The Freescale 683xx (formerly Motorola 683xx) is a family of compatible

microcontroller A microcontroller (MCU for ''microcontroller unit'', often also MC, UC, or μC) is a small computer on a single VLSI integrated circuit (IC) chip. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable i ...

s by Freescale that use a

Motorola 68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Sector ...

-based

CPU A central processing unit (CPU), also called a central processor, main processor or just processor, is the electronic circuitry that executes instructions comprising a computer program. The CPU performs basic arithmetic, logic, controlling, and ...

core. The family was designed using a hardware description language, making the parts synthesizable, and amenable to improved fabrication processes, such as die shrinks. There are two CPU cores used in the 683xx family: the 68EC000 and the CPU32. The instruction set of the CPU32 core is similar to the

68020 The Motorola 68020 ("''sixty-eight-oh-twenty''", "''sixty-eight-oh-two-oh''" or "''six-eight-oh-two-oh''") is a 32-bit microprocessor from Motorola, released in 1984. A lower-cost version was also made available, known as the 68EC020. In keeping ...

without

bitfield A bit field is a data structure that consists of one or more adjacent bits which have been allocated for specific purposes, so that any single bit or group of bits within the structure can be set or inspected. A bit field is most commonly used to ...

instructions, and with a few instructions unique to the CPU32 core, such as table lookup and interpolate instructions, and a low-power stop mode. The modules of the microcontroller were designed independently and released as new CPUs could be tested. This process let the architects perform "design-ahead" so that when silicon technologies were available, Motorola had designs ready to implement and go to market. Many of these submodules have been carried forward into the

Coldfire The NXP ColdFire is a microprocessor that derives from the Motorola 68000 family architecture, manufactured for embedded systems development by NXP Semiconductors. It was formerly manufactured by Freescale Semiconductor (formerly the semiconductor ...

line of processors. The microcontrollers consist of a series of modules, connected by an internal bus: *A fully static CPU core, capable of running at any clock speed from dead stop to maximum rated speed (25 or 33MHz). *A CPU core designed to minimize transistors while maximizing performance. *A high-speed clocked serial interface for debugging called background debug mode (BDM). The 683xx-series was the first to have a clocked serial interface to the CPU to perform debugging. Now, many CPUs use a standard serial test interface, usually

JTAG JTAG (named after the Joint Test Action Group which codified it) is an Technical standard, industry standard for verifying designs and testing printed circuit boards after manufacture. JTAG implements standards for on-chip instrumentation in ele ...

, for this purpose. *The SIM (System Integration Module), which eliminates much glue logic by providing chip selects and address decoding. The SIM also provides a clock generator, watchdogs for various system operations, configuration of processor pins, a periodic timer, and an interrupt controller. Other modules available on various processors in the 683xx family are: *The Timing Processor Unit (TPU), which performs almost any timing related task: timers, counters, proportional pulse width control, pulse width measurement, pulse generation, stepper motor controllers, quadrature detection, etc. Freescale gives the development system and

code In communications and information processing, code is a system of rules to convert information—such as a letter, word, sound, image, or gesture—into another form, sometimes shortened or secret, for communication through a communication ...

away for free. *An auxiliary random-access memory (RAM) doubles as a programmable microcontroller store for the TPU. *Some early models have two conventional counter-timers. *A general purpose timer (GPT) module provides pulse accumulators, capture/compare, and

pulse-width modulation Pulse-width modulation (PWM), or pulse-duration modulation (PDM), is a method of reducing the average power delivered by an electrical signal, by effectively chopping it up into discrete parts. The average value of voltage (and current) fed ...

capabilities. *Some models have a

network interface processor A network processor is an integrated circuit which has a feature set specifically targeted at the networking application domain. Network processors are typically software programmable devices and would have generic characteristics similar to gene ...

in the form of a communication processor module (CPM) and serial communications controllers (SCC) which can be interfaced to Ethernet or HDLC busses. *Most models have a queued serial module (QSM) which provides both synchronous Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), and logic-level RS-232 UART capabilities.

External links

Freescale M683xx processors
{{Motorola microcontrollers Freescale Semiconductor microcontrollers Motorola microcontrollers 68k microprocessors

See also

External links