The K50 MCU family is pin-, peripheral- and software-compatible with other Kinetis microcontrollers and provides designers with an Analog Measurement Engine consisting of integrated operational and transimpedance amplifiers and high-resolution ADC and DAC modules. The family also features IEEE® 1588 Ethernet and hardware encryption, full-speed USB 2.0 On-The-Go with device charger detect capability and a flexible low-power segment LCD controller with support for up to 320 segments. Devices start from 128 KB of flash in 64 QFN packages extending up to 512 KB in a 144 MAPBGA package.
Key Features:
Ultra Low-Power
10 low-power modes with power and clock gating for optimal peripheral activity and recovery times. Stop currents of <500 nA, run currents of <200 µA/MHz, 4 µs wake-up from Stop mode
Full memory and analog operation down to 1.71V for extended battery life
Low-leakage wake-up unit with up to eight internal modules and sixteen pins as wake-up sources in low-leakage stop (LLS)/very low-leakage stop (VLLS) modes
Low-power timer for continual system operation in reduced power state
Flash, SRAM and FlexMemory
128 KB-512 KB flash. Fast access, high reliability with four-level security protection
64 KB-128 KB of SRAM FlexMemory: 2-4 KB of usersegmentable byte write/erase EEPROM for data tables/system data. EEPROM with over 10M cycles and flash with 70 µsec write time (brownouts without data loss/corruption). No user or system intervention to complete programming and erase functions and full operation down to 1.71V. In addition, FlexNVM from 32 KB-256 KB for extra program code, data or EEPROM backup
Mixed-Signal Capability
Up to two operational amplifiers allow signal filtering and amplification
Up to two transimpedance amplifiers optimized for converting current inputs into voltages that can be read by the ADC
Up to two high-speed 16-bit ADCs with configurable resolution. Single or differential output mode operation for improved noise rejection. 500 ns conversion time achievable with programmable delay block triggering
Up to two 12-bit DACs for analog waveform generation for medical applications baseline (glucometer, pulseoximeter)
Up to three high-speed comparators providing fast and accurate motor over-current protection by driving PWMs to a safe state
Up to two programmable gain amplifiers with x64 gain for small amplitude signal conversion
Analog voltage reference provides an accurate reference to analog blocks, ADC and DAC, and replaces external voltage references to reduce system cost
Performance
ARM Cortex-M4 core
72 or 100 MHz, single-cycle MAC DSP+single instruction multiple data (SIMD) extensions
Crossbar switch enables concurrent multi-master bus accesses, increasing bus bandwidth
Timing and Control
Up to three FlexTimers with a total of 12 channels. Hardware dead-time insertion and quadrature decoding for motor control
Carrier modulator timer for infrared waveform generation in remote control applications
Four-channel 32-bit periodic interrupt timer provides time base for RTOS task scheduler or trigger source for ADC conversion and programmable delay block
Human-Machine Interface
Hardware touch-sensing interface with up to 16 inputs. Operates in all low power modes (minimum current adder when enabled). Hardware implementation avoids software polling method. High sensitivity level allows use of overlay surfaces up to 5 mm thick
Flexible, low-power LCD controller with up to 320 segments (40x8 or 44x4). LCD blink mode enables low average power while remaining in low-power mode. Segment fail detect guards against erroneous readouts and reduces LCD test costs. Frontplane/backplane reassignment provides pin-out flexibility easing PCB design and allows LCD configuration changes via firmware with no hardware re-work. Supports multiple 3V and 5V LCD panel sizes with fewer segments (pins) than competitive controllers and no external components. Unused LCD pins can be configured as other GPIO functions
Connectivity and Communications
IEEE 1588 Ethernet MAC with hardware time stamping provides precision clock synchronization for real-time industrial control
USB 2.0 On-The-Go (full speed). Device charge detect optimizes charging current/time for portable USB devices enabling longer battery life. Low-voltage regulator supplies up to 120 mA off chip at 3.3V to power external components from 5V input
Up to six UARTs with IrDA support including one UART with ISO7816 smart card support. Variety of data size, format and transmission/reception settings supported for multiple industrial communication protocols
Inter-IC Sound (I2S) serial interface for audio system interfacing
Up to three DSPI and two I2C
Reliability, Safety and Security
Hardware Encryption coprocessor for secure data transfer and storage. Faster than software implementations and with minimal CPU loading. Supports a wide variety of algorithms - DES, 3DES, AES, MD5, SHA-1, SHA-256
Memory protection unit provides memory protection for all masters on the cross bar switch, increasing software reliability
Cyclic redundancy check engine validates memory contents and communication data, increasing system reliability
Independent-clocked COP guards against clock skew or code runaway for fail-safe applications such as the IEC 60730 safety standard for household appliances
External watchdog monitor drives output pin to safe state external components if watchdog event occurs
External Peripheral Support
FlexBus external bus interface provides interface options to memories and peripherals such as graphics displays. Supports up to 6 chip selects and 2GB addressable space
Secure digital host controller supports SD, SDIO, MMC or CE-ATA cards for in-application software upgrades, media files or adding Wi-Fi support
