greenpowerZONE Products for the week of November 21, 2005
Texas Instruments Says....
TI Announces Volume Production Of TMS320f28x Controllers With 64 Times Greater PWM Resolution
Starting at less than $5, TMS320F2801, F2806 and F2808 devices offer 100 MIPS of 32-bit performance
Delivering a clear path to more innovative and cost-effective embedded control applications like digital power conversion, motor control and advanced sensing, Texas Instruments Incorporated announced volume production of its TMS320F2801, TMS320F2806 and TMS320F2808 digital signal controllers. Based on TI's leading DSP technology, these 32-bit controllers feature a highly integrated, control-optimized peripheral mix that includes a patent pending pulse width modulator (PWM) with 64 times higher resolution than the nearest competitor for faster control loops and quicker system response as well as more accurate control systems-making these controllers instrumental in applications ranging from digitally controlled power supplies and laser-based air and medical sensors to high performance, vector-based motor control.
Digital Power Applications Surge Ahead
The TMS320F28x controllers' unmatched PWM technology enables the use of digital control in high switching frequency supplies like those found in wireless base stations, network servers and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). As power system designers face increasing pressure to handle more complex power requirements such as managing higher efficiencies over wider loads, lower output voltages and multiple power supply synchronizations, digital power provides intelligent adaptability and flexibility to satisfy any complex power requirement with the straight-forward ability to monitor, process and adapt to system conditions.
TI based digital power solutions where recently highlighted when a team of undergraduate students from Monash University, Victoria, Australia won a $10,000 first-place prize in the 2005 IEEE International Future Energy Challenge (FEC) for their highly efficient power converter solution based on an F28x controller (see http://www.ti.com/monash).
Early this year, TI announced its Fusion Digital Power solutions that includes the DSP based UCD9K high resolution digital power controllers which make power solutions much more energy efficient by providing the capability and flexibility to optimize power conversion over a broad range of loads. For additional information on TI's digital power supply solutions and the recently announced Fusion Digital Power line of UCD9K, UCD8K and UCD7K power solutions (see http://www.ti.com/digitalpower).
F28x Controllers Used For Medical and Industrial Intelligent Sensing Applications
Researchers at Rice University, Houston, Texas recently tested laser-based air and medical sensors using F28x controllers to detect the presence of specific gases in concentrations in the range of parts per billion to (ppb) parts per trillion (ppt). Pulsed quantum cascade (QC) laser-based sensors use laser absorption spectroscopy to measure electromagnetic radiation for applications including spacecraft air quality monitoring, breath analysis to detect certain medical conditions, volcanic emission monitoring and networked air monitoring of combustion sources and noxious gasses in urban-industrial settings. TI's highly integrated TMS320F2812 controller operates the lasers, converts and then processes the optical detector signals into highly precise measurements.
Unparalleled Performance and Complete System Integration
With a DSP core and the C-language efficiency and ease-of-use of a MCU, F28x controllers offer a leading 100 MIPS of 32-bit DSP performance and up to sixty-four times greater PWM resolution than competing architectures. The ability to position the edge of a PWM signal with 150 ps precision or 16 bits accuracy in a 100 KHz control loop enables faster transient response and smaller ripple amplitude to eliminate 'limit cycle' issues in digital power applications.
The F280x controllers integrate a number of peripherals including 128 KB of flash memory, a 12-bit, 16-channel analog-to-digital converter (ADC), 16 independent PWM channels, quadrature encoder pulse (QEP) and time stamping capture inputs for position sensing. This high integration enables a single F2808 device to control up to five independent three-phase motors simultaneously. A 32-bit wide data path ensures superior execution performance while mixed 16-/32-bit instruction achieves excellent code density. Key communication interfaces include multiple CAN, I2C, UART and SPI ports.
EN-Genius Says...
