Out in Front: September 12, 1996

AMD continues to proliferate its 186 product line with the Am186/88ER microcontroller that contains 32 kbytes of zero-wait-state SRAM. In addition to the standard 80C186 peripherals, the ER µCs contain an asynchronous serial port that allows full-duplex, 7- or 8-bit data transfers and a synchronous serial interface for half-duplex, bidirectional data transfers. The µCs operate at 3.3V, but their 32 programmable I/O pins are 5V-tolerant. An integrated PLL enables the Am18xERs to operate at as much as four times the clock-input frequency. The devices are available in 100-pin TQFPs and PQFPs and frequency ranges from 20 to 40 MHz. The 186 and 188 sell for $16.06 and $15.26, respectively (1000).

—by Markus Levy

AMD, Sunnyvale, CA. (408) 749-5703, http://www.amd.com.