MC9S12E64VFUE16R

The MC9S12E64VFUE16R is a derivative of the S12 family of 8-bit microcontrollers from Freescale (now part of NXP semiconductors). It is a one-time programmable (OTP) device with 64KB of on-chip flash, 2KB of EEPROM, 2KB of RAM and 16KB of XGATE coprocessor RAM. It is part of Freescale’s “Extended” MC9S12 family, which is designed to extend the functionality of the original S12 microcontroller family. This microcontroller is aimed at providing cost-effective solutions to embedded, industrial and automotive applications.

The comprehensive MC9S12E64VFUE16R microcontroller offers a number of features, including an integrated 16-bit XGATE coprocessor, communications peripherals, such as Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C), four 16-bit general purpose timers and an integrated analog-to-digital converter. Additionally, the MC9S12E64VFUE16R supports up to 64 external interrupts.

The XGATE coprocessor provides a number of benefits over traditional 8-bit microcontrollers and can be used to offload computationally intensive tasks, such as fast Fourier transforms, watchdog timers, pulse-width modulation and PID controller. The XGATE coprocessor also has an instruction set similar to the Intel x86 architecture, which allows porting of existing 8-bit code.

The MC9S12E64VFUE16R can contain up to sixteen 8-bit or up to three 16-bit peripheral modules. These include I/O ports, UARTs, capture/compare modules and pulse-width modulation (PWM) modules. The XGATE coprocessor core has a read- and write-only cache, eliminating software overhead for instruction fetches and data storage. The coprocessor also supports context switching between tasks within an application.

The MC9S12E64VFUE16R has two operating modes, namely supervisor mode and user mode. The supervisor mode is a privileged mode of execution in which the user can execute privileged instructions. In this mode, the interrupt controller operates and the XGATE coprocessor core is enabled. The user mode offers the least privileges of the two modes and is used to run code and user-defined applications.

The MC9S12E64VFUE16R is excellent for use in embedded industrial and automotive applications. Its combination of integrated 16-bit XGATE core, coprocessor cache, and support of up to sixteen 8-bit or three 16-bit peripheral modules make it an ideal choice for design engineers. It has the power, flexibility and speed to bring innovative solutions to the embedded marketplace.