OREANDA-NEWS. Toshiba Corporation announced that it will launch a vector engine embedded microcontroller with a low-pin count and wide pin pitch, which makes lower mounting costs possible, as the latest addition to the ARM Cortex™-M3 core-based TX03 series line-up. Mass production of the new product "TMPM372" will start in May 2013.

Toshiba has been developing the M370-group products with its vector engine for motor control and it is now in wide use in applications ranging from consumer products such as white goods to factory automation. As these products fall in price, the cost emphasis will extend beyond the main devices, such as microcontrollers, to include PCBs and related costs, including mounting costs. Flexibly meeting these requirements requires a variety of packages.

The features of the new product "TMPM372FWFG" are the same as the existing vector engine low-pin count product "TMPM372FWUG", but changing the pin-pitch from 0.5 mm to 0.8 mm supports cost-effective flow-soldering. It also makes it possible to use single-layer PCBs and reduces the cost per area to less than half that of two-layer PCBs.

Toshiba will continue to make improvements in product performance and to expand its product line-up to meet the needs of customers for package variations meeting diverse mounting requirements.