Freescale ARM Cortex-M4 family gains early support from IAR Systems

Freescale Technology Forum; UPPSALA, SWEDEN: Earlier this year IAR Systems released support for the ARM Cortex-M4 processor core. Now support has been added for Freescale’s Kinetis family, which is the first microcontroller family based on the new core to reach the market.

The tools from IAR Systems are intended for developing, building, and debugging embedded applications with tough requirements on performance and reliability. They are the world’s most widely used tool chain for ARM based microcontrollers.

Kinetis support has been added in close cooperation with Freescale, and as a result IAR Embedded Workbench is the first tool chain available for the new family. It will be used internally by Freescale to develop support applications, and by Kinetis early lead customers who will find a powerful software development solution in their hands. IAR Embedded Workbench already supports other Freescale families including ColdFire, S08, S12 and i.MX.

“We have chosen IAR systems to be a strategic development tools partner because of their leading position in the Cortex microcontroller market” said Aiden Mitchell, Director of Industrial and Multi-Market Microcontrollers at Freescale Semiconductor. “Their commitment to support our customers with reliable and powerful development tools is a backbone in our enablement strategy.”

“As one of the top semiconductor vendors in the world, Freescale’s launch of an ARM Cortex based microcontroller family is a much-awaited event for the embedded community and has a strategic importance for us ”, said Fredrik Medin, Marketing Director, IAR Systems. “The impressive and scalable range now made available will attract many customers across markets including consumer and industrial.”