Philips unveils 90nm family of microcontrollers
The company’s new LPC3000 range – targeted at motor, security, industrial and network applications – is being manufactured at the 300mm Crolles2 pilot facility in France shared by Philips and fellow chip makers Freescale and STMicroelectronics.
Philips says that the combination of 90nm technology and the ARM926EJ-S core have boosted the speed and reduced the power dissipation of its LPC3000 32-bit microcontrollers.
Devices made using 90nm processes not only run faster as a result of the smaller feature sizes but also require less power.
Philip’s new microcontrollers operate at 1V, reducing power dissipation ninefold when compared with older 3V devices. The LPC3000 products also feature an array of standard communication peripherals to reduce system logic, cutting power usage still further.
Brian Mathas of market analyst IC Insights said that the new products would put Philips in a "good position" to take advantage of the strong growth forecast for the 32-bit microcontroller market over the next five years.