Blackfin targets lower BOM costs for industrial applications
By Robert Cravotta, Technical Editor -- EDN, January 20, 2010
Analog Devices’ new Blackfin BF50x processors operates as fast as 400 MHz, have dual MAC (multiply/accumulate) units, and sells for as low as $4.50 (10,000). The BF504F adds 4 Mbytes of stacked, parallel flash memory for prices as low as $6.50, and the BF 506F adds dual 12-bit, 2M-sample/second SAR (successive-approximation-register) ADCs and stacked flash for prices as low as $10.60 (10,000). All three processors include dual three-phase PWMs (pulse-width modulators), SPIs (serial-peripheral interfaces), SPORTS (space-power radio-transmission systems), and UARTs (universal asynchronous transmitters/receivers) with flow control. They also feature CAN (controller-area-network) interfaces and removable storage interfaces that support SDIO (secure digital input/output), eMMC (embedded multimedia card), and CE-ATA (consumer electronics advanced technology attachment).
The BF504 and BF504F are available in 88-pin, 12×12-mm, 0.5-mm LFCSPs, and the BF506F comes in 120-lead, 14×14-mm, 0.4-mm LQFPs. These parts are available for sampling. Preproduction quantities will become available in the second quarter, and full production quantities are scheduled for the fourth quarter. The $199 BF50x Ez-Kit Lite and the $150 ICE (in-circuit emulator)-100B Blackfin provide support for these processors. The Ez-Kit includes an evaluation version of the VisualDSP++ development environment. The emulator kit supports only Blackfin processors and supports 1.8, 2.5, and 3.3V-compliant and -tolerant operation. The CE-certified, ROHS (restriction-of-hazardous-substances)-directive-compliant kit is also a PlugFest-certified USB-powered design.
