Toshiba introduces initial Arm Cortex-M4 microcontroller for motor control
Microcontrollers based on an Arm Cortex-M4 core with floating point unit (FPU) and memory protection unit (MPU), running at speeds up to 160MHz have been announced by Toshiba Electronics Europe. The devices integrate a programmable motor driver (A-PMD), 32-bit advanced encoder (A-ENC), an advanced vector engine plus (A-VE+) and a maximum of three channels of high-speed and high resolution 12-bit ADCs. The devices are suitable for field oriented control (FOC) of up to three AC motors, brushless DC (BLDC) motors and multiple types of inverter control such as variable frequency drives or servo drives.
The microcontrollers have onboard flash memory for code (128 or 256kbyte) and 32kbyte for data as well as a further 24kbyte of general RAM along with a DMA controller (DMAC). Six 32-bit timers are included, which can be operated as 12 16-bit timers if desired. The analogue section has a 12-bit ADC with up to 22 input channels as well as three op amp channels.
There are 12 devices in Toshiba’s M4K group which make up the TXZ+ family. They incorporate multi-channel UART, SPI and I2C interfaces for general communication. The M4M group of devices have a CAN communication interface. Both groups of microcontrollers have self-diagnosis functions for ROM, RAM, ADC and clock, which allow designers to achieve functional safety certification to IEC60730 Class B. All of the motor control microcontrollers offer sophisticated functionality while achieving low current consumption and maintaining backwards compatibility with the existing TXZ M4K products, says Toshiba Electronics Europe.
The microcontrollers are packaged in a range of fine pitch surface mount LQFP packages with up to 100 pins, offering footprints as small as 10 x 10mm.
Comprehensive documentation, sample software with examples of actual usage, evaluation boards and driver software with control interfaces for each peripheral are provided with every device shipped. A development environment is provided to support the design and development process in co-operation with global ecosystem partners.
There are 12 motor control microcontrollers in the M4K group of devices which will be the first in Toshiba Electronics Europe’s TXZ+ family. Toshiba will also start production of 10 motor control microcontrollers in the M4M group. All the devices will be manufactured in a 40nm process and form part of Toshiba’s TXZ4A+ series.
