NEC Electronics America and NEC Electronics Europe have introduced 13 32-bit V850ES/Fx3-L microcontrollers (MCUs) for in-vehicle comfort and safety applications such as anti-theft mechanisms, climate control systems, airbags, hands-free systems and small thin-film-transistor (TFT) products.

The MCUs are software- and hardware-compatible with NEC Electronics' higher performing V850ES/Fx3 devices and pin-compatible with the firm’s previous-generation V850ES/Fx2 devices.

"New applications for in-vehicle comfort and safety are driving the need for electronic control units that provide greater levels of functionality and performance within prescribed pricing constraints," says Jim Trent, associate vice president and general manager, automotive strategic business unit, NEC Electronics America.

NEC Electronics' 0.15µm process technology enables the new V850ES/Fx3-L devices to execute 29 Dhrystone MIPS (DMIPS) at a clock speed of 20 megahertz (MHz). Flash ROM ranges from 64 to 256 kilobytes (KB) with RAM ranging from 6-12KB, and the devices come in 64-, 80- or 100-pin packages that are pin-compatible with V850ES/Fx2 devices. The Flash memory in V850ES MCUs is based on SuperFlash technology licensed from Silicon Storage Technology (www.sst.com).

NEC Electronics now offers 29 V850ES/Fx3 MCUs for automotive control applications, all with controller area network (CAN) and local interconnect network (LIN) protocol support. V850ES/Fx3-L samples are scheduled for availability this spring. Volume production is scheduled to begin this fall.