C8051F50x Automotive Communications Controllers - Silabs

Silabs has announced the availability of the C8051F50x automotive communications controller family. C8051F50x is a mixed-signal microcontroller family which integrates a precision oscillator to support both CAN and LIN automotive communication networks. C8051F50x automotive communications controller are ideal for space-constrained applications such as steering angle sensing, window lifters and seat positioning.

Silabs C8051F50x Automotive Communications Microcontrollers Block Diagram

Features of C8051F50x Automotive Communications Microcontrollers:

• High-Speed 8051 μC Core
  • Up to 50 MIPS throughput with 50 MHz clock
  • Pipelined instruction architecture; executes 70% of instructions in 1 or 2 system clocks
  • Expanded interrupt handler
• Memory
  • 64 or 32 kB Flash; In-system programmable in 512-byte Sectors
  • 4352 bytes internal data RAM (256 + 4096 XRAM)
• Analog Peripherals
  • 12-Bit ADC
    • Up to 200 ksps
    • Up to 32 external single-ended inputs
    • VREF from on-chip VREF, external pin or VDD
    • Internal or external start of conversion source
    • Built-in temperature sensor
  • Two Comparators
    • Programmable hysteresis and response time
    • Configurable as interrupt or reset source
    • Low current
• Digital Peripherals
  • CAN 2.0 Controller—no crystal required
  • LIN 2.0 Controller (Master and Slave capable); no crystal required
  • 40 or 25 Port I/O; All 5 V tolerant with high sink current
  • Hardware enhanced UART, SMBus, and enhanced SPI serial ports
  • Four general purpose 16-bit counter/timers
  • 16-Bit programmable counter array (PCA) with six capture/compare modules and enhanced PWM functionality
• Clock Sources
  • Internal 24 MHz with ±0.5% accuracy for CAN and master LIN operation (C8051F500/2/4/6)
  • External oscillator: Crystal, RC, C, or clock (1 or 2 pin modes)
  • Can switch between clock sources on-the-fly; useful in power saving modes
• On-Chip Debug
  • On-chip debug circuitry facilitates full speed, non-intrusive in-system debug (no emulator required)
  • Provides breakpoints, single stepping, inspect/modify memory and registers
  • Superior performance to emulation systems using ICE-chips, target pods, and sockets
  • Low cost, complete development kit
• Supply Voltage 1.8 to 5.25 V
  • Typical operating current:18 mA at 50 MHz;20 μA at 32 kHz
  • Typical stop mode current:3 μA
• Automotive Qualified
  • Compliant to AEC-Q100
  • Temperature Range: –40 to +125 °C
• Packages
  • 48-Pin QFP/QFN (C8051F500/1/4/5)
  • 32-Pin QFP/QFN (C8051F502/3/6/7)

In its small size package, C8051F50x microcontroller integrates a 50 MIPS core, up to 64 kB of Flash memory, 4Kbytes of RAM, 32-message buffer CAN 2.0B hardware controller and a hardware LIN 2.0 controller. The on-chip precision oscillator provides an accuracy of ±0.5 percent across the entire temperature (-40 to +125 ºC) and voltage (1.8 to 5.25 V) range. The integrated 12-bit, 200 ksps, 32-channel ADC (analog to digital converter) has high SNR (signal-to-noise ratio), offering higher precision and accuracy when simultaneous analog and digital processing is required. The programmable comparator can be dynamically re-mapped to different I/O pins during run-time providing a simple but powerful solution for motor commutation. C8051F50x’s integrated temperature sensor provides an internal mechanism for diagnostics and system calibration.

The C8051F50x automotive microcontrollers utilize Silabs’ CIP-51 microcontroller core which is fully compatible with the well-known MCS-51  instruction set. The CIP-51 core offers all the peripherals included with a standard 8052, including four 16-bit counter/timers, a full-duplex UART with extended baud rate configuration, an enhanced SPI port, 4352 bytes of internal RAM, 128 byte Special Function Register (SFR) address space, and up to 40 I/O pins. The CIP-51 core employs a pipelined architecture that increases its instruction throughput over the standard 8051 architecture. For example, in a standard 8051, all instructions except for MUL and DIV take 12 or 24 system clock cycles to execute with a maximum system clock of 12-to-24 MHz. By contrast, the CIP-51 core executes 70% of its instructions in one or two system clock cycles, with only four instructions taking more than four system clock cycles.

