Toshiba Expands Microcontroller Product Line-up

Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation (“Toshiba”) has announced major strategic expansions to its already extensive line-up of microcontrollers. The TXZ+™ Family is a new range of 32-bit microcontrollers based on the Arm^® Cortex^® core, while the addition of a new product series to the TLCS Family, built on Toshiba’s original microcontroller core, introduces an 8-bit series.

Sample shipments of TLCS Family products will start at the end of March, and samples of the first product in the TXZ+™ Family will start to ship in the second quarter of FY2020.

The TXZ+™ Family offers products in two classes, advanced and entry. The Advanced class delivers better performance than Toshiba’s current microcontrollers. Entry class reduces costs by limiting functionality. Toshiba will deliver TXZ+™ Family products on four platforms: one for general purposes, three to support IoT functions for security, sensors and motor control respectively.

The two advanced series, Cortex^®-M4 based “TXZ4A+ Series” andCortex^®-M3 based “TXZ3A+ Series,” are fabricated with 40nm-process, a first for Toshiba. They deliver maximum operating frequencies of 200 MHz and consume approximate 30% less power than Toshiba’s current product. ^[1]

There are also three entry class series: the Cortex^®-M4 based “TXZ4E+ Series,” the Cortex^®-M3 based “TXZ3E+ Series,” and the Cortex^®-M0 based “TXZ0E+ Series.” All three adopt the 130nm-process and are manufactured by Japan Semiconductor Corporation, Toshiba’s manufacturing subsidiary. Handling all aspects of the production flow, from development of process technology to device development, design and manufacturing, gives Toshiba the flexibility needed to develop devices for diverse applications.

They also employ SONOS (silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon) memory ^[2], a new technology for Toshiba’s microcontrollers, one that is highly suited to systems that demand highly reliable data retention and high level resilience to repeated data write and erase.

TLCS-870/C1E Series, the new addition to the TLCS Family, also deploys SONOS memory.

Toshiba’s new MCU meet increasing demand for IoT devices that consume less power while delivering improved performance, and still robust demand for devices that deliver lower costs, especially for home appliances, by reducing functions to essential levels. 

Microcontrollers are one of Toshiba’s core businesses, and the company devotes considerable resources to all aspects of their development. The company will continue to enhance the competitiveness of the microcontroller business.

Notes

[1] The advanced class reduces power to 68µA/MHz from 100µA/MHz of Toshiba’s current product, TMPM4G9F15FG. As of March 2020, Toshiba survey.

[2] Toshiba has cooperated with Floadia Corporation in development of SONOS memory. Toshiba microcontrollers utilize “G1,” Floadia’s SONOS memory IP.

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* TXZ+™ is a trademark of Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation.
*Arm and Cortex are registered trademarks of Arm limited (or its subsidiaries) in the US and/or elsewhere.
*Other company names, product names, and service names may be trademarks of their respective companies.

Information in this document, including product prices and specifications, content of services and contact information, is current on the date of the announcement but is subject to change without prior notice.