M4 Becomes the Tendency of Cortex-based Microcontroller

Published:2011/9/26 4:12:00 Author:Li xiao na From:SeekIC

Because of the DSP capability, the M4 is the essential watershed architecture for Cortex-based microcontroller. Now, Cortex-M series heavyweight, STMicroelectronics has introduced its first microcontroller which is based on the ARM Cortex-M4 processor core. The most popular Cortex-M based microcontrollers of ST can be applied in metering, point of sales and building security systems. The Cortex-M4 based STM32 F4 MCUs aim at signal control applications such as high-end motor
control, medical equipment and security.

The pin-to-pin and software compatibility are combined with the STM32 F2 parts. The built-in integer DSP and an optional floating point unit are the keys of Cortex-M4. Consequently, it is effective that a digital signal controller aimed at the audio, motor control, industrial automation and automotive applications.

The executing DSP or floating point instructions make the M4 different with M3. With MP3 decode consuming 0.5mW, power consumption is predicted to be less than 40µW/MHz. Rather than use the Cortex-M4 core, Texas Instruments has chosen the ARM Cortex-M3 core to integrate its own higher performance C28x DSP core.

A real-time control subsystem based on TI’s C28x core with floating point is the feature of the Concerto F28M35x microcontroller series which was released in the summer. The communications subsystem is based on Cortex-M3 and there are peripherals such as Ethernet, USB On-The-Go, dual CAN, and multiple serial communication ports. Performance can be tailored to different applications with options for 150/75MHz, 100/100MHz or 60/60MHz on the C28x and Cortex-M3 cores, respectively.
ARM’s Cortex M4 processor core is the basic of Freescale Semiconductor’s Kinetis family; NXP Semiconductors also has a dual-core microcontroller which is its first asymmetrical dual-core device integrating ARM Cortex-M4 and Cortex-M0 processors.

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