Dual supply voltage ARM Cortex-M0 microcontrollers claim world first

February 14, 2012 // Paul Buckley

NXP Semiconductors N.V. is releasing the world’s first ARM Cortex-M0 microcontroller with dual supply voltage of 1.65-V to 1.95-V V-DD and 1.65-V to 3.6-V V-IO. The LPC1100LV series offers 50 MIPS performance in a 2-mm x 2-mm footprint with over three times power reduction compared to similar 3.3-V V-DD devices. The LPC1100LV platform is specifically designed for battery-powered end applications ranging from mobile phones, tablets, Ultrabooks and mobile accessories to active cable, cameras, and portable medical electronics.

“High-performance dual supply voltages generally aren’t available in a single tiny package,” said Jan Jaap Bezemer, director of marketing, microcontroller business line, NXP Semiconductors. “The LPC1100LV series uniquely combines these critical requirements for battery-powered applications in the same device and enables our customers to create low-power solutions not previously available.”

Applying NXP’s latest proprietary embedded Flash with 256-Byte erase sector and low leakage current, the LPC1100LV can handle linear current consumption at low clock frequency while reducing system power. In a mobile system such as a smartphone, most system components are expected to remain mostly in sleep mode with very low current consumption. When a device is needed, fast wake-up and peak performance must be reached in a short period of time. The LPC1100LV meets this demand with a 5-µs wake-up time.

NXP’s LPC1100LV devices deliver 50 MIPS of performance compared to the 1 to 5 MIPS performance typical of 8/16-bit MCUs. This high performance allows LPC1100LV to complete demanding tasks faster and to remain in active mode for a shorter period of time, further reducing the average current consumed by the device. Given the same task, LPC1100LV’s unique 1.65-V to 1.95-V V-DD low-voltage input offers more than three times power reduction compared to competitor Cortex-M0 devices using 3.3-V V-DD input, and more than ten times compared to typical 8/16-bit MCUs. 

Sub-systems that can take special advantage of the LPC1100LV’s MIPS performance include system security and authentication (including handling AES-256 encryption), system interface and controls (such as keypads and touchscreens), system peripheral controls (for audio and lighting), and for running software stacks (such as Bluetooth Low Energy radio).

The LPC1100LV is available in NXP’s 2-mm x 2-mm Chip-Scale Package (WLCSP) – the world’s smallest 32-bit MCUs.  Also available in a 5-mm x 5-mm HVQFN package and offering 1.8-V V-DD and 3.3-V V-IO dual voltage inputs for CPU and I/O, this option offers a unique level-shifting capability between SSP/SPI (3.3 V) and I2C (1.8 V). NXP is also offering customized combinations of SRAM, Flash and package for high-volume customers.

Samples are available for lead customers.

www.nxp.com/products/microcontrollers/cortex_m0/lpc1100lv

 

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