Fujitsu expands FM3 family of 32-bit MCUs based on ARM Cortex M3 core

SUNNYVALE, USA: Fujitsu Semiconductor America Inc. (FSA) has extended its comprehensive portfolio of general-purpose, 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), introducing 52 new products designed for home appliances, office automation, and digital consumer products.

The new MCUs are part of the Fujitsu FM3 family of controllers announced last November. The Fujitsu FM3 devices, which are built around the ARM Cortex M3 global-standard core, incorporate a wide variety of peripheral features refined during Fujitsu's years of experience developing its 32-bit RISC (FR) microcontrollers.

The 52 new products are part of the MB9A310 and MB9A110 Series, bringing the FM3 Basic Product Group to a total of 60 products. Coupled with the devices previously released in the High-Performance Line, the entire FM3 family now includes a total of 96 MCUs to meet a wide range of system design needs.

The FM3 family offers superior design freedom along with excellent cost-performance for applications such as home appliances, audio/video equipment, portable electrical goods, factory equipment, medical products, and office automation products.

"The MB9A310 and MB9A110 Series achieve an excellent balance between cost-performance and low power consumption," said Akio Nezu, senior product manager, Fujitsu Semiconductor America. "Each member of the series has been designed for fast-growing application segments, such as the inverter control used in major home appliances, and the system and motor control used in printers, copy machines and similar devices. By employing products from the FM3 series, system designers achieve high processing performance and streamlined software development, along with a greater selection of devices."

Key features of FM3 MCUs
The new MCUs in the FM3 Basic Product Group expand pin, memory and interface options. The 52 new devices provide flash memory from 64KB to 512KB and increase the range of package options from 64-pin to 112-pin versions. A USB 2.0 host/function has also been added.

The FM3 family can operate on a wide range of power supply voltages, from 2.7V to 5.5V. The devices are well-suited for the conventional 5V power-supply voltage needs of major home appliances, office automation devices, and other consumer electronics designed for Asia and Latin America. As part of the High-Performance Line, the new Basic Product Group devices balance sophisticated 32-bit processing and performance with reduced power consumption.

The microcontrollers are embedded with high-speed, high-reliability NOR flash memory, which is designed for 100,000 write cycles and can retain data for up to 20 years. The high-speed CPUs and flash memory provided in the FM3 series have no wait-cycle penalty up to 40MHz and achieve maximum performance in this category.