Editor's Note:
Since I missed reviewing these devices when they were announced earlier this year, I thought that I'd take advantage of this notice that they were entering full production-level volumes to take a closer look at a part that seems almost custom-designed for green power applications.
Bristling with specialized I/O that complements its DSP architecture, which has been modified specifically for real-time control tasks, the TMS320F280x family is well-armed for a variety of motor control, power conversion, and other green power applications. While you could do all these things with a less specialized processor, it would take a couple of chips' worth of peripherals and a much more costly BOM to perform most of the jobs that these nicely-integrated chips can do straight out of the box.
Given TI's deep commitment to DSPs, it's not surprising to see a 32-bit version of the venerable TMS320 architecture lurking at the heart of this design. While I've occasionally knocked TI on trying to use DSPs to do everything from packet processing to DSL modulation, I think that this time they've gotten it right by creating a custom instruction set that's well-suited for control tasks. They've added a complete set of logical operations, bit/byte masking, and bit manipulation functions to the TMS320's already-powerful MAC-oriented capabilites.
Since control tasks require as much real-time control ability as they do compute power, TI thoughtfully added extensive interrupt handling capabilities -- including 96-levels of hardware vectoring with priority logic. While not precisely a hair-trigger the interrupt mechanism is respectably quick and more than adequate for all but the most stringent real time apps with tight feedback loops. It takes only 11 - 14 cycles to begin its interrupt service, and boasts a total interrupt latency of 34 cycles (a bit better than an ARM-7).
As I the mentioned earlier, the F280x controllers are equipped with a good variety of I/O, most of which is detailed above. I would, however, like to make sepecial note of their 16-channel 12-bit ADC which cranks out 6.25 Msample/s and holds its full specs across the automotive temp range -40 to +125°C. Besides saving at least $2 in BOM costs for an equivalent discrete device, the integrated ADC's wide temp range makes it ideal for the challenges of an outdoor environment that a solar panel converter or other industrial application might encounter.
The F280x's other secret weapon is its high-resolution PWM controller which provides four channels of high-res (150 ps resolution: 17 bit equiv resolution @ 50 Hz, 11.4 bit @ 2.5 MHz) PWM signal, and of pairs of normal resolution (12 bit @ 50 Hz). This higher resolution is not as critical for motor control but a big advantage for power conversion and precise shaping of waveforms, and especially useful in grid-tied inverters where exact phase matching to the grid is necessary.
Of course, it's no slouch at motor control either. For example, its PWM circuits have a built-in deadband module to stagger motor drive currents as well as on-chip trip and fault sense circuitry with programmable thresholds. It also boasts phase control circuitry which allows an on-chip register to regulate phasing between channels.
One of the best features of the chip is the fact that it is a part of the huge TI developer's ecosystem, giving the developer access to a large array of tools, languages and chunks of pre-developed IP. But for those not as familiar with the intricacies of emebedded systems development, TI has also provided a simpler approach in the form of a simplified development environment that's framed in terms that power designers can understand. This large library of software blocks looks more like the functional blocks used by traditional power engineers and can be linked by C-language calls. This allows a developer suing an inexpensive ($395) development kit to simply connect outputs to inputs, set a few control parameters, and go. The visual development environment methodology allows traditional analog designers to get their feet wet with digital while still thinking in analog terms.
Designers interested in gainaing EnergyStar or Blue Angel certification for their next product will find the F280x controller family a useful ally in creating both white and brown goods that squeeze the most work out of every last watt they consume.In short, TI has leveraged its expertise at integration to deliver a single IC that drives both BOM and development costs down. By offering this superb combination of performance and functionality at prices beginning at under $5, Texas Instruments has created a vital building block that will help manufacturers forge the next generation of ultra-efficent equipment at prices that finally drive green power into the mainstream market.
The TMS320F2801, TMS320F2806 and TMS320F2808 are in production in both LQFP-100 and BGA-100, with volume pricing of $4.95, $7.45 and $9.95 respectively.
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