Toshiba Launches New 32-Bit Microcontroller With ARM926EJ-S Processor

TMPA910CRAXBG MCU Integrates LCD Controller with Numerous Other Peripherals to Bring Feature-Rich Processing Solution to Consumer Electronics Devices

SAN JOSE, Calif., February 26, 2008 — Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)*, a committed leader that collaborates with technology companies to create breakthrough designs, today announced the availability of its latest microcontroller (MCU), the TMPA910CRAXBG. Designed for use in devices requiring multimedia display capability, the TMPA910CRAXBG combines a powerful 32-bit ARM926EJ-S™ processor core with an LCD controller, LCD data processor, efficient 7-layer multiple bus (multibus) system, and numerous other commonly used peripherals to deliver a highly-integrated processing solution that can greatly reduce system component count and development time. Target applications for the TMPA910CRAXBG are broad and include electronic dictionaries and other electronic learning assistance devices, toys, industrial and medical devices, personal navigation devices, handheld media players and control panels for home appliance, automation and security applications.

Based on an ARM926EJ-S CPU operating at up to 200 MHz, the new TMPA910CRAXBG features a built-in LCD controller with support for TFT and STN display resolutions up to 1024 by 768 pixels and an LCD data processor that provides image scaling, filtering and blending functions and offers real-time video processing for video at up to 30 frames per second. The TMPA910CRAXBG MCU also integrates a CMOS image sensor interface to simplify implementation of an image capture function in embedded devices. Additionally, a touch screen interface further reduces the external component count by integrating support for a man-to-machine interface.

The TMPA910CRAXBG MCU utilizes a 7-layer multibus architecture so both code and data can be transferred quickly and efficiently. Even when the clock speed is lowered to save power, the multibus system can still operate independently with a minimal increase in overhead. The 7-layer multibus system is designed for high-performance applications such as transferring digital video or decoding multimedia content.

"The increasing sophistication of even the most elementary consumer electronics devices creates a difficult situation for today's embedded device developers: build high-performance systems that support a variety of applications, and develop these systems as quickly as possible to meet time-to-market requirements," said Andrew Burt, vice presidentof the Imaging and Communications Marketing Group in the ASSP Business Unit at TAEC. "To address this issue, Toshiba has developed the TMPA910CRAXBG microcontroller, which features a powerful ARM926EJ-S processor and a number of common peripherals tightly integrated into one chip to greatly reduce system complexity and help customers get their next-generation products to market quickly."

"Our ARM926EJ-S processor's comprehensive feature set enables developers to implement leading-edge systems, while delivering considerable savings in chip area, time-to-market, development costs and power consumption," said Eric Shorn, vice president marketing, Processor Division, ARM. "The ongoing success of this platform will benefit greatly from our collaboration with Toshiba."

The ARM926EJ-S 32-bit RISC CPU core deployed in the TMPA910CRAXBG offers flexible size instruction and data caches and a memory management unit (MMU). It also provides separate instruction and data AMBA® AHB™ interfaces particularly suitable for multi-layer AHB based systems. The ARM926EJ-S processor implements the ARMv5TEJ instruction set and includes an enhanced 16 x 32-bit multiplier capable of single cycle MAC operations. The ARMv5TEJ instruction set includes 16-bit fixed point DSP instructions to enhance performance of many signal processing algorithms and applications as well as supporting Thumb® and Java® byte code execution.

Additional peripherals supported by the TMPA910CRAXBG include a variety of functionality and connectivity solutions, such as SPI, UART, I2C, USB, a melody/alarm generator, RTC and a power management circuit. The MCU offers 56 Kbytes of RAM for program, data and display memory, an SDR and DDR SDRAM memory controller, NAND flash interface, JTAG interface, and a high-speed (480 Mbps) USB device controller. The TMPA910CRAXBG also integrates an SD memory host controller that supports high-speed mode for interaction with SD memory cards with up to 32GB capacities. The device is available in a 361-pin FPGA package.

In addition to an extensive software library that includes graphics libraries and real-time operating systems, the TMPA910CRAXBG is supported by a development starter kit to help speed application development and prototyping.
Pricing and Availability
Engineering samples of the TMPA910CRAXBG are available this April, with mass production scheduled for Q3 2008. The MCU is priced at $10.00 per unit in 10,000 unit quantities.
*About TAEC

Through proven commitment, lasting relationships and advanced, reliable electronic components, Toshiba enables its customers to create market-leading designs. Toshiba is the heartbeat within product breakthroughs from OEMs, ODMs, CMs, distributions and fabless chip companies worldwide. A committed electronic components leader, Toshiba designs and manufactures high-quality flash memory-based storage solutions, discrete devices, displays, advanced materials, medical tubes, custom SoCs/ASICs, digital multimedia and imaging products, microcontrollers and wireless components that make possible today's leading cell phones, MP3 players, cameras, medical devices, automotive electronics and more.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturer and the world's third largest semiconductor manufacturer (Gartner, 2007 WW Semiconductor Revenue Estimate, Dec. 2007). For additional company and product information, please visit http://www.toshiba.com/taec/.