Latest Freescale digital signal controllers provide low power, big performance at small cost

MC56F8006 family breaks new ground in energy efficiency for motor control, appliance, lighting and power conversion applications

The MC56F8006 family of digital signal controllers is ideal for motor control and appliance applications.

AUSTIN, Texas.– With global demand on the rise for greener appliances and industrial equipment, manufacturers are seeking ways to enhance energy efficiency while reducing system cost. To address these needs, Freescale has introduced a family of digital signal controllers (DSCs) designed to provide energy-efficient motor control at very competitive price points.

The new MC56F8006 family is one of the most energy-efficient DSC portfolios available in the embedded market. It is also one of the most cost-effective DSC offerings, helping reduce development expenses and power consumption for a wide range of motor control and motor drive applications, including appliances. The advanced motor control and power conversion capabilities offered by these DSCs can significantly improve the efficiency, reliability and energy savings of appliances. For example, a washing machine motor digitally controlled by a DSC can enable more efficient agitation cycles that use less water and shorter spin cycles to reduce drying time and energy consumption.

The MC56F8006 DSCs combine the functionality of a microcontroller (MCU) and the processing power of a digital signal processor (DSP) with a flexible set of peripherals to create an extremely cost-effective, powerful and versatile embedded control solution. The MC56F8006 family’s combination of price, performance, peripherals and energy efficiency makes it ideal for power- and cost-sensitive motor control applications, such as three-phase BLDC motors, variable frequency drives, permanent magnet synchronous motors and handheld tool motors.

DSC solutions for wide range of applications
“From home appliances to factory-floor equipment, motor control is one of the embedded world’s most important and challenging applications,” said Aiden Mitchell, director of industrial and multi-market microcontrollers at Freescale. “Developers are looking for technologies that help them enhance the cost effectiveness and energy efficiency of motor control applications. Our MC56F8006 DSC family offers optimal performance, peripheral integration and low-power operation to enable sophisticated yet cost-effective motor control that can have a positive impact on energy consumption.”

In addition to motor control, MC56F8006 DSCs can be used to reduce the cost and complexity of digital power conversion applications, such as board-mounted digital power supplies for servers, industrial and telecom power supplies, and smart power metering. The devices’ powerful signal processing capabilities also can be applied to advanced lighting control in commercial buildings and factories.

Industry-leading power efficiency
A smart choice for power-sensitive motor control applications, the MC56F8006 family offers one of the lowest power consumption rates available in the DSC market. Up to four times more energy efficient than other available DSC offerings, the MC56F8006 devices are designed to operate at 50 mA at 32 MHz and 3.3 V. The DSCs provide an array of power-saving features, such as two power-saving STOP modes, the ability to shut down peripherals independently and fast wake-up time from STOP (less than six microseconds). The energy-efficient devices also feature a very low-power crystal oscillator and ADC modules with ultra-low run current and conversion speed.

The devices’ advanced power management capabilities enable continued application sampling in a reduced power state, which helps extend battery life for battery-backed applications. A partial power-down mode keeps the I/O, RAM, pulse width modulator (PWM) and computer operating properly (COP) module powered while the remainder of the device peripherals shut down. In this state, the DSCs are engineered to consume one microamp in lowest power mode while preserving key state information in RAM.

Optimal peripherals for motor control
The MC56F8006 family’s on-chip peripherals are specifically designed to enhance the performance of motor control and power conversion applications and to reduce external component count and overall cost. Key peripherals include three high-speed comparators, dual 12-bit analog-to-digital controllers (ADCs), two programmable gain amplifiers (PGAs) and a PWM with up to six outputs.

The on-chip ADCs allow flexible configuration to meet high-performance and low-power requirements. The PGAs operate in concert with the ADCs to amplify small signals, increasing the ADC input dynamic range. The PGAs also perform differential-to-single-ended conversion of analog signals and enable precise conversion of analog values. The PWMs enhance power conversion functionality and accuracy for digital power supply and motor control applications. Multiple system faults are detected and processed by on-board hardware to immediately shut down the PWMs in the event of a threatening or dangerous situation. This capability helps ensure system protection with little or no software intervention required.

Easy to use, fast time to market
Freescale’s development tools, combined with the MC56F8006 family, enable developers to speed new products to market. To ease the development process, Freescale offers a comprehensive ecosystem of software tools, demonstration boards, reference designs, application notes, software examples and webinars. CodeWarrior® Development Studio for MC56800/E DSCs enables designers to build and deploy sophisticated DSC systems quickly and easily. A complimentary CodeWarrior license for up to 32KB application code (sufficient for MC56F8006 products) is available through simple Web-based registration.

Freescale also provides the Processor Expert™ rapid application design tool to enable quick generation of peripheral drivers and software libraries. The Processor Expert tool features an extensive library of DSP/DSC algorithms, a library of low-level macro commands for peripherals, and comprehensive motor control, power conversion and soft modem code examples to help streamline the development process.

MC56F8006 family features

* Efficient 16-bit 56800E family DSC engine with dual Harvard architecture
o Up to 32 MIPS at 32MHz core frequency
o Single-cycle 16 × 16-bit parallel multiplier-accumulator (MAC)
o Four 36-bit accumulators, including extension bits
o 32-bit arithmetic and logic multi-bit shifter
* Ultra-low-power operation
o 9 different power modes
o Separate digital (regulated) and analog (referenced to digital) supply outputs
o 50 mA power consumption at 32MHz and 3.3 V
* Up to16 KB of flash and 2 KB SRAM
* Three analog comparators
* Two 16-bit timers; one 16-bit periodic interval timer; programmable delay timer
* Two 2x-16x PGAs
* Two 12-bit ADCs
* Six output PWM with programmable fault capability
* Integrated voltage regulator and power supervisor
* Inter-IC (IIC) bus interface, serial peripheral interface (SPI), high-speed serial communications interface (SCI)
* Factory-trimmed relaxation oscillator
* 48-pin LQFP, 32-pin LQFP and 28-pin SOIC package options

Pricing and availability
MC56F8006 product samples are available now. Suggested resale pricing for the MC56F8006 family starts at $1.50 (USD) in 10,000-unit quantities.

Demonstration systems for the MC56F8006 family are available now. The MC56F8006DEMO-T development set with demonstration board and USB TAP is available at a suggested resale price of $99. The MC56F8006DEMO demonstration board is available for a suggested $49 resale, and the CWH-UTP-ONCE-HE USB TAP host target interface (a cost-effective debugger tool) is available for a suggested $99 resale. (All prices USD.)

In addition to its comprehensive DSC product portfolio and enablement solutions, Freescale is a leading provider of 8-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), 32-bit ColdFire® MCUs and microprocessors, acceleration and pressure sensors, and analog and mixed-signal devices for motor control. These embedded control solutions are widely used for motor control in appliance, building control, and factory automation and drive applications.