ST MCU packs a lot of features

STMicroelectronics (ST) announced details of a new multi-purpose microcontroller (MCU) that targets applications in wireless infrastructure equipment. Under the development name 'GreenFIELD' and part number STW21000, the new chip combines an ARM926EJ-S 330 MIPS RISC processor core, 16Mb of on-chip eDRAM memory, an eFPGA (embedded Field-Programmable Gate Array) block, and a wide range of analog and digital peripherals.

According to the company, the GreenFIELD-STW21000 offers a very high level of flexibility through its programmable ARM core; while the dedicated eFPGA enables a large variety of interfaces to be reprogrammed on the device.

"Designed together with our customers, GreenFIELD-STW21000 offers a unique opportunity to reduce cost by using the same silicon in a variety of sockets, with the ability to adapt to evolving standards utilizing the versatile combination of programmable core, peripherals and reconfigurable interfaces," commented Daniel Abecassis, Groups VP and GM of ST's Wireless Infrastructure Division.

Fabricated using ST's 130nm high performance CMOS technology, the STW21000 also integrates on-chip multiple HDLC controllers; 10/100 Ethernet MACs, GPIOs; an on-chip memory controller (with support of external DDR SDRAM interface and static device interfaces); multi-channel serial port; UARTs and I?C interfaces; and a "unique" power-on-reset function.

Software development on the programmable logic is supported by an advanced and integrated software tool chain, added ST, enabling the programming, debug and validation of the reconfigurable interfaces within a unique design environment. The ARM Real View or any independent third-party software tool chain can be used for the software development on the CPU core.

The GreenFIELD-STW21000 is delivered with a Board Support Package (BSP) to support multiple OS implementations, and application software such as TCP/IP stacks. It is already available with an approximate price of $25 in volume orders.