Toshiba's new microcontrollers: expanded flash memory for firmware updates

The newly released devices feature various interface and control options that contribute to advanced motor control functionality in consumer and industrial equipment.

All devices in Toshiba’s M4K and M4M groups, including the newly released devices, feature an Arm Cortex-M4 core running up to 160MHz, integrated code flash and 32KB data flash memory with 100K program/erase cycle endurance.

These microcontrollers also offer functional blocks for field-oriented control (FOC) of PMSM and BLDC motors such as advance-programmable motor driver (A-PMD), advanced encoder 32-bit (A-ENC32), advanced vector engine plus (A-VE+), and three units of high-speed and high-resolution 12-bit analog/digital converters. The 1MB code flash in the TMPM4KxF10AxxG and TMPM4MxF10AxxG devices is implemented in two separate 512KB areas, allowing instructions to be read from one area, while the updated code is programmed into the other area in parallel. This technique enables firmware rotation with the memory swap method for firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates.

Devices in the M4K group have UART, TSPI and I²C integrated as general communication interfaces and the M4M group additionally has a CAN communication interface. The self-diagnosis functions incorporated in the devices for flash memory, RAM, ADC, and Clock help designers achieve IEC 60730 Class B functional safety certification – a necessity for home appliances, such as washing machines, dishwashers, and freezers. Other applications for these microcontrollers include heat pumps and HVAC due to the possibility of driving up to three motors with a single MCU.

Documentation, sample software with actual usage examples, and driver software that controls the interfaces for each peripheral are available for free download from Toshiba’s website.

Depending on the communication and functionality integrated into the devices, package options include 87-pin I/O ports for 0.5mm pitch LQFP100 and 0.65mm pitch QFP100, or 51-pin I/O ports in the 10 x 10mm or 14 x 14mm LQFP64. Evaluation boards and development environments are provided in cooperation with various technology partners, including Arm global ecosystem.