Luminary Micro Launches Four New Stellaris(TM) 32-bit Microcontrollers Based on ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-M3

The entire Stellaris line of MCUs brings high-performance 32-bit computing to cost-sensitive embedded microcontroller applications at a cost equivalent to legacy 8- and 16-bit devices. All of the Stellaris MCUs are targeted at embedded and industrial applications, such as building and home automation; factory automation, motor control; and industrial power control devices. The new parts, available today, have increased speed up to 25 MHz; incorporate ADC and motion control peripherals; and have increased memory up to 16KB flash / 4KB SRAM, making them ideal for more intense applications such as stepper motors, brushed and brushless DC motors, and AC induction motors.

"Luminary Micro has set an extremely aggressive schedule of part introduction and customers have been quick to participate in their sampling program," said Wayne Lyons, director, Embedded Solutions, ARM. "There is a diverse and expansive worldwide market for MCUs and we expect to see customer design implementations of the Cortex-M3 processor before the end of 2006.

"Breaking the cost barrier between 8/16-bit and 32-bit and providing that $1.00 entry into the ARM development world was a significant breakthrough for embedded developers."

Development Ease and Functionality

The company's feature-rich development kit, which was announced in March with the first two Stellaris products, supports the entire Stellaris line. The development kit is a modular design with a common motherboard and a unique daughter-card for each family member. The kit comes ready-to-go with bundled software and tools designed to get users running in 10 minutes or less. In addition to the development hardware, the bundle includes Luminary Micro's peripheral driver library; comprehensive documentation, schematics, and example programs as well as all cables and jumpers. Users of more than one Stellaris family member can simply change out the daughterboard to accommodate new products -- the daughterboard kits are available individually.

The development kit carries the CE seal of compliance to the mandatory European requirements and is fully certified. The development kit also includes evaluation versions of popular software and hardware development tools from ARM, with the RealView(R) Microcontroller Development Kit, which incorporates the industry-proven Keil(TM) uVision development environment, as well as the popular GNU tool set from CodeSourcery. The development kit also includes FreeRTOS.org and Pumpkin's Salvo(TM) Lite real-time operating systems. Both real time operating systems are optimized for small-footprint applications, and both ports include extensive programming examples.

Luminary Micro Removes Upgrade Barriers to Take Advantage of Market Growth

Analyst Firm Gartner Dataquest is forecasting the 32-bit MCU market to grow twice the rate of 8- or 16-bit, with continuous price pressure and compression between similarly equipped MCUs of 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit size. Removing the upgrade barriers from 8-bit directly to 32-bit could mean additional market share from 16-bit.

Luminary Micro's Chief Marketing Officer Jean Anne Booth points out that ARM designed the Cortex-M3 processor specifically with the predicted high- growth MCU market in mind.

"Developers know that with ARM they not only get a tried-and-true architecture, but also proven development tools and software to ease application development," said Booth. "The Cortex-M3 processor provides the benefits of increased performance and reduced code size, delivering lower costs in silicon, systems and development. With the Stellaris family of microcontrollers, we deliver high value performance and the chance to enter the multi-vendor supported ARM architecture, which means designers may never have to upgrade architectures or change tools again."

Product and Technology Description

Stellaris family MCUs are based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor, the microcontroller member of the ARM Cortex processor family. The Cortex-M3 processor is architected to bring 32-bit to the 8/16-bit MCU space.

The four new MCU products distinguish themselves from the first two Stellaris family silicon products -- the LM3S101 and LM3S102 -- primarily through larger flash memory and the more specialized ADC and motion control peripheral functions.

New Analog-to-Digital converter Featured in the LM3S301, LM3S315, and LM3S316

The LM3S301, LM3S315 and LM3S316 devices feature a 10-bit successive approximation analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that converts analog signals into digital values. The ADC handles both single-ended and fully differential analog inputs at a maximum sample rate of 250K samples per second. The ADC can be triggered by software, timers, analog comparators, PWM, or GPIO. In addition, the ADC contains four uniquely flexible user-programmed sequencers that control the order and sample quantity of ADC channel sampling. The sequencers provide system flexibility in defining the analog input sample order and in the degree of oversampling selected for any analog input. Also, the independent sequencers give system designers the freedom to utilize the ADC in multiple separate system functions, with each sequencer driven by different system triggers.

Fully-featured, Flexible Motion Control Unit Featured in the LM3S301, LM3S310, LM3S315, and LM3S316

All four new Stellaris microcontrollers also include powerful PWM waveform generators suitable for sophisticated motion control applications. Up to three dual-channel waveform generators, each with dedicated timing hardware, facilitate the synthesis of very complex PWM signals. These generators may be used in synchronous modes to control a single complex motor or independently to control multiple simple motors. The motion control unit also includes a deadband generator with independent rising and falling edge delays, used to create the programmable dead band delays required for driving a half-H bridge to some motors. These and other features allow for sophisticated algorithms necessary for higher end applications such as industrial digital controllers or more sophisticated motors such as brushless DC or AC induction motors.

Stellaris microcontrollers allow system designers to use all non-GPIO functionality simultaneously, making it a straightforward process to choose the right part for the intended application, as functional pins mux only with GPIO and not with other functions. All digital functions are backed by GPIO for maximum flexibility in system design. All parts are packaged in 48-pin RoHS-compliant LQFP in commercial and industrial operating temperatures.

Applications

All of the announced parts are ideal for factory automation and control; industrial control power devices; and building and home automation. Additionally, the LM3S316 has been optimized for stepper motors; LM3S301 and LM3S315 for DC and stepper motors; and the LM3S310 for brushless DC and AC induction motors. These types of motors can typically be found in end products such as industrial automation and instrumentation, and robotics.

Pricing

Development kits are $775 each, and new development kits are available for the LM3S301 (DK-LM3S301), the LM3S310 (DK-LM3S310), and the LM3S315 and LM3S316 (both devices use DK-LM3S316 as the development kit).

For users who have already purchased a development kit and wish to use the kit with a different Stellaris family member, daughterboard-only kits are available for the LM3S101 (DB-LM3S101), the LM3S102 (DB-LM3S102), LM3S301 (DB-LM3S301), LM3S310 (DB-LM3S310), and the LM3S315 and LM3S316 (both devices use DB-LM3S316 as the daughterboard). The daughterboard kits retail for $190.

Availability - Now!

Alpha customers are currently designing in all available Luminary Micro products, including the four announced today. Full development kits, including applications software and evaluation versions of popular software tools, are available now. Small-quantity orders of silicon are also available now with volume production in Q306. Orders may be placed at http://www.luminarymicro.com or through Mouser at http://www.mouser.com/luminarymicro . Contact Luminary Micro at 1-512-279-8800 or email sales@luminarymicro.com for more information.

About Luminary Micro and Stellaris

Founded in 2004, Luminary Micro, Inc. designs, markets and sells ARM Cortex-M3-based microcontrollers (MCUs). Austin, Texas-based Luminary Micro is the lead partner for the Cortex-M3 processor, delivering the world's first silicon implementation of the Cortex-M3 processor. Luminary Micro's introduction of the Stellaris(TM) family of products provides 32-bit performance for the same price as current 8- and 16-bit microcontroller designs. With entry-level pricing at $1.00 for an ARM technology-based MCU, Luminary Micro's Stellaris product line allows for standardization that eliminates future architectural upgrades or software tools changes.