NEC Electronics Extends 78K0S/Kx1+ 8-Bit Microcontroller Series

NEC Electronics and its subsidiary in Europe, NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH, today began sample shipping six new products for the 78K0S/Kx1+ 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) series. The three 8-pin and three 16-pin products include reset circuits, clock circuits and flash memory, making them ideal for use in a wide array of systems such as home appliances, sensors and battery chargers.

The 78K0S/Kx1+ series incorporates SuperFlash® single power supply flash memory licensed from Silicon Storage Technology, Inc., which offers superior re-programmability after product installation and flexibility for future software and product changes. The memory space is comprised of compact 256-byte blocks, which allows the flash to be used instead of external electrical programmable ROM (EEPROM). An 8MHz on-chip oscillator, power-on-clear circuit (POC/POR) and low voltage indicator (LVI) enable all non-power-supply pins to be used as ports, which help reduce costs and board space. Furthermore, the need for system evaluation using mask ROM is eliminated, reducing turnaround time for system development.

Recently, there is a greater demand for general purpose microcontrollers that offer high performance at affordable prices. Such microcontrollers are now used to control the power supply of the primary LSIs in a wide range of products such as AV equipment, and home appliances as sub-microcontrollers, or to control small systems previously built with discrete components, such as sensors, while offering enhanced precision.

To address this need, NEC Electronics first launched the 78K0S/Kx1+ series of low pin count 8-bit MCUs in May. With the addition of the 8-pin and 16-pin products, customers can now choose from an even greater selection of products. The 78K0S/Kx1 series is part of the K_Line, benefitting from the advantages of its broad interfamily compatibility.

In addition to extending the 8-bit line of low pin count products, NEC Electronics also introduced two low-cost development tools to facilitate system development using the 78K0S/Kx1+ series -- the MINICUBE+ in-circuit emulator and Applilet EZ development kit. The MINICUBE+ bundles an emulator, debugging software, and flash programming tools in a single package. Applilet EZ includes system function settings, programming and testing functions. The Japanese version of Applilet EZ is currently available, and an English version is scheduled to be introduced in November 2004.

For more information about the 78K0S/Kx1+ MCU series, please visit www.eu.necel.com/lpc .

For more information about Applilet EZ, please visit http://www.necel.com/micro/english/product/sc/78k0s/appliletez.html .

Pricing and Availability
Volume production is scheduled to being in February 2005. Total monthly production for all 6 products is estimated to reach 500,000 units per month. Sample pricing varies by product.

For technical details of these new devices please check spec sheet .

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Download PDF file(s):

• English version

• German version

• Italian version

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Information in the press releases, including product prices and specifications is current on the date of the press announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.