Texas Instruments has added the TMS470PLFx series of microcontrollers to its 32-bit TMS470 family. The MCUs are designed to work with TI’s OMAP33x- and DaVinci TMS320DM64x-based graphics controllers in instrument cluster controller applications that require high-performance color graphics and/or more highly integrated liquid crystal and thin-film transistor displays.

TMS470PLFx MCUs can drive small-segment LCDs directly through an embedded 128-segment LCD controller and can drive up to six stepper motors directly through intelligent peripherals. Peripheral modules such as a high-end timer, direct memory access controller and multibuffered SPI allow the MCUs to drive other types of digital displays without burdening a CPU. The MCUs can also reduce electromagnetic interference through frequency modulation and slew rate control.