Motorola taps SoC technology for MCore device

Motorola taps SoC technology for MCore device
By David Lammers, EE Times
August 8, 2000 (2:51 p.m. EST)
URL: http://www.eetimes.com/story/OEG20000808S0048

AUSTIN, Texas — Motorola Inc.'s Semiconductor Products Sector has used its system-on-chip design technology (SoCDT) to create a standard product based on the MCore microcontroller.

The MMC2107 product extends Motorola's commercial controller offerings in two broad directions by integrating on-chip flash and by using the quick-turn SoCDT design techniques, said Greg White, general manager of the Motorola microcontroller division. Motorola intends to use SoCDT to create a wide array of microcontrollers for the merchant market, White said.

The initial version of the MMC2107, which is built in a 0.35-micron process and is shipping now to the distribution channel, includes 128 kbytes of flash and the MCore 210 processor core rated at 31 Mips. Next year, Motorola expects to ship similar products based on the 310 "Powerstrike" MCore and built in a 0.25-micron process. Also, the flash technology will change from Motorola's homegrown flash used on the 2107 to the split-gate flash developed by Silicon Storage Technology Inc. (SST).

"The SST flash is good for very compact flash at the lower densities. Our strategy is that we have to watch costs, and the SST flash fits our cost structure favorably," White said.

The product marks Motorola's shift to its system-on-chip design technology. "We used the entire tool set and flow of the SoCDT, and every module on the device is within our IP [intellectual property] repository," White said.

Though intended for the distribution channel, the 2107 is already in use by non-distribution customers, including carmakers for airbag, chassis and safety systems, he said.