Mass-market telephony equipment and consumer electronics products could soon pack the power of a 32-bit microcontroller following the decision by Motorola Inc’s Microprocessor Products Group to simplify the design of its first 32-bit microcontroller, the 68020-derived 68332 and offering it at a dramatically lower price than the $84.55 that the 68332 hit the market in quantities of 1,000 or more. The parts are fabricated in Motorola’s one micron HCMOS static technology and have a 16.77MHz clock at 5V, 2Kb of static RAM on-chip, and a 68020 with added instructions for embedded control applications. Key feature of the 68332, which is aimed at applications like controlling the operation of car engines, is an intelligent RISC-based time processor unit with 16 user-programmable channels and pins, and it is this that Motorola has eliminated to produce the 68331.The company has introduced the 68331 at $36 in quantities of 1,000 or more, and has cut the price of the 68332 to $49, with volume production planned this year, when the part is expected to find its way into the likes of telephones, cameras and video camera-recorders.
