NEC Electronics Introduces Newest Member of K_Line Microcontroller Family for 8-Bit Designs

Kx1+ Series Offers Cost-Efficient Single-Chip MCUs with Flash Memory

NEC Electronics Corporation and its subsidiaries in the United States and Europe, NEC Electronics America, Inc. and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, today announced sampling of the Kx1+ Series, the newest 8-bit member of the K_Line microcontroller (MCU) family.  The 78K0/Kx1+ Series represents the first 8-bit MCUs offered by NEC Electronics to employ single-voltage Flash memory, adopting SuperFlash® technology licensed from Silicon Storage Technology, Inc. (SST).  These new MCUs offer significant cost and performance advantages, which make them ideal for customers in a variety of markets such as automotive, industrial, audio/visual systems and consumer electronics.  As a member of the K_Line family, the new series’ architecture also allows for easy design migration from 8- to 32-bit MCUs to meet the varying performance demands of these applications.

“We foresee a continuous increase in demand for 8-bit microcontrollers,” said Yoichi Yano, general manager, 4th System LSI Division, NEC Electronics Corporation.  “We plan to expand our lineup of products for applications such as sub-microcontrollers and low-cost single-function sets supplementing main systems that use sophisticated sets.”

The 78K0/KX1+ Series of 8-bit Microcontrollers
The 78K0/Kx1+ Series also features single-voltage Flash memory support for smaller-size memory products across the entire product line, whereas the Flash offering in the 78K0/Kx1 Series was limited to larger sizes.  The SuperFlash technology used in the 78K0/Kx1+ Series allows developers to update programs and is even usable as non-volatile data memory.  This allows Flash to be used instead of external electrical erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) for storing data needed even after the power is switched off, thus reducing the number of overall system components.  In addition, the 78K0/Kx1+ Series’ single-power-supply structure reduces the Flash area size by approximately 70 percent from the previous generation of products.

The 78K0/Kx1+ Series shares the advanced peripheral set common to all members of the K_Line MCU family, including the 78K0/Kx1 Series, the company’s widely adopted 8-bit MCU line, which currently has a shipping volume of nearly 1 million units per month.  The all-in-one feature set includes FailSafe circuitry with a clock monitor and internal clock independent of the main clock, a watchdog timer and on-chip oscillator, as well as device and system power-on reset (POR) function and a low-voltage indicator (LVI).  In addition, some of the 78K0/Kx1+ Series with pin counts of 44 or more feature on-chip debug function for software development, which will allow software development while using the actual MCUs, enabling development to more closely approximate actual conditions.  These peripherals extend the device functionality for segments that require enhanced reliability, such as industrial, security and safety-critical applications.

The 78K0/Kx1+ MCUs achieve operation speeds up to 16 megahertz (MHz).  This constitutes a 60 percent increase in CPU processing speeds over the 78K0/Kx1 Series, which operates at 10 MHz.  All the products in the 78K0/Kx1+ Series will feature a powerful on-chip safety function that detects improper microcontroller operation caused by electromagnetism or static electricity, resulting in safer and more reliable systems.

Availability
Engineering samples and production parts of the 78K0/Kx1+ Series are available now.  Production volume is expected to reach 200,000 units per month by August 2005.  Availability is subject to change.

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