32-bit microcontroller touts improved energy efficiency

Infineon Technologies has introduced its new XMC4000 32-bit microcontroller family, which uses the Cortex-M4 processor from ARM. The XMC4000 family is designed to enable scalable, compatible solutions with a high degree of software reusability. The portfolio consists of five series: XMC4100, XMC4200, XMC4400, XMC4500 and XMC4700. These series mainly differ in terms of core frequency, memory capacity and peripheral functions and number of I/O’s.

The XMC4000 family has a powerful CPU subsystem, DSP functionality, floating point unit, fast Flash memory with only 22ns read time and error correction code (ECC), large SRAM and extended peripheral functions. The extensive range of peripherals includes new timer modules, up to four parallel 12-bit A/D converters with a sampling rate of 70ns and conversion time of 500ns, up to two 12-bit D/A converters, up to four high-resolution PWM channels (150ps), integrated delta-sigma demodulator modules and touch button modules.

Powerful communication is provided by an IEEE 1588-compatible Ethernet MAC (Media Access Control for Ethernet with time stamp), USB 2.0, CAN and SD/MMC interfaces and up to six serial communication channels, which can be individually configured as UART, SPI, Quad SPI, IIC, IIS or LIN using software. In addition, the XMC4000 family offers a fast external bus interface that supports synchronous standards such as SDRAM or Burst Flash, and asynchronous standards such as SRAM, NAND Flash and NOR Flash.

The integrated development environment DAVE 3 makes convenient, fast and application-oriented software development possible. The Eclipse-based environment with free GNU compiler, debugger and data display utilities can be extended using third party tools. DAVE 3 also supports automatic code generation based on predefined software components. DAVE 3 ensures that developers of industrial applications can make full use of the functionality of XMC4000 microcontrollers with only little programming effort. The code that is generated can be directly compiled, debugged and displayed in DAVE 3 – or imported into third party tools for further processing.

The first device in the 32-bit XMC4000 family that Infineon is bringing to market is the XMC4500 series. These microcontrollers offer a 120MHz-CPU, up to 1MB of embedded Flash memory, 160KB of RAM, and a comprehensive range of peripheral and interface functions. The peripherals include four parallel fast 12-bit A/D converter modules, two 12-bit D/A converters, four delta sigma demodulator modules, six capture/compare units (CCU4 and CCU8), two positioning interface modules, and a module for eight touch buttons. Communication functions comprise interfaces for Ethernet, USB, and SD/MMC. In addition, the XMC4000 family offers three CAN modules, six serial communication channels and one external bus interface for communication.

Samples of the XMC4500 series and DAVE 3 will be available in March 2012. For development support, Infineon offers a modular design kit with which up to three additional application boards can be connected to the basic design board, depending on the respective application requirements. Samples of the XMC4400, XMC4200 and XMC4100 series will be available in Q4 2012.


Infineon Technologies AG