The C8051F50x SoC family includes several key enhancements to the CIP-51 core and peripherals to improve performance and ease of use in end applications. The extended interrupt handler provides multiple interrupt sources into the CIP-51 allowing numerous analog and digital peripherals to interrupt the controller. An interrupt driven system requires less intervention by the microcontroller, giving it more effective throughput. The extra interrupt sources are very useful when building multi-tasking, real-time systems. Eight reset sources are available: POR (power-on reset circuitry), an on-chip VDD monitor (forces reset when power supply voltage drops below safe levels), a Watchdog Timer, a Missing Clock Detector, a volt-age level detection from Comparator0, a forced software reset, an external reset pin, and an illegal Flash access protection circuit.

C8051F50x Automotive Controller require very few external components since it has on-chip peripherals such as oscillator, voltage regulator, watchdog timer, power-on reset and VDD voltage monitor. The Flash memory of this SoC can be reprogrammed in-circuit, allowing field upgrades of the firmware.

The C8051F500/2/4/6 automotive controllers feature a CAN (Controller Area Network) controller which facilitates communication on a CAN network in accordance with the Bosch specification 2.0A (basic CAN) and 2.0B (full CAN). The CAN controller consists of a CAN Core, Message RAM (separate from the C8051 RAM), a message handler state machine, and control registers. The CAN controller can operate at bit rates up to 1 Mbit/second and has 32 message objects each having its own identifier mask used for acceptance filtering of received messages. All protocol functions for transmission of data and acceptance filtering is performed by the CAN controller and not by the C8051 microcontroller.

The C8051F500/2/4/6 automotive microcontrollers feature a LIN (Local Interconnect Network) controller which able to operate at up to 20 kbps of bit rates. The module supports master and slave modes compatible with LIN 2.0 and LIN 1.3, but does not directly support LIN 1.3 Extended Frames. The module includes data buffers for received messages and a control block to serialize messages and manage the timing. The C8051 configures the LIN controller, accesses received data, and passes data for transmission via Special Function Registers.

No external oscillator needed for CAN and LIN communication, since C8051F500/2/4/6 microcontroller has accurate (±0.5%) on chip 24 MHz oscillator.

The on-chip Silicon Labs 2-Wire (C2) Development Interface allows non-intrusive (uses no on-chip resources), full speed, in-circuit debugging using the production microcontroller installed in the final application. This debug logic supports inspection and modification of memory and registers, setting breakpoints, single stepping, run and halt commands. All analog and digital peripherals are fully functional while debugging using C2. The two C2 interface pins can be shared with user functions, allowing in-system debugging without occupying package pins.

Selection tables of C8051F50x Automotive Communications Controllers:

With common specs:

• Speed: 50 MIPS (peak)
• RAM: 4Kbytes
• Timer: 4 (16 bits)
• PCA Channels: 6
• Temperatr sensor: available
• Vref: available
• Operation temperature: 40 to 125°C

C8051F500DK, Development Kit for C8051F50x Automotive Microcontrollers

Silabs offers its C8051F500DK development kit to help developers start project using C8051F50x automotive microcontrollers. Development board of this kit has two on-board C8051F500 which enables the designer to develop LIN 2.0 master/slave network with a single piece of hardware.

Silabs C8051F500DK Development Kit

The C8051F500DK Development Kit includes:

• C8051F500 target board
• USB debug adapter (USB to debug interface) and USB cable
• CD-ROM; CD content includes the following:
  • Silicon Laboratories Integrated Development Environment (IDE)
  • Source code examples and register definition files
  • Documentation
  • C8051F50x Development Kit User’s Guide
• Third Party Tools and Documentation CD
• Quick-Start Guide
• AC to DC power adapter

All members of the C8051F50x automotive communication controller family are available now, pricing starts at $1.87 in 10K piece quantities. The C8051F500DK development kit is available now for $99.00. The ToolStick502DC is also available for $9.90 to be used in conjunction with the ToolStick base adapter.

References:

• http://news.silabs.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=4559 (press release)
• https://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/automotive/Pages/C8051F50x.aspx
• https://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/Pages/C8051F500DK.aspx
• C8051F50x datasheet