Freescale Kinetis L Series Microcontrollers Now Broadly Available

AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Freescale Semiconductor’s (NYSE: FSL) award-winning Kinetis L series, the world’s most energy-efficient microcontrollers (MCUs) and the first built on the ARM^® Cortex™-M0+ processor, is now broadly available.

“We’ve driven an aggressive timeline to get the world’s most energy-efficient MCUs into our customers’ hands as soon as possible”

Kinetis L series 32-bit devices, initially announced earlier this year, are the first to be featured on the new Freescale Freedom development platform, a small, low-power, cost-effective evaluation and development system perfect for quick application prototyping and demonstration.

The first member of the Kinetis L series, the KL25 MCU, and the Freescale Freedom development platform are readily available today through global semiconductor and electronic component distributors and suppliers, including element 14, Digi-Key Corporation and Mouser Electronics. More than 15,000 Freescale Freedom development platforms have been ordered and already begun shipping.

“We’ve driven an aggressive timeline to get the world’s most energy-efficient MCUs into our customers’ hands as soon as possible,” said Geoff Lees, vice president and general manager of Freescale’s Industrial & Multi-Market MCU business. “Six months after the announcement of the ARM Cortex-M0+ core, Freescale is delivering the fully qualified Kinetis L series in volume production quantities to help legacy 8- and 16-bit users ease the transition to 32-bit.”

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KL25 features

Each Kinetis L series family includes scalable flash memory options, pin counts and analog, communication, timing and control peripherals, providing easy migration paths for end product line expansion. The KL25 MCU features include:

48 MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ core
Down to 40 uA/MHz code execution from flash memory
32 KB to 128 KB of flash memory
High-speed 12/16-bit analog-to-digital converter
12-bit digital-to-analog converter
High-speed analog comparator
Low-power touch sensing
Powerful timers for a broad range of applications including motor control
USB 2.0 full-speed host/device/OTG
Pin- and software-compatible with the Kinetis K20 family, providing a migration path to DSP performance and advanced feature integration

World-class enablement

The Kinetis L series is supported by the Freescale Freedom development platform, Processor Expert software including an MQX™ Lite RTOS component, the Solution Advisor and the Tower System modular development platform for rapid prototyping, along with third-party development resources from the extensive ARM ecosystem.

The Freescale Freedom hardware provides easy access to the MCU I/O pins in an industry-standard form factor with a rich-set of third-party expansion board options. An integrated open-standard serial and debug interface, OpenSDA, offers an easy-to-use mass-storage device mode flash programmer, a virtual serial port and classic programming and run-control capabilities.

In addition, Freescale continues to grow the Tower System portfolio with the introduction of the TWR-KL25Z48M controller module. This new Kinetis L series module provides advanced evaluation and rapid prototyping capabilities that can leverage the growing Tower System portfolio. The TWR-KL25Z48M features the OpenSDA debug interface, capacitive touch pads, a Tower System plug-in socket and much more.

Availability and pricing

The Kinetis L series MKL25Z128VLK4 (80 LQFP) MCU is available now at a suggested resale price of $1.98 (USD) in 10,000-unit quantities. The Freescale Freedom development platform (FRDM-KL25Z) is available at a suggested resale price of $12.95 (USD). The Tower System TWR-KL25Z module is available at a suggested resale price of $99 (USD).

The entry-level Kinetis L series device, the KL02 MCU, is planned for broad availability in early 2013 at a suggested resale price of 49 cents (USD).

For more information about Kinetis L series MCUs, visit www.freescale.com/Kinetis/Lseries.

Additional Kinetis L series resources

Video: Kinetis L series vs. competitors – energy-efficiency demonstration
Video: Kinetis L series MCUs built on the ARM Cortex-M0+ core: what’s the + for?
Website: Freescale Freedom development platform
Video: Freescale Freedom development platform out-of-box video
Brochure: Freescale ARM Solutions Guide

About Freescale Semiconductor

Freescale Semiconductor (NYSE:FSL) is a global leader in embedded processing solutions, providing industry leading products that are advancing the automotive, consumer, industrial and networking markets. From microprocessors and microcontrollers to sensors, analog integrated circuits and connectivity – our technologies are the foundation for the innovations that make our world greener, safer, healthier and more connected. Some of our key applications and end-markets include automotive safety, hybrid and all-electric vehicles, next generation wireless infrastructure, smart energy management, portable medical devices, consumer appliances and smart mobile devices. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing and sales operations around the world. www.freescale.com

Freescale, the Freescale logo, Kinetis and Processor Expert are trademarks of Freescale Semiconductor, Inc., Reg. U.S. Pat. & Tm. Off. ARM is the registered trademark of ARM Limited. Cortex is the trademark of ARM Limited. All other product or service names are the property of their respective owners. © 2012 Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.