Inverter control systems are found in an ever-wider range of products, in response to consumer demand for more energy-efficient appliances. Fine-tuned control of motors and heating elements can deliver significant energy savings in products ranging from refrigerators and air conditioners to dishwashers and magnetic induction cooking appliances. NEC Electronics’ 78K0R/Ix3 MCUs, with 16-bit performance and 8-bit power consumption levels, are ideal for such applications.
All devices in the lineup share the following features: (1) CPU power consumption of only 1.8 milliwatts (mW) per MIPS (*1), the highest performance-to-power-consumption ratio in the industry; (2) on-chip oscillators capable of driving timers at rates up to 40 megahertz (MHz) for fine-tuned inverter control; (3) integrated hardware multiply and divide functionality for fast processing of mathematical algorithms; (4) integration of all analog circuits required for inverter control, including comparators and an integrated operational amplifier (op amp).
This combination of features responds to strong demand from appliance manufacturers for flexible, low-cost, high-performance MCUs to help shorten time to market. Under pressure to differentiate their products from competitor offerings, manufacturers stress innovative features, stylish design and lower power consumption, but this results in mounting development costs and longer development schedules. NEC Electronics’ new MCUs allow fine-grained control of multiple types of 3-phase motors, making it easy to develop eco-friendly appliances. In addition, an all-flash memory configuration means that programs can be updated even after an MCU is mounted on a system board, allowing manufacturers to accelerate development schedules by developing software in parallel with hardware.
