MCF5204

The MCF5204 integrated microprocessor combines a ColdFire^TM processor core with several peripheral functions such as timers and serial interface. Designed for cost-sensitive embedded control applications, the ColdFire core delivers enhanced performance while maintaining low system cost. To speed program execution, the on-chip instruction cache and SRAM provide one-cycle access to critical code and data. The MCF5204 processor greatly reduces the time required for system design and implementation by packaging common system functions on chip and providing glueless interfaces to 8- and 16-bit SRAM, ROM, and I/O devices.

The revolutionary ColdFire microprocessor architecture of the MCF5204 gives cost-sensitive, high-volume markets new levels of price and performance. Based on the concept of variable-length RISC technology, ColdFire combines the architectural simplicity of conventional 32-bit RISC with a memory-saving, variable-length instruction set. In defining the ColdFire architecture for embedded processing applications, Motorola incorporated RISC architecture for peak performance and a simplified version of the variable-length instruction set found in the M68000 Family for code density.

By using a variable-length instruction set architecture of the MCF5204, embedded processor designers using ColdFire RISC processors will enjoy significant system-level advantages over conventional fixed-length RISC architectures.The denser binary code for ColdFire processors consumes less valuable memory than any fixed-length instruction set RISC processor available. This improved code density means more efficient system memory use for a given application, and requires slower, less costly memory to help achieve a target performance level.

The integrated peripheral functions provide high performance and flexibility. The serial interface consists of a programmable full duplex UART. The MCF5204 has two 16-bit general-purpose multimode timers, one of which provides a separate input and output signal. For system protection, the processor includes a programmable 16-bit software watchdog timer and several bus monitors. In addition, common system functions such as chip-selects, interrupt control, and IEEE 1149.1 Test (JTAG) support are included.

A sophisticated debug interface supports both background-debug mode and real-time trace of the MCF5204. This interface is common to all ColdFire-based processors and allows common emulator support across the entire ColdFire Family.