infoTECH Feature

April 20, 2010

Cypress Reveals New PSoC 3 Family

Cypress Semiconductor Corp. (News - Alert) recently introduced a new family in its PSoC 3 architecture, which is optimized for applications requiring programmable digital peripherals.

The new CY8C32xxx Programmable Digital PSoC 3 Family enables the integration of digital peripherals including PWMs, Timers, Counters, UARTs, glue logic and state machines. The family also offers customizable digital functions and interfaces lowering overall system power by migrating traditional CPU functions to programmable digital logic.

The CY8C32xxx devices address a wide range of applications including interface bridging, I/O expansion, power-up sequencing and peripheral control. These applications are common in end markets such as communications equipment, servers and motor control. The Programmable Digital Family is now sampling along with the original three PSoC 3 families; the CY8C38xxx Precision Analog Family, the CY8C36xxx Performance Analog Family and the CY8C34xxx Analog Lite Family.

The new CY8C32xxx family is powered by up to 24 Universal Digital Blocks (UDBs) each consisting of a combination of uncommitted logic (PLD), structured logic (8-bit datapath), and flexible routing to other UDBs, I/O or peripherals. The UDBs can be programmed with a large library of pre-characterized digital peripherals, and can also be customized using Verilog code to implement uncommon functions and interfaces that traditionally require a low-power CPLD.

The programming and customization is simplified through the PSoC Creator integrated development environment (IDE). PSoC Creator provides completely tested, pre-packaged analog and digital peripherals easily customizable through user-intuitive wizards and APIs to meet specific design requirements. More information and free downloads of PSoC Creator are available at www.cypress.com/go/psoccreator.

The CY8C32xxx family also includes basic analog peripherals such as a 12-bit Delta-Sigma ADC (News - Alert), internal voltage reference, 2 comparators and an 8-bit DAC to enable easy interfacing to analog signals. The new CY8C32xxx extends the PSoC 3 Architecture, powered by the high performance 8-bit 8051 processor, and to a total of four families  include the CY8C38xxx Precision Analog PSoC 3 Family with a 20-bit delta-sigma ADC, 4 DACs, 4 programmable analog blocks and a digital filter block; the CY8C36xxx Performance Analog PSoC 3 Family with a 12-bit delta-sigma ADC, 4 DACs, 4 programmable analog blocks and a digital filter block; the CY8C34xxx Analog Lite PSoC 3 Family with a 12-bit delta-sigma ADC, 2 DACs and 2 programmable analog blocks; the CY8C32xxx Programmable Digital PSoC 3 Family with up to 24 UDBs, a 12-bit delta-sigma ADC, and 2 comparators.


Calvin Azuri is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Calvin's articles, please visit his columnist page.

Edited by Alice Straight
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