Cypress announces PSoC 4 Arch featuring ARM Cortex M0

Cypress Semiconductor has launched the PSoC 4 programmable system-on-chip architecture with ARM Cortex M0 processor core. Cypress plans to announce the availability of new PSoC 4 families in the first half of 2013.

“PSoC 4 enables design engineers to leverage the overall trend toward industry-standard, lower-cost ARM-based solutions, the broad availability of ARM software, and the migration of 8-and 16-bit MCU applications to 32-bit solutions,” said John Weil, Senior Director of PSoC Marketing for Cypress’s Programmable Systems Division. “It is the industry’s only fully scalable, infinitely reconfigurable Cortex-M-class MCU with best-in-class analog integration. It can replace entire portfolios of proprietary MCUs and analog solutions, and it is well-positioned to capture significant market share.”

"Inserting the popular Cortex-M0 processor core into the highly-customizable logic and analog circuitry of Cypress's PSoC products makes a very appealing combination for applications with unique I/O requirements that warrant a higher performance processor or the widely-used ARM architecture,” said Tom Starnes, Principal Analyst with semiconductor market research firm Objective Analysis. “The trim PSoC 4 with the highly optimized Cortex-M0 processor makes it easier to step up from 8- and 16-bit or proprietary MCU architectures."

Less power leakage of 150 nA while retaining SRAM memory, programmable logic, and the ability to wake up from an interrupt and in stop mode, it consumes only 20 nA while maintaining wake-up capability, makes this device attractive for low power designs. PSoC 4 operate from a wide operating voltage range of 1.71V to 5.5V.

The advantage of PSoC over normal MCU is it has flash-based equivalent of a field-programmable ASIC.