New $39 Piccolo™ USB tools jumpstart 32-bit real-time control development

Piccolo MCUs sampling now to enable greener, more cost-effective industrial, automotive and consumer applications

Bangalore , Jan. 16, 2009 - Helping designers bring 32-bit real-time control to cost sensitive applications, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NYSE: TXN) announced two new USB-based tools for Piccolo™ 32-bit TMS320F2802x microcontrollers (MCU). The new evaluation and development tools make it easier for designers to evaluate Piccolo MCUs and develop more energy-efficient, real-time control applications such as solar power micro-inverters, LED lighting, white goods appliances and hybrid automotive batteries (www.ti.com/controlstickpr). In addition, the first Piccolo-based devices, the F2802x series, are now available for sampling (www.ti.com/piccolopr).

Piccolo controlSTICK key features	Piccolo USB Experimenter’s Kit key features
$39 evaluation tool Helps designers evaluate and learn about Piccolo MCUs Small, USB stick form factor On board USB JTAG for quick, easy project evaluation Access to all control peripherals through header pins 32 KB limited Code Composer Studio™ IDE and example projects	$79 for full development kit; includes $49 Piccolo controlCARD Prototyping gets designers developing on Piccolo MCUs quickly On board USB JTAG emulation with connection for external emulator and power supply Access available to all Piccolo pins 32 KB limited Code Composer Studio IDE

Real-time control drives energy efficiency across many applications

Solar micro-inverters: Packing 32-bit performance into a small, low-cost package brings better efficiency and control to solar-powered systems by enabling micro-inverter-based systems that have the potential to drive higher power conversion efficiencies compared to traditional, centralized inverter systems.
Commercial and industrial lighting applications: LED technology can bring up to 50 percent higher energy efficiency compared to traditional high pressure sodium lamps. Piccolo MCU-based systems enable smart current control and easy system networking to reduce the complexity and cost of managing color mixing and temperature control required for white LED systems.
Power line communications (PLC): Piccolo MCUs’ real-time performance and integration help bring PLC to multiple applications, including street light networks that allow cities to pinpoint power outages and centrally manage or adjust lighting based on time of day, traffic or weather conditions.

Find out more about TI’s Piccolo MCUs and tools by visiting the links below:

controlSTICK: www.ti.com/controlSTICK
Tools and training: www.ti.com/f28xkits
Piccolo home page: www.ti.com/piccolopr
Piccolo technical brief: www.ti.com/piccolotechbrief
Piccolo product bulletin: www.ti.com/piccoloprodbulletin
TI microcontrollers: www.ti.com/mcu
TI E2E Community and support: https://community.ti.com/forums/35.aspx
Videos: www.ti.com/piccolopr
Graphics: www.ti.com/piccolographics

About Texas Instruments:

Texas Instruments (NYSE: TXN) helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design and sales operations in more than 25 countries. For more information, go to www.ti.com.