Freescale reaches for future with Qorivva automotive powertrain MCU

Society of Automobile Engineers 2012 World Congress, DETROIT, USA: Freescale Semiconductor announced sampling of the multicore Qorivva MPC5746M microcontroller (MCU), designed to address the growing global demand for improved performance in automotive powertrain systems while meeting the latest safety and application security requirements.

The MPC5746M is Freescale’s first high-performance 32-bit MCU built on a new 200-megahertz quad-core Power Architecture platform. This new design helps optimize software and safety strategies on a multicore platform with integrated safety checker and a parallel I/O processor. An optimal performance choice for internal combustion engines, hybrid systems and transmission systems, the MPC5746M MCU also helps recognize and prevent electronics system faults while protecting against potential software hacks as vehicles become more connected.

The Qorivva MPC5746M MCU increases the computational and memory capabilities available to the automotive industry, including 4 MB of embedded flash memory. The new device provides more than twice the performance of Freescale’s benchmark-setting MPC5674F MCU, while maintaining the same power budget and capability of running in harsh automotive under-hood environments. The device is implemented in Freescale’s new 55 nm non-volatile memory (NVM) technology and is expected to be joined later this year by a new 300 MHz quad-core platform with 8 MB of flash memory for the next generation of highly integrated powertrain systems currently in development.

“Automotive electronics can play a significant role in addressing the ever-increasing requirements for reduced fuel consumption by helping engines run more efficiently and save fuel without compromising performance,” said Ray Cornyn, VP of Freescale’s automotive MCU business. “High-performance multicore solutions like our new MPC5746M MCU are key to helping automakers provide better fuel efficiency for consumers. Since this device is based around the industry standard Power Architecture technology, our customers also get the ease of using one of the industry’s most prolific architectures, used extensively across networking, avionics and industrial applications, that is expected to provide needed innovation for many years to come.”