Freescale microcontroller aimed at car safety apps

Freescale Semiconductor and STMicroelectronics have introduced a dual-core microcontroller (MCU) range aimed at functional safety applications for car electronics.

The 32-bit devices help engineers address the challenge of applying sophisticated safety concepts to comply with current and future safety standards.

The dual-core MCU range also includes features that help engineers focus on application design and simplify the challenges of safety concept development and certification.

Based on the 32-bit Power Architecture technology, the range, part-numbered SPC56EL at ST and MPC564xL at Freescale, is suitable for a range of automotive safety applications, including electric power steering for improved vehicle efficiency, active suspension for improved dynamics and ride performance, anti-lock braking systems, and radar for adaptive cruise control.

The devices are designed to address the requirements of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 61508 and International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) 26262 safety standards that are being applied to the growing number of safety-critical systems in road vehicles.

The single-chip MCUs combine two cores with up to 1MB of flash memory and an optimised peripheral set for safety and motor-control applications (supporting control of up to two brushless three-phase motors).

The dual-core architecture reduces the need for duplication of components at a system level, lowering overall system costs.

The dual-core architecture also allows the user to select lockstep or dual parallel processing (independent core operation) modes, enabling support of multiple safety architectures that the user can configure to achieve a balance between safety and performance level.

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