Product category: Design and Development Hardware
News Release from: Future Electronics | Subject: Crossbow
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 28 June 2007
Board eases transition between
8 and 32bit MCUs
Development board allows designers experiment with the use of various 8 and 32bit Freescale Semiconductor microcontrollers in system prototypes
New from Future Electronics, the Crossbow development board promises unparalleled freedom to experiment with the use of various 8 and 32bit Freescale Semiconductor microcontrollers (MCUs) in system prototypes. Crossbow adopts the Future-Blox stackable board format introduced by Future Electronics in October 2006.
This article was originally published on Electronicstalk on 28 June 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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This format allows designers to plug together combinations of controller and application boards to quickly build complete system or subsystem proofs-of-concept.
Future-Blox boards already released include two Ethernet embedded controller boards (one with power-over-Ethernet capability), a brushless DC motor controller board, an AC induction motor controller board and a digital signal controller board.
The new Crossbow board provides a powerful microcontroller development platform to work with these and other application boards, with the unique advantage that it supports hardware plug-ins for a choice of Freescale 8 and 32bit MCUs.
At the hardware level, Crossbow consists of a baseboard, and daughterboard plug-ins for separate Freescale 8 and 32bit MCUs.
The boards support a wide array of peripherals and communications interfaces, addressing all the mainstream requirements of industrial and consumer 8 and 32bit MCU users.
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Crossbow is now available for customer shipping with daughterboards for the MC9S08QE128 (8bit) and MCF51QE128 (32bit ColdFire V1) microcontrollers, which are also being released today by Freescale as the first in its new Flexis MCU series at the 'connection point' of the Controller Continuum.
The Flexis QE device duo enables seamless adaptability between 8bit and 32bit MCUs.
These new QE products are pin- and peripheral-compatible, with software written to the MC9S08QE128 running unmodified on the MCF51QE128.
Crossbow is reckoned to be the perfect platform for developing product concepts that use these devices.
For instance, a design engineer can build a prototype system using Crossbow hosting the S08QE128 daughterboard - simply unplug the S08 daughterboard and replace it with the ColdFire V1 daughterboard, boot it up and instantly test the improved performance provided by the more powerful device.
Code can be written for both controllers using the CodeWarrior Development Studio for Microcontrollers (Special Edition) supplied free with Crossbow.
Future Electronics supplies demonstration software with Crossbow illustrating that the same code runs on both the Flexis QE MCUs.
The Crossbow baseboard is not, however, limited to hosting Flexis ICs.
Additional daughter boards scheduled for release by Future Electronics during Q3 2007 will add support for: the MC9S08LC60LK 8bit MCU, which includes an integrated glass LCD driver; the MC9S08DZ60 8bit MCU, which includes an integrated CAN 2.0 bus controller; and the MC9S08GB60ACFUE and MC9S08GT60ACBFE 8bit MCUs.
In addition, Future Electronics makes public its design format and protocol for Crossbow, and so customers can develop their own daughterboard to support the Freescale MCU of their choice.
Fred Knowles, V-P of Technical Sales at Future, says: 'Future-Blox boards are real experimentation engines'.
'Now, for the first time, developers can spend their time on experimenting with their design, and working on how they can improve their product, rather than getting delayed just trying to get incompatible eval boards to communicate'.
'With Crossbow this is even more the case - you do not have to commit up front to a choice of 8bit MCU'.
'At a hardware level it's as simple to try a different micro in your prototype as it is to put an electric plug in a wall outlet, and with Flexis, you can even keep the same code when moving up the performance curve from 8bit to 32bit'.
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