STMicroelectronics has added four new 16-bit microcontrollers to the high end of its ST10 family, of which it has shipped in excess of 100 million chips. Hardware and software compatible with earlier devices such as the ST ST10F168 and ST10F269, the new ST10F27x devices offer from 128 kB to 832 kB of embedded flash memory and up to 68 kB of RAM (total linear address space for code and data is 16 MB). All four MCUs operate from –40 °C to 125 °C on a single 5 V power supply with 5 V I/O levels. A 1.8 V on-chip voltage regulator supplies the CPU core and logic while memory protection is intended to guard against software piracy.

STMicro said the devices allow engineers to choose the optimum configuration for their application, and may offer cost reduction by eliminating the need for external flash devices. The embedded flash memory is guaranteed for 100,000 program/erase cycles and specified for 20-year data retention,

The ST10 family is based on an industry-standard 16-bit, 64 MHz CPU that is also sold by Infineon (www.infineon.com) as the C16x and XC16x. The CPU, fabricated in ST’s 0.18 µm process technology, is said to offer real-time features, with single-cycle context switching and an interrupt controller with 16 priorities and 56 sources. The DSP-MAC (multiply/accumulate) accelerator provides DSP functions, including implementation of custom algorithms, and is supported by a comprehensive mathematical library.

Other features and enhancements include an I2C interface, an improved real-time clock (RTC) with a 32 kHz on-chip oscillator, and an increase from 16 to 24 channels in the number of A/D converter inputs. The MCUs offer multiple input capture and compare (CAPCOM), a four-channel PWM, 10-bit A/D, peripheral event controller (PEC), digital I/Os, and dual CAN 2.0B interfaces. They are available in 20 mm x 20 mm LQFP144 and 28 mm x 28 mm PQFP144 packages.