Freescale extends reach of PowerQUICC II Pro architecture with new processors

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Freescale Semiconductor is introducing a new portfolio of cost-effective PowerQUICC II Pro processors with exceptional performance-to-power ratios and upgraded interconnect technology options. The portfolio was introduced during the Freescale Technology Forum that took place on August 18-19, 2010, in Bangalore.

Featuring sub-$10 resale price points, the new MPC830x communications processor portfolio includes the MPC8308, MPC8309 and MPC8306/8306S products, which all offer upgraded high-speed interconnects allowing customers to lower bill of material (BOM) costs for target applications such as line cards, industrial applications, WLAN access points, intelligent NIC equipment, smart energy gateways, and general purpose control functions.

The MPC830x communications processor portfolio was designed at Freescale’s India Design Center using advanced SoC design methodologies and techniques to achieve quick cycle times from product definition to silicon qualification.

“The MPC830x portfolio caters to new or existing customers looking for processors with high integration, scalable performance and low power for entry-level networking, industrial control or factory automation applications,” said Dhiraj Handa, director and general manager of the Customer Specific Products division of Freescale’s Networking & Multimedia Group. “Code compatibility with legacy PowerQUICC I and II products, an upgraded peripheral feature set and aggressive price/performance points are the hallmark of this new portfolio of products.”

All products in the MPC830x portfolio incorporate the e300c3 (MPC603e-based) core built on Power Architecture® technology, which includes 16 Kbytes of L1 instruction and data caches, IEEE 754 double precision floating point unit, dual integer units and on-chip memory management units (MMUs). The MPC8306/09 devices provide up to 800 MIPS of performance along with high integration and low power consumption, enabling fanless, “green” and low cost designs.

MPC8309 product features
• e300 core running up to 400 MHz
• Single-RISC QUICC Engine communications module
• 16/32-bit DDR2 memory controller with ECC support running up to 266 MHz
• Peripheral interfaces such as 32-bit/66 MHz PCI, 16-bit/66 MHz local bus interface, USB 2.0 (high speed), x4 CAN, x4 UARTs, enhanced SDHC controller, 5 unified communication protocols to support multiple fast Ethernet/HDLC ports/IEEE 1588 support.

MPC8306/8306S product features
• e300 core running up to 266 MHz.
• Single-RISC QUICC Engine communications module.
• 16-bit DDR2 memory controller running up to 266 MHz.
• Peripheral interfaces such as 16-bit/66 MHz local bus interface, USB 2.0 (high speed), x4 CAN, x4 UARTs, enhanced SDHC controller, 5 unified communication protocols to support multiple fast Ethernet/HDLC ports /IEEE 1588 support.

MPC8308 product features
• e300 core running up to 400 MHz.
• 16/32-bit DDR2 memory controller w/ ECC support running up to 266/333 MHz.
• Peripheral interfaces such as 16-bit/66 MHz local bus interface, single lane PCI Express, USB 2.0 (high speed), enhanced SDHC controller, dual gigabit Ethernet controllers.

The MPC830x devices are offered in 19mm x 19mm MAPBGA packages with a 0.8mm pitch, enabling a smaller overall footprint for space-constrained applications while minimizing board routing complexity. Pin counts vary from a 369-pin package for the MPC8308 up to a 489-pin version for the MPC8309. The portfolio’s high level of integration allows customers to lower BOM costs while fulfilling demanding form-factor requirements.

Software and development tools
Freescale is offering a cost effective evaluation kit (MPC830x-KIT) containing a single MPC830x carrier card at a $499 (USD) suggested resale price and system-on-modules (SOMs) for each of the MPC830x devices ranging from $269 to $299.

Freescale also offers the MPC8308-RDB reference design board for $299 suggested resale price. The evaluation boards include a Linux 2.6 BSP with optimized drivers to support peripherals, quick-start guide and a six-month evaluation license for CodeWarrior™ development tools.

MPC830x portfolio products are priced at sub-$10 resale, providing optimum performance for cost-sensitive applications. Suggested resale pricing in 10,000 quantities ranges from $7.36 for the MPC8306 to $9.94 for the MPC8308.

The MPC8308 is shipping in volume production now. Samples for the MPC8306/8306S and MPC8309 are now available for limited customers with volume production for these devices expected in December 2010 and March 2011 respectively.