Infineon Introduces Two Low-Cost 8-bit MCU Series Supporting Energy Efficient Designs of Drives, Automation, Lighting Solutions, and Human Machine Interfaces

Both, better energy efficiency and reduced system costs, are key goals in the design of modern motor controllers used in fans, pumps and compressors, in new types of lighting solutions, and in any kind of power converters. The implementation of intelligent control concepts and connectivity with various communication interfaces helps to fulfill these demands. With the XC82x and XC83x series of 8-bit microcontrollers Infineon combines the market standard 8-bit 8051 CPU and peripherals optimized to enable high energy savings at very low implementation costs. In addition, several of the new devices offer special features to improve the design of man-machine interfaces such as touch panels and LED display applications.

With cost below 0.40 Euro (in 100k unit quantities), the XC82x and XC83x MCUs enable a very cost-effective implementation of energy saving control concepts. XC82x and XC83x features comprise capacitive touch sense and LED matrix controller, EEPROM emulation, 10-bit A/D Converter (ADC), Capture Compare Unit (CCU6) with hardware link to ADC, window watchdog timer, power down modes, and various communication interfaces, such as UART, high speed SPI and I2C. The XC82x series integrates a Multiply-Division-Unit (MDU). The XC83x provides a 16-bit vector computer and a ROM library for field oriented control functions, and high current pads (30mA to 50mA).

“In addition to motor control, intelligent powerful microcontrollers can help to significantly improve the efficiency of lighting, air conditioning, induction cooking, with the potential for energy savings of 40 percent or more,” said Juergen Hoika, Marketing Director, Microcontrollers at Infineon Technologies. ”Low cost and easy-to-use microcontrollers like the Infineon XC82x and XC83x series will help system designers introduce high efficiency designs with no compromise in the use of sophisticated control methods.”

To implement efficient system designs using 8-bit MCUs, both of the new series provide features for generation of high resolution PWM signals, fast ADC measurements, autonomous peripherals, and comparators for control loop and for protection. Specifically, the XC82x/XC83x MCUs provide a Capture/Compare unit (CCU6) clocked at 48MHz and a fast 16-MHz ADC with a sample time of only 125ns and a conversion time of about 820ns. The direct hardware link between ADC and CCU6 in the design ensures fast and reliable control loops. In addition, the integrated ADC limit checker realizes a digital comparator with 8-bit resolution.