Articles - Microcontrollers - 3

John Donovan Electronic Products When MCU power consumption first started becoming a top priority, designers could simply look at datasheets to compare active power, hopefully all at the same frequency, and make a judgment call based on that. ...

Ronak Desai, Cypress Semiconductors This article explores design techniques and challenges for implementing an electronic bike (E-Bike) built using a microcontroller or Programmable System on Chip (PSoC). Current E-Bike systems use a ...

Maury Wright, Electronic Products Digi-Key Designers working with microcontrollers (MCUs) have come to rely heavily on flash memory for code storage because IC makers have scaled the manufacturing processes for the nonvolatile memory and are ...

Lee H. Goldberg, Electronic Products Digi-Key MCUs currently powering many consumer products and embedded systems are now being asked to support various digital audio functions that used to be handled by DSPs, ASSPs, or other dedicated silicon. ...

Part 1 16-bit The internal 8-bit architectures work well, but if mixed-signal resolutions exceed 8 bits, a 16-bit core may be a good approach. Take for example the Texas Instruments MSP430G2230IDR 16-bit mixed-signal controller packaged in an 8-pin ...

With the ever-continuing push for higher functional integration, complex MCU packages with hundreds of pins are now commonplace. Chipmakers are taking advantage of the high-pin-count parts to fit everything possible either on chip or around the ...

This article looks at the role of Microcontrollers (MCUs) in industrial automation, specifically examining how they provide the real-world interface to sensors and actuators. It discusses the need for integrating high-performance cores like ...

Stephen Evanczuk, Electronic Products Digi-Key A tire-pressure-monitoring system (TPMS) provides early warning of abnormal tire pressure or failure. Used separately or in conjunction with other vehicle electronic systems, a TPMS serves an essential ...

Jack Ganssle Digi-Key Part 1 - Overview and features Internal WDTs Watchdogs can be divided into two general categories: those that are on board the processor chip, and external devices added by the hardware designer. Most microcontrollers have an ...

Jack Ganssle Digi-Key A watchdog timer (WDT) is a bit of hardware that monitors the execution of code to reset the processor if the software crashes. For many years there has been a raging debate in the embedded world about their importance. More ...