Fujitsu Debuts FM4 Family of 32-bit Microcontrollers

Fujitsu (News - Alert) Semiconductor America, designer and developer of semiconductor products and solutions, has rolled out the FM4 family of 32-bit RISC microcontrollers based on the ARMCortex-M4 processor core, which is a match for variety of applications that involve advanced, high-speed computing performance, such as general-purpose inverters, servomotors, PLCs and other industrial equipment, as well as energy-efficient, inverter-based home appliances.

The new FM4 MCUs offers multiple memory options including SRAM, NOR flash, NAND flash and SDRAM and can work from 3V and 5V power supplies. It also offers an ultra-wide bus for onboard flash memory that enables read access with no CPU wait state, speeding processing and dropping the power requirements.

The new FM4 family includes 84 MCUs in its MB9B560R/460R/360R/160R series and boosts enhanced peripheral functions and redesigned analog circuitry.

"Our microcontrollers are known for being reliable, easy to select, and easy to employ," said Akio Nezu, senior manager of marketing at Fujitsu Semiconductor America. "With these new devices, we have brought more than 570 ARM (News - Alert)-based MCUs to market, meeting the needs of a wide range of applications."

FM4 series also features trimming functions to offer internal oscillator accuracy of +2 percent and the D/A converter can achieve 12-bit resolution, and the 12-bit A/D converter operates at twice the speed of previous versions.

In addition to these features, the new MCUs helps is speeding up SPI communications by supporting up to a 20 MHz clock rate and variable data lengths up to 16 bits.

The company officials said that the new set MCUs will accompany FPBAs and will hit the market in quantity later this summer.

The company also plans to expand the FM4 lineup throughout 2013 with new devices boosted with higher capacity flash, Ethernet MAC for networked automation devices, and I²S and HDMI-CEC for consumer applications.