•  
• EDN Europe MAGAZINE
•  
• Free SUBSCRIPTION
• Subscription Renewal
• View Media Kit

• EDN
• EDN Australia
• EDN Asia
• EDN China
• EDN Japan

ARM9 MCU configured for LCD graphics designs

Optimised for multiplying numbers of projects with medium-resolution LCD panels

Toshiba has added an ARM9-based microcontroller to its range, supported by a development kit that will support complete prototyping of industrial and consumer applications. The ARM core is the 926EJ-S, and it is backed up by on-chip graphics acceleration; the chip is targeted at “any kind of display application.” Toshiba specifically mentions consumer products such as electronic dictionaries, as well as general industrial display applications. Although the headlines display support is 1024x1024 pixels, the chip is optimised for W-VGA (800x480) panels. As well as LCD controller with image processor accelerator, the chip has a high speed USB 2.0 (480 Mbit/sec) and an SD host controller. There is also an I2C interface for high-quality audio output, a CMOS camera interface and a seven-layer on-chip bus structure so that parallel transfer operation do not block each other. The TMPA910CRAXBG runs at up to 200 MHz; SD support is for cards up to 32 Gbyte; it costs “under $8” in volume.
At the same time, Toshiba has launched a starter kit – sold via distributors, for €250 – that has a complete prototyping environment on-board, with touch-screen graphics panel and Ethernet interface. With space on the board for prototyping of application-specific circuitry, the board comes with support from IAR – a free-download evaluation tools package runs for 30 days – and from Segger, with operating system and GUI library IP.
Asked about its ARM product intentions, and about Cortex cores, a Toshiba spokesman indicated that a Cortex-based part would be, “next.”