Streamlined MCUs from Bridgetek Encompass Performance, Connectivity, Power Efficiency & Compactness

Bridgetek announces the introduction of a new series of Super-Bridge microcontroller units (MCUs) to complement the company’s existing FT90x series. The new FT93x devices are able to offer identical performance levels, plus the same principal features and functionality, but in smaller, lower pin count packages that take up significantly less board real estate (resulting in a 40% footprint reduction).Each of them incorporates a proprietary 32-bit RISC- based FT32 core that is capable of delivering true zero wait state (0WS) operation while running at up to 100MHz. This allows these performance- optimised devices to achieve an impressive 3.1DMIPS per MHz computational capability.

Connectivity is a vital aspect of these MCUs. It has 4 independent SPI master channels, each capable of supporting single/dual/quad modes of data transfer. With a maximum data rate of 3.4 Mbit/s, their I2C bus interfaces can be configured as either a master or a slave to fit requirements. Furthermore, a hardcoded D2xx engine contains all the device drivers and firmware required to facilitate USB implementation. The related peripheral controller supports both USB 2.0 high-speed (480Mbit/s) and USB 2.0 full-speed (12Mbit/s)  connectivity. The upshot of all this is that the members of the FT93x series effectively present engineers with complete system-on-chip (SoC) solutions that are unlike anything else on the market. Through these devices USB to multi- interface bridging can easily be accomplished. Use of exclusive, highly established bridging technology and widely proliferated drivers, means that no prior knowledge of USB is required to interface these MCUs to USB. Instrumentation, metering equipment, factory automation, data logging, display/human machine interface modules, environmental monitoring and machine vision are among the applications for which they are highly suited.

The new Bridgetek FT93x devices draw a current of 75mA (typical) when their processor cores are fully active and high speed USB data transfer is underway. Embedded with all of these space/power saving MCUs is 128kBytes of Flash memory and 128kBytes of shadow program memory, as well as 32kBytes of data memory. There is also a comprehensive on-chip data conversion resource available for these devices. They have a -40°C to 85°C operational temperature range enabling them to be deployed in challenging industrial environments.