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Freescale’s ColdFire(R) 32-bit controllers bring wireless connectivity
to consumer and industrial applications
Home and industrial automation
applications increasingly
demand control, connectivity
and security. With the release of
Media Access Controller (MAC)
software that supports the IEEE(R)
802.15.4 protocol on the lowpower
32-bit ColdFire(R) architecture,
Freescale Semiconductor
is creating the broadest portfolio
of 802.15.4-enabled solutions in
the marketplace.
According to In-Stat, 802.15.4
chipset sales will surpass 150
million units in 2008. Typical
applications include home and
building automation, industrial
monitoring and control, and
wireless sensor networks.
Designers have struggled to create
reliable and secure wireless
communication links simply and
cost-effectively. Freescale now
offers the necessary components
for wireless design — microcontroller
(MCU), RF and software
stack — in 8- and 32-bit
chipsets.
Freescale’s ColdFire devices are
designed to enable gateways for
wireless connectivity, helping
consumers easily keep an eye
on their homes, secure their
property from intruders and control
household appliances with
the click of a mouse.
The ColdFire family of controllers
includes devices outfitted with
Ethernet MAC/PHY, large
amounts of memory and rigorous
hardware encryption for
security. With a broadband connection,
Ethernet gateways
based on the ColdFire architecture
simply plug into the Ethernet
port of current networks to
power wireless connectivity.
Freescale offers a wide spectrum
of wireless networking solutions,
ranging from simple point-topoint
and star networks, to
sophisticated networks including
ZigBee mesh networks. ColdFire
MCUs can be coupled with
Freescale’s MC13191 or
MC13201 2.4 GHz RF transceivers
and SMAC software for
applications that do not require
mesh networking or critical timing
restrictions. When coupled
with MC13192 or MC13202
2.4 GHz RF transceivers and
fully compliant IEEE 802.15.4
PHY and MAC software, Cold-
Fire MCUs provide 802.15.4
MAC functionality.
Pricing and availability
The 802.15.4 software is now
available for the MCF5282,
MCF5213 and MCF5223x
processor families. This complimentary
embedded software
library and the required RF transceivers
are available on the
Freescale Web site:
www.freescale.com/ZigBee.
The M52233DEMO demonstration
board is available now for
the suggested resale price of
$99 (USD). The M52235EVB
evaluation board is available for
the suggested resale price of
$299 (USD). The 13192RFC-
A00 and 1320XRFC RF daughter
cards are also available for
suggested resale pricing of
$149 (USD) and $79 (USD)
respectively.
Further information on the new
products may be found at
www.freescale.com/files/pr/cfzi
gbee-ready.html .
www.freescale.com
(067192-4)
WirelessUSB LP evaluation kit
showcases low-power 2.4-GHz wireless radio system-on-chip
For design engineers wanting to
replace the wires between
‘human interface’ peripherals
such as keyboards, mice, joysticks
and games consoles with
wireless connections, Cypress
Semiconductor’s WirelessUSB LP
device is a popular choice - it is
easy to design in, it’s cheap and
it doesn’t consume much power.
For these applications, it has
many advantages over industry
standards such as Bluetooth and
ZigBee.
Now Cypress has launched an
eval kit that allows designers to
see for themselves how Wire-
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elektor electronics - 10/2006