The Provider of Virtual Component of Silicon IP thus extends its microcontrollers range, from the legacy i8051 already enriched as Flip8051/251, to the APS3-2051: it enables a cost-effective move toward the 32-bit microcontroller market. Initial Applications are aimed at the High Resolution and Wide Reach Industrial markets with multi-domain technologies: MEMS… as well as the nascent market for migrating Smart Card applications upwards.

Their partnership enables the three companies to enhance their offering of Platforms for System-on-Chip Development, Migration and Debug: indeed, the Cortus world-tiniest 32-bit mostly RISC processor, now is enriched with the "PRemier Interactive Development Environment" PRIDE™ which benefits from the patented Real-Time debugger BIRD™ and the SUCCESS™ cosimulator.

"The features of the XA architecture make it an easy 16<bit upgrade for 80C51 users," said Geoff Lees, marketing director, Microcontroller Business Line, Philips Semiconductors. "The combined tool chain from Raisonance further simplifies the upgrade, now that the customer can develop codes using one development environment where the C<syntax for both compilers is exactly the same. We are very satisfied with the performance of the tool set, and are convinced our microcontroller customers will find very good price/performance in the RIDE<51XA."

"We are very excited to work with Philips Semiconductors and be a part of the XA success story," said Francis Lamotte, president, Raisonance. "Unlike other XA C<compilers, RIDE<51XA is syntax<compatible with market leading 80C51 compilers. This means that 75 to 80 percent of today's 80C51 customers can port their existing code base to the XA with a minimum of rework. Whether customers require the inherent ease<of<use of the C51 architecture, or the XA's fast context switching and multitasking capabilities<the Raisonance C<compiler is an ideal solution."

The C<compiler is ANSI compliant, containing all standard ANSI C libraries. It features tiny, small, compact, large and huge memory models. All C<base types are supported, including IEEE754 floating point arithmetic. The tool chain also includes a Macro Assembler supporting all standard C51 assembly syntaxes. A Linker/Relocator, expanded by new concepts such as segment grouping, permits better CPU control and efficient mapping of user memory. It also generates symbolic output format (OMF<51), HEX output file, and a complete listing file.

A Simulator/Debugger, integrated into the development environment, uses information generated by the compiler or assembler to provide fully symbolic high level debugging, and considers characteristics of the selected device and simulates in detail all internal peripherals. Advanced versions also permit the simulation of multi<process applications, offering various solutions to simulate external inputs and outputs and provide emulator<like functions such as trace management or complex breakpoint control.

A real<time operating system (RTOS) for time and memory management, semaphores, synchronizing events, inter<task communications, and sophisticated functions such as a perpetual calendar are also included. The RTOS performs task declaration at the C<source level and kernel configuration at project level.

Customers can download a free, 100 percent functional evaluation version of the RIDE<51XA, which supports 4 kB of code for the 80C51 and 8 kB of code for the XA. This free version can be downloaded from www.51xa<tools.com and customers who want to purchase an upgrade can do so from the secure site.

Founded in 1988, Raisonance S.A. is based near Grenoble in the French Alps. The company is a specialist developer of tools for Philips Semiconductors 80C51 and XA microcontrollers, and offers the most comprehensive range of tools from C Compilers to real<time emulators. By introducing innovative and unique solutions, Raisonance provides high quality dedicated products to suit the specific needs of the embedded market. Raisonance development tools are distributed and supported worldwide. For more information, see www.raisonance.com.

Philips Semiconductors is the world's leading supplier of the most popular 8<bit microcontroller architecture, the 80C51. Philips Semiconductors has extended this successful architecture into its low<power, small footprint and low<system cost 51LPC family. This enables customers to preserve their software, development tools and technology investment in the 80C51, while capitalizing on low<power, small footprint and enhanced performance. With the introduction of the 80C51MX Memory eXtension, Philips Semiconductors has extended the 80C51 architecture to support more than 64 KBytes of on<chip memory. Dataquest's 1998 Microcontroller Market Share and Unit Shipments Report, issued in July 1999, stated that Philips Semiconductors' 80C51 sales totaled US$ 445 million in 1998, this represented a 38 percent share of the total 80C51 microcontroller market.

Philips Semiconductors, with annual revenue of approximately US$5 billion, designs and manufactures semiconductors and silicon system platforms. Philips Semiconductors is spearheading the emerging field of systems on silicon solutions with the innovative Nexperia® platform and VLSI Velocity®; tool set. The company's Sea-of-IP design methodology allows plug and play intellectual property blocks for easily customizable products. The company is a leader in communications, consumer, PC peripherals and automotive semiconductors, which are key applications for convergence in end-user products. Philips Semiconductors is headquartered in Eindhoven, The Netherlands, and has operations throughout the world. For more information: www.philips.semiconductors.com.