TWR-MCF51QM

The TWR-MCF51QM evaluation board from Freescale Semiconductor is widely used in various industrial and consumer applications. It is based on a powerful 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) – the Freescale MCF51QM0 – which provides up to 36K bytes of on chip Flash memory for program and data storage. In addition, the board features everything needed to quickly and easily evaluate the MCF51QM: a 3.3V power supply, a potentiometer for analog signal input, a microphone for audio input, buzzer for audio output, two 140-pin connector sockets with SCI, SPI, I2C, and other peripherals, and two USB ports. This evaluation board is ideal for the development of MCU-based solutions for various embedded applications.

The TWR-MCF51QM features a rich set of peripherals to communicate with external devices. Examples include Serial Communication Interfaces (SCI) for pointing-to-point communication, Serial Peripheral Interfaces (SPI) for Chips Down programming and device configuration, Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) for input and output device management, and High Speed Controller-Area Network (CAN) for high-speed communication of control systems. It also has ADC (Analog-to-Digital Converter) and PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) with 10-bit resolution for measuring inputs and controlling actuators. Other features include a watchdog timer, power management peripherals, multiple digital Input/Outputs for connecting with external devices, and a number of high-speed interrupts.

The working principle of the TWR-MCF51QM is based on the Interrupt-driven programming model, where the microcontroller continuously runs and remains in an idle state awaiting the arrival of an interrupt. All interrupt requests must be serviced in order which is dictated by the CPU hardware priority interrupts. When an interrupt request is serviced, the program jumps to the corresponding Interrupt Service Routine (ISR). The ISR can contain a few instructions or a lengthy sequence of machine instructions. The ISR executes until returning back to the program or until an Exit Interrupt mechanism is executed. This eliminates the need for the user to constantly poll the sub-systems in order to check their states.

The TWR-MCF51QM embedded system is a versatile and powerful board for a wide range of applications. It is especially well-suited for industrial, automotive, medical device, wireless, and consumer applications. With its powerful 8-bit MCU providing up to 36K bytes of Flash memory, multiple communication peripherals, powerful interrupts, and integrated programmable hardware, the TWR-MCF51QM is an excellent choice for developers looking for an embedded system with great features, flexibility, and value.