. LCD controller
* LCD controller compatible with monochrome STN panels
o QVGA (320 x 240) capable with built-in RAM
o VGA (640 x 480) and QVGA (16 shades) capable with external SRAM
* DMA function for various types of LCD drivers with built-in RAM
o Easily connects to various LCD drivers with built-in RAM, and capable of high-speed display data transfers
2. Touch-panel control
* Connects to touch panels, which are increasingly being used as user interfaces in products
3. Voice support
* Standard I2S interface with audio DACs
o High-quality 16-bit stereo sound playback
* PWM control timer supports sound function for music and voice playback
o Mono voice playback
* 16-bit x 16-bit multiply instruction, 16-bit x 16-bit + 32-bit multiply-add instruction, and 16-bit /16-bit divide instruction
o Reduces CPU load during voice playback processing
4. Multi-voltage I/O (MVIO)
* No external passive components needed for voltage conversion
o A single chip supports systems configured with multiple supply voltages ranging from 3 V to 5 V.
o Also supports 3.0 V, 3.3 V or 5.0 V single-source systems
5. Battery back-up
* RTC and RAM (BBRAM) driven by an independent power supply
o Achieves significant power savings by allowing most of the power supply to be turned off while maintaining clock operation and settings data
o Can maintain clock operation and settings data for a long time in a power failure using just the leftover charge in the capacitor