NEC Unveils 12 New 16-bit All Flash Microcontrollers with LCD Controller/Driver Circuit

NEC Electronics Corporation, a company specializing in semiconductor products has announced its release of 12 new 16-bit All Flash microcontrollers (MCUs).

 

Drastic increase in the requirement of home healthcare equipment such as scales, thermometers, and blood glucose meters has sprouted the necessity of LCD panel driver, and data converter functions (A/D and D/A).

 

The new microcontrollers introduced by NEC (News - Alert) are equipped with on-chip liquid crystal display (LCD) driver circuits developed to aid handheld healthcare diagnostic instruments.

 

Users can opt for any of the 12 varieties of products depending on their systems which includes six types of 80-pin 78K0R/LF3 MCUs, three types of 100-pin 78K0R/LG3 MCUs, and three types of 128-pin 78K0R/LH3 MCUs.

 

All Flash MCUs comes with 16-bit 78K0R CPU core, integrating in one chip and has 12-bit A/D and 12-bit D/A converters, and operational amplifiers.

 

Company officials explain that its 16-bit K0R/Lx3 All Flash MCUs employ a capacitor split technique that produces LCD drive voltages by a capacitor splitting VDD. Differing from the conventional system using an LCD resistive bias network, this system produces LCD bias voltages without a wasted DC bias current, thereby dramatically cutting LCD drive current losses and functions on one chip. It maximizes battery life and faster processing speed.

 

The company says that the new product line reduces standby power consumption to 1.2 microamperes (μA) with the LCD enabled, which is one-tenth the level when compared to company’s previous products.

 

System manufacturers can now produce smaller, more reliable, and low-cost battery-operated equipment, such as blood glucose meters with LCD display functions, gas/water/electricity meters, and factory automation instruments using the new product.

 

NEC plans to price the new products on memory capacity basis and package type. Mass production of these products is scheduled to begin in October 2009 and is expected to reach 1,000,000 units per month in 2010.

 

The NEC has been focusing on semiconductor products encompassing advanced technology solutions for the high-end computing and broadband networking markets; system solutions for the mobile handset, PC peripheral, automotive and digital consumer markets; and multi-market solutions for a wide range of customer applications.

 

It has subsidiaries worldwide including NEC Electronics America, Inc and NEC Electronics (Europe) GmbH.