Fast, Proven, Available, and Upgradeable New development tools speed DMC development Standard BIOS drives next-generation real-time DSP analysis tools TI celebrates 15 years of DSP Solutions leadership Hot News Embedded test bus controller 16-bit sigma delta AIC

New development tools speed DMC development TI DSP third parties support ’C24x DSP controller Control applications using DSP-based digital motor control (DMC) systems are steadily increasing each year due to many reasons, one being the motor-industry trend toward the use of brushless motors in a broad range of industrial products. Other reasons are the result of increasing government regulation on energy conservation and noise levels for all household white goods (appliances) and factory automation systems. To meet these market needs, TI’s TMS320C24x DSP controller features a 20-MIPS ’C2xx 16-bit, fixed-point core with a unique motor-control event manager whose features allow the device to perform advanced control tasks, including command generation, digital position, velocity, and current loops, digital commutation and additional system modeling, diagnostics, and communication. Completing the device are two serial interfaces, a pair of 10-bit A/D converters, 28 bits of digital I/O, a watchdog timer, and 16 kWords of ROM or 16 kWords of flash EPROM (’F240). Based on the ’C24x devices, several TI DSP third parties have developed complete development packages for DMC applications. Portescap's MCK240 development board Portescap, Inc. and Technosoft have introduced the MCK240 evaluation kit, which includes an ’F240 development board, a small brushless motor equipped with a high-resolution position encoder, and graphical motion-control software tools. The board includes the ’F240, along with 32 kWords of RAM, an integrated three-phase PWM inverter with built-in current measurements, and a direct incremental encoder interface. A universal interface for connection to various external power amplifiers, such as IGBT inverter bridges, is also available for controlling larger motors. The board can be connected to a PC via an RS-232 interface, allowing software downloading and debugging. The extended software provides ready-to-run examples for basic motion-control programs. During the run time, the main system variables such as position reference, motor position, speed, currents, and tracking error are saved in memory. The results can be uploaded and examined using the advanced graphical tools. Also, the MCK240 JTAG interface allows one to download, execute, and debug ’C240 programs using TI software. Spectrum Digital's EVM320F240 evaluation module Spectrum Digital, Inc., has also introduced development tools for control applications. The EVM320F240 Evaluation Module is designed to quickly develop, debug, and prototype motor-control applications. It features a TMS320F240 DSP with 64 kWords of program and data memory. The program space also has 32 kWords of Flash ROM for embedded application code. An MP7680 DAC (4 channels, 12 bits) and additional UART are designed onboard for increased functionality. The module also supports the ’C2xx High Level Language (HLL) C Source Debugger, assembler/linker/compiler, and is compatible with TI’s XDS510 emulator and Spectrum Digital’s emulator, GO DSP’s Code Composer, and the Spectrum Digital RS-232 C Source Debugger. Also from Spectrum Digital is the RS-232 HLL C Source Debugger, which supports the TMS320C203 and ’F240, and operates without an emulator. It provides the necessary tools for debugging DSP control algorithms and hardware. Also compatible with TI’s HLL debugger, PC-resident debugger operates over an RS-232 cable with Spectrum Digital’s EVM320C203 and EVM320F240 evaluation modules. For pricing and availability on the MCK240, call Portescap at (516) 234-3900 in the U.S. or +41 (032) 925 6111. For more information on Spectrum Digital’s DMC tools, call (281) 561-6952.