Freescale's Kinetis KV5x MCU with Arm® Cortex®-M7 Core Drives Motor Control into the IoT Era

Kinetis V series MCU family enables a new generation of secure, connected, highly efficient motor control applications

NUREMBERG, Germany, Feb. 24, 2015 – 

Freescale Semiconductor's (NYSE: FSL) new Kinetis KV5x MCU family is harnessing the full performance potential of the Arm Cortex-M7 core to enable far-reaching design enhancements in the expansive and rapidly evolving digital motor control market.

Electric motors remain the number one source of electricity consumption globally. With the vast majority of deployed motors commonly based on outdated, inefficient technologies, the migration toward digital-based control systems with secure networking capabilities presents a significant opportunity for both energy conservation and end-product feature innovation.

The Kinetis KV5x MCU addresses this by combining leading-edge processing power, sophisticated analog and timing peripherals, and new connectivity, security and safety features. It brings increased motor efficiency, remote system management and end-node interoperability via the Internet of Things (IoT) to a vast range of applications, from home appliances to complex industrial drives.

The Kinetis KV5x MCU incorporates an IEEE® 1588 Ethernet controller, a cryptographic acceleration unit with random number generator and a memory protection unit. With motors often employed in safety-critical environments such as manufacturing process control, these features allow developers to implement new services via the IoT infrastructure while protecting against erroneous inputs that could lead to an undesired operating condition.

"In combining the advanced processing power of the Arm Cortex-M7 core with Freescale's market-leading IP and robust connectivity, security and safety features, the Kinetis KV5x MCU is establishing the motor control and power conversion segments as compelling new additions to the vibrant IoT landscape," said Geoff Lees, senior vice president and general manager for Freescale's microcontroller group. "Kinetis KV5x customers can look forward to a new era of connected industrial applications featuring new levels of performance, reliability and power efficiency."

The KV5x features a 240 MHz Arm Cortex-M7 core with single precision floating-point unit. This executes program code from up to 1 MB of on-chip flash memory via a 256-bit wide interface that minimizes CPU wait states. 128 KB of data tightly coupled memory (DTCM) and 64 KB of instruction TCM (ITCM) maximize high performance deterministic processing, ensuring optimum response for real-time motor speed and position detection. And with four high-speed 12-bit ADCs, each capable of 5 Msps, the Kinetis KV5x MCU family can support fully asynchronous, dual 3-phase motor control with two dedicated ADCs and 8 channel PWMs per motor. Dual 12-channel eFlexPWMs also support 312 picosecond resolution for driving up to 8 half-bridge power stages in power conversion applications.

"Freescale's new Kinetis family is taking a leading role in unlocking new areas where energy efficiency and connectivity can enable innovation, in this instance moving motor control beyond its traditional boundaries," said Noel Hurley, general manager for Arm's CPU group. "The latest energy-efficient Cortex-M7 is a good fit for this market with its enhanced DSP capability and support for safety-critical applications."

Freescale expands development resources for industrial markets

Coinciding with the introduction of the new Kinetis KV5x MCU family, Freescale is also launching several additions to its growing motor control and digital power conversion enablement portfolio:

• FRDM-KV10Z, FRDM-KV31F and FRDM-MC-LVBLDC/PMSM - Low-cost Freescale Freedom development platforms for BLDC and PMSM motor control. See them on display at embedded world 2015. Production planned for Q2 2015.
• High-Voltage Development Platform - 115/230 volt, 1KW 3-phase motor control software development platform for BLDC, PMSM and ACIM motors of >1Hp. Supports Kinetis KV1x/KV3x/KV4x MCUs and MC56F82748 DSC
• TWR-SMPS-LVFB - Low Voltage Full Bridge DC-DC SMPS Tower System module with dynamic load and feedback circuits covering multiple power control algorithms
• Embedded Software Libraries / Switched-Mode Power Supply (SMPS) LLC Resonant Converter Reference Design - Libraries for math, motor and power control functions. Offline SMPS reference design based on LLC resonant converter topology.

Programming for Kinetis MCUs is available for all Kinetis V series products - a service for customers who wish to have their unique software programmed onto their MCUs prior to shipment. For more details, visit Freescale.com/KProgram.

Availability

Kinetis KV5x MCU samples are planned for availability in Q2 2015, with production-qualified products planned for late Q3 2015. For more information, visit www.freescale.com/Kinetis/Vseries.

About Freescale

Freescale is the global leader in embedded processing solutions, advancing the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. From microprocessors and microcontrollers to sensors, analog ICs and connectivity - our technologies are the foundation to the innovations that make our world greener, safer, healthier and more connected

Freescale embedded semiconductor and connectivity solutions power your cars, networks, medical devices, appliances, smart mobile devices and more. As a global leader of embedded processing solutions, Freescale provides vital technologies for innovations in the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets.

Freescale s vast product portfolio includes 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers, 32-bit microcontrollers & processors, digital signal processors & controllers, analog & power management, customer specific ICs & custom SOCs, RF and sensors. Freescale s software and development solutions take you beyond the silicon, helping to bring your embedded applications to life.

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