Infineon introduced its new XMC4000 32-bit microcontroller family, which uses the Cortex-M4 processor from ARM. XMC stands for “Cross-Market Microcontroller” and means that, due to its configurability, the XMC4000 family is suitable for a wide range of industrial applications says Infineon. The XMC4000 portfolio consists of five series: XMC4100, XMC4200, XMC4400, XMC4500 and XMC4700. These series mainly differ in terms of core frequency, memory capacity and peripheral functions and number of I/O’s.

The controller family has a CPU subsystem, DSP functionality, a floating point unit, a Flash memory with 22ns read time and error correction code (ECC), SRAM and peripheral functions. The range of peripherals includes timer modules, up to four parallel 12-bit A/D converters with a sampling rate of 70ns and a conversion time of 500ns, up to two 12-bit D/A converters, up to four high-resolution PWM channels (150 ps), integrated delta-sigma demodulator modules and touch button modules. Communication is provided by an IEEE 1588-compatible Ethernet MAC, USB 2.0, CAN and SD/MMC interfaces and up to six serial communication channels which can be individually configured as UART, SPI, Quad SPI, IIC, IIS or LIN using software. In addition, the XMC4000 family offers an external bus interface that supports synchronous standards such as SDRAM or Burst Flash, and asynchronous standards such as SRAM, NAND Flash and NOR Flash.

The integrated development environment DAVE 3 makes software development possible. The Eclipse-based environment with free GNU compiler, debugger and data display utilities can be extended using third party tools. DAVE 3 also supports automatic code generation based on predefined software components, the so-called “DAVE Apps”. The DAVE Apps are configured via the graphical user interface. DAVE 3 therefore ensures that developers of industrial applications can make full use of the functionality of XMC4000 microcontrollers with only little programming effort. The code that is generated can be directly compiled, debugged and displayed in DAVE 3 – or imported into third party tools for further processing. Infineon cooperates with more than 20 partners, who provide other specific development tools, software solutions, training and consulting services for the XMC4000 family.

The first device in the 32-bit XMC4000 family that Infineon is bringing to market is the XMC4500 series. These microcontrollers offer a 120-MHz-CPU, up to 1 MByte of embedded Flash memory, 160 Kbytes of RAM and a comprehensive range of peripheral and interface functions. The peripherals include four parallel 12-bit A/D converter modules, two 12-bit D/A converters, four delta sigma demodulator modules, six capture/compare units (CCU4 and CCU8), two positioning interface modules, and a module for eight touch buttons. Communication functions comprise interfaces for Ethernet, USB, and SD/MMC. In addition, the XMC4000 family offers three CAN modules, six serial communication channels and one external bus interface for communication. The package options are LQFP-144, LQFP-100 and LFBGA-100.