Era of Connected Intelligence

During his keynote presentation at the opening of the Freescale Technology Forum 2010 here in Orlando, Florida, Freescale Semiconductor CEO Rich Beyer said that it is appropriate to learn the lessons of the past as the industry looks into the future. In one of his presentations, he highlighted the series of upturns and downturns in the technology industry, from the automotive electronics in the 1970s, to the dotcom bubble and burst in the 1990s and early 2000, and until in 2008 and up to last year, during which the industry experienced the worst recession in 80 years.


Freescale Semiconductor CEO Rich Beyer

“But we are coming out of that. What we believe that is going to lead the semiconductor industry out of that particular downturn is the era of connected intelligence. Devices dramatically extend the internet connectivity—mobile computing, smart phones, smart mobile devices of all sorts, including these mobile devices being deployed in automobiles. Growth is accelerating wireless broadband everywhere. We at Freescale believe that this is going to be a decade of dramatic change,” said Beyer. He added that the applications evolution in devices, for instance the device’s user interface, and now device-to-device interfaces and even device-to-infrastructure, will result in improved efficiencies, new type of services, and even new forms of entertainment.

Multicore processing, according to Beyer, is a big part of that solution. “But this will require a new development approach. The hardware that we’ve been so familiar with is now much more intimately tied to the software design and development process. As we transition from single-core processors that we have used for so many decades to multicore, we are creating unique software challenges for us and our customers. To deal with that increase in complexity, we need to work in conjunction with our partners,” said Beyer.

Latest technology innovations
FTF 2010 also opened with several innovative and leading-edge product announcements from Freescale Semiconductor, including the Kinetis family of 90nm 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) based on the new ARM Cortex-M4 processor; the single-core 64-bit P5010 and dual-core 64-bit P5020 processors, based from the latest e5500 core of the company’s QorIQ; and the new Xtrinsic Motion Sensing Platform, which integrates an accelerometer, processing core, memory, and multiple embedded functions in one solution. Freescale has also announced its ColdFire+ MCU line, which aims to take ColdFire into the future.

Kinetis
Kinetis MCUs are claimed to be the most scalable mixed-signal consumer and industrial MCU families from Freescale. Complementing Freescale’s ColdFire+ MCU line, the devices are built using Freescale’s 90nm Thin Film Storage (TFS) technology with FlexMemory capability, and share the same software enablement and ultra–low power flexibility as ColdFire+ MCUs. According to Reza Kazerounian, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Freescale’s Microcontroller Solutions Group, seven new Kinetis MCU families are expected to be released over the next 12 months, each one featuring the latest in low power innovation and a powerful array of mixed signal capabilities. In a statement, Kazerounian said that by offering ARM MCUs in addition to the company’s existing ColdFire solutions and MCUs built on Power Architecture technology, Freescale is delivering the ideal hardware and software solution available in the marketplace to our customers – regardless of core architecture preference. “We are building on our strong existing relationship with ARM by being the first to market with a broad portfolio of MCUs based on ARM’s new Cortex-M4 core,” he added.

New QorIQ core
Lisa Su, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Freescale’s Networking and Multimedia Group, meanwhile said that the e5500 – a new core update under the company’s QorIQ platform – delivers twice the performance of the company’s e500 core, features 64-bit capability, can support frequencies up to 2.5GHz, and has a hybrid 32-bit support. In addition to powering P5 level products, the 64-bit e5500 cores will be also be incorporated into future generations of QorIQ architectures. The e5500 includes enhancements to support many-core SoC implementations, as well as heterogeneous multicore processors that integrate StarCore and Power Architecture technologies in the same device.

Another release from the QorIQ platform is the quad-core P3 platform, which expands the reach of Freescale’s P4 platform into lower power applications. Manufactured in 45nm silicon-on-insulator process technology, the P3041 processor offers optimal integration and new intellectual property that delivers improved functionality for end-products. Integrating four e500mc cores based on Power Architecture technology, the P3041 runs up to 1.5GHz at less than 12W, and delivers about 2.5DMIPS/MHz. With the release of the P3 platform, Freescale has completed the first generation of its QorIQ multicore platforms, according to Su.

Xtrinsic
Expanding on its more than 30-year sensor history, Freescale has also launched its Xtrinsic sensing solutions, which feature the right combination of high performance sensing capability, processing capacity, and customizable software for smart, differentiated sensing applications. One of the first solutions, the Xtrinsic Motion Sensing Platform MMA9550L manages multiple sensor inputs and can perform intelligent, system-level decisions within the application. It extends three-axis accelerometer functionality with a programmable core and on-chip memory to enable advanced motion sensing capability. Suitable for mobile phones and consumer applications, highly flexible and configurable MMA9550L has 14-bit resolution and comes in a 3x3x1mm package.

“We tend to be driven by the need for efficiency, and fuelled by the speed of execution. We think innovation will create differentiation, but speed will define leadership. Freescale’s vision is to be the global leader in embedded processing solutions in all the markets that we serve. We are doing that by focusing on our core strengths, in our embedded microprocessors, microcontrollers, and digital signal processors,” said Beyer.

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