Triad Semiconductor announces first mixed-signal ARM Cortex-M0 Processor with 16-bit ADC and 12-bit DAC

WINSTON-SALEM, USA: Triad Semiconductor Inc., the industry’s leading supplier of via-configurable mixed-signal ASICs, announced another first: the first ARM Cortex-M0 processor combined with high-resolution, high-precision analog resources: 16-bit ADC and 12-bit DAC and uncommitted op-amps.

Triad’s TSX1001, implemented on the Mocha-1 platform, provides the performance and low-power 32-bit processing of the ARM Cortex-M0 processor combined with high-precision analog features. Mocha-1 is based on Triad’s silicon-proven via-configurable array (VCA) technology, which allows embedded system designers to customize processor, analog, and digital features with lower power consumption and greater system cost savings than last-generation ASIC solutions.

TSX1001 is a single-chip, mixed-signal processor that an embedded product developer can use to measure sensors and control actuators in products such as accelerometers, automatic meter readers, temperature sensors, capacitive touch inputs, touch screens, medical sensors and other devices requiring analog and processor resources integrated into small spaces using small, low-power batteries.

“We are seeing a general trend toward portable, low-power embedded processing, which requires 32-bit processing performance as well as a great deal of precision analog integration,” said Reid Wender, vice president of marketing at Triad Semiconductor. “The TSX1001 is ideal for many applications and, since the TSX1001 is built on Triad’s Mocha-1 configurable array, designers are able to quickly and inexpensively build working prototypes to verify functionality before committing to a new mixed-signal Cortex-M0 SoC solution optimized for a specific application.”

The TSX1001 will be supported by industry standard embedded software tool flows such as the ARM RealView development suite. Triad has released the TSX1001 design to fabrication; engineering samples will be available in May 2010.