Toshiba Announces New Microcontrollers for Electronic Control Units in Automotive Applications

SAN JOSE, Calif., July 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC)*, a committed leader that collaborates with technology companies to create breakthrough designs, today announced two new 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M3 core-based microcontroller (MCU) devices designed for use in automotive electronic control units, the electronic sub-systems within a car that control functions like power steering or the drive motor in hybrid and electric cars. Additionally, the TMPM350FDTFG and TMPM354F10TFG MCUs are both manufactured in compliance with the latest draft of the automotive industry's upcoming ISO 26262 safety standard.

"Once the ISO 26262 safety standard is published next year, the automotive industry will have a standardized approach for implementing fail-safe functionality in the MCUs used in the electronic control units of vital automotive systems," said Andrew Burt, vice president, Analog and Imaging Business Unit, System LSI Group, TAEC.  "The market for MCUs that support the ISO 26262 standard is expected to grow rapidly and with the launch of these two new MCUs, Toshiba is well positioned to meet demand from automotive OEMs."

The TMPM350FDTFG MCU incorporates Toshiba's original programmable motor driver, an excitation signal (1) output circuit for resolvers and A/D converters.  These features make the MCU a compelling solution for use in power steering control units, where enhancement of the external signal input from the motor and detailed setting of the output signal can deliver more precise steering to a driver.

The TMPM354F10TFG MCU is primarily designed to control drive motors in electric or hybrid cars.  The device incorporates an on-chip resolver digital converter that converts signals from the motor resolver to digital data, yielding a smaller design footprint.  While previous products used in drive motor control units only worked with rotation position sensors using excitation signals, the more versatile TMPM354F10TFG device also supports resolvers that do not use excitation signals by correcting sensor input signals.  Furthermore, the MCU reduces CPU operation cycles by more than 50 percent since it performs a motor's basic vector control operations in hardware; previous solutions could only support this function in software.

Product Specifications

Pricing and Availability

Both the TMPM350FDTFG and TMPM354F10TFG MCUs are scheduled to begin sampling in September, with mass production scheduled for first half of 2013.  Samples of the TMPM350FDTFG are priced at $12.00 per unit, while samples of the TMPM354F10TFG are priced at $19.00 per unit.

*About TAEC

Through proven commitment, lasting relationships and advanced, reliable electronic components, Toshiba enables its customers to create market-leading designs.  Toshiba is the heartbeat within product breakthroughs from OEMs, ODMs, CMs, distributions and fabless chip companies worldwide.  A committed electronic components leader, Toshiba designs and manufactures high-quality flash memory-based storage solutions, discrete devices, displays, advanced materials, medical tubes, custom SoCs/ASICs, imaging products, microcontrollers and wireless components that make possible today's leading cell phones, MP3 players, cameras, medical devices, automotive electronics and more.

Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America, Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, Japan's largest semiconductor manufacturer and the world's third largest semiconductor manufacturer (Gartner, 2010 WW Semiconductor Revenue, April 2011). Toshiba was founded in 1875, and today operates a global network of more than 490 companies, with 203,000 employees worldwide and annual sales of $77 billion. Visit Toshiba's web site at www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm.

Information in this press release, including product pricing and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current and believed to be accurate on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice.  Technical and application information contained here is subject to the most recent applicable Toshiba product specifications.  In developing designs, please ensure that Toshiba products are used within specified operating ranges as set forth in the most recent Toshiba product specifications and the information set forth in Toshiba's "Handling Guide for Semiconductor Devices," or "Toshiba Semiconductor Reliability Handbook." This information is available at www.chips.toshiba.com, or from your TAEC representative.

ARM and Cortex are registered trademarks of ARM Limited. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.

(1) Signal for generating a magnetic field by flow of electric current in a coil of a resolver

AGENCY CONTACT:
Bob Nelson
Tsantes Communication Group
Tel.: (408) 426-4905
[email protected]

COMPANY CONTACT:
Deborah Chalmers
Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.
Tel.: (408) 526-2454
[email protected]

SOURCE Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc.