Motorola M68HC16 Hardware and Software

Note regarding pricing: Pricing is based on queries of the Motorola North American Pricing List, and may not be accurate or up to date. Verify any pricing information with Motorola. (See www.mot-sps.com/cgi-bin/pg for the pricing guide.)

Hardware--Evaluation and Development

Motorola apparently no longer offers the inexpensive evaluation board mentioned in the book. What they do currently offer is:

MEVB1632 Modular Evaluation Board (about $500). See www.mcu.motsps.com/dev_tools/3xx/index.html#mevb1632

MEVB Modular Evaluation Board

The MEVB is an integrated solution for designing, debugging, and evaluating MCU operations of the M68HC16 and M68300 families. It also helps developers evaluate and debug code to be programmed into these MCUs. To simplify and speed evaluations, the MEVB provides microcontroller timing and port replacement circuitry.

Additional MEVB features include:

support for several sizes and types of memory device (RAM, EPROM, flash EEPROM), selectable via jumpers.
seven software breakpoints
logic analyzer connection for all MCU pins
on-board MCU and flash EEPROM programming
wire-wrap area
background debug mode operation

Hardware and Software Components

A complete MEVB consists of three components, all of which come with the package (ordered with a single part number—see the table ):

Modular Platform Board (MPFB1632) – Printed circuit board that provides interface and power connections for the MPB. The MPFB is not device-specific; it works with the full spectrum of devices of the M68HC16 and M68300 MCU families. Moreover, an MPFB can be reused in multiple projects involving different devices in these families.
MCU Personality Board (MPB) – A device- and package-specific board that defines the MCU to be evaluated. A plastic overlay is also included, which labels pin-outs for the MPFB logic analyzer connectors specific to the MCU.
In-circuit debugger (ICD16 and ICD32) – Full background debugger, also not device-specific, which consists of a printed circuit board, a cable, and development software. The circuit board and cable connect a host computer's parallel port to the MPFB background debug mode connector.
ICD16 is for MCUs in the M68HC16 family

Other development tools (including their $12,500+ development system) can be found at
www.mcu.motsps.com/dev_tools/index.html. For more information on development tools, you can contact Motorola Tech Assistance at 1-800-521-6274. For pricing and availability, your best bet is to get in touch with your local Motorola sales office.

Other potential low-cost sources for 68hc16 boards (about which I know little)

http://www.bipom.com/6816dev.htm
http://www.newmicros.com/

Alternatives to the M68HC16

Consider using a DSP-specific processor--for example, the DSP56002. Motorola offers a $149 kit (DSP56002EVM) including software. You get a 40 MHz 24-bit DSP with high quality audio input. See www.mot.com/SPS/DSP/products/DSP56002EVM.html for details. Folks who have read our book should be fairly comfortable with the architecture of most any DSP chip--you've seen how the architecture and instruction set of the M68HC16 allow efficient DSP operations; now imagine an architecture where these design issues take center stage! Other manufacturers offer similar evaluation boards for their DSP chips, such as Analog Devices (about $90 for their EZ-Kit Lite for 16-bit fixed point, higher for floating point chips) and Texas Instruments (about $100 for their 16-bit fixed-point, higher for floating point versions). These are excellent learning tools!

Development Software

The MCUasm tools are described at www.mcu.motsps.com/dev_tools/software.html. The package for the M68HC16 seems to be about $400. However, older versions of DOS-based MASM tools might be available on the Motorola FTP site; for example, at www.mot.com/pub/SPS/MCU/masm_dos.

Application Notes, Documentation

See www.mcu.motsps.com/lit/all-lit.html for a listing of documentation available on-line, including application notes, user manuals, and documentation on development systems. (Most files are in PDF format--you can download the Acrobat viewer for free from www.adobe.com.)

Source Code Examples

See www.mcu.motsps.com/freeweb/index.html for entry to the Motorola FTP site, which includes code for the 68HC16. (You might also look under masm_dos to see if older MASM software is available.) Code for the 5-Band Frequency Analyzer and other examples can be found here.

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