element14 intros innovative Freescale Tower System in Asia Pacific

BANGALORE, INDIA: element14 (formerly Farnell), the first electronic component distributor that fuses commerce and community, has introduced the Freescale Semiconductor Tower System, a modular development platform for 8, 16 and 32-bit microcontrollers and microprocessors that enables advanced development through rapid prototyping.

Interchangeable and reusable modules, along with open source design files, make it easy to customize each design, providing design engineers more time to focus on differentiated solutions. Expansion in the Tower system is simple and cost effective with hardware available as complete kits and standalone, individual modules.

“The increasing complexity of industrial applications and expanding functionality of semiconductors are driving embedded developers toward solutions that require the integration of proven hardware and software platforms,” said Geoff Lees, VP of Freescale's Industrial & Multi-Market MCU business. “Freescale, along with a strong alliance network, offers comprehensive solutions, including development tools, debuggers, programmers and software. Our strategic relationship with element14 provides our customers in Asia Pacific with our most advanced solutions along with high quality customer service.”

“The Freescale Tower System is an innovative modular development platform that saves electronic design engineers months of development time through rapid prototyping and reusable tools,” said William Chong, regional director of Supplier Marketing, element14, Asia Pacific. “element14 will continue to offer our customers in the Asia Pacific with the most comprehensive range of advanced solutions from the world’s best manufacturers in the fastest time possible to enable even shorter design cycles.”

Cutting-edge modular development platform
The Freescale Tower System, featuring multiple modules, provides designers with building blocks for entry-level to advanced microcontroller development.

There are two types of hardware modules, MCU/MPU and peripheral (i.e., serial, memory, LCD, etc.), which plug into backplane “elevator” boards. MCU/MPU modules act as the main controller board for the assembled Tower System, providing everything from 8-bit to DSC to 32-bit processing. Peripheral modules add features and functionality and include serial connectors, memory options, graphical LCDs and many others. These MCU/MPU, peripheral modules and elevator boards combine to make a constantly evolving development system based on new and changing design needs.

The use of open source hardware and software allows quick development with proven designs to create new modules. The inherent modularity of the Tower System gives significant choice with additional controllers, processors and peripherals and saves time and money through rapid prototyping and tool re-use for any number of projects.

Universal Tower module for existing S08 and RS08 devices
The TWR-S08UNIV provides a Freescale Tower System development solution for pre-existing S08 and RS08 devices. This combination of a Tower System module and its attachable daughter cards provide an easy way to switch between different S08 and RS08 MCUs without purchasing the same development board again. The TWR-S08UNIV brings a set of MCUs previously supported only by traditional demo boards into the growing Tower System ecosystem.