What is the future of the m68k architecture ?

[angelo_d]

Dear all,

some coldfire supplier is informing that some mcf models are no longer "produced".

Not sure if they just intend "no more sold" from them.

I am wondering what the future of the m68k/coldifre family could be, for NXP.

In particular,

- is there any "new" project in the queue for this architectures ?

- What coldfire cpu are going (or are already) obsolete / legacy ?

- How long coldfire cpu will be available ?

many thanks

angelo

[miduo]

Well, the MCF5307 does not misterious, it has same case with other ColdFire parts. NXP will not promote any m68K core. m68K core is old Motorola/Freescale's property and I am pretty sure there no other producers.:)

Best Regards,

Fang

[TomE]

> I am pretty sure there no other producers.:)

Probably not now, but there used to be at least six others:

Motorola 68000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tom

[angelo_d]

Thanks,

so for mcf5307 it is someway misterious, but at least there is one active model. Will something more to Farnell and similars. Afayk, is freescale / nxp the only producers actually of m68k arch cpu's ?

[TomE]

> Not sure if they just intend "no more sold" from them.

Thay can't sell them if they can't buy them.

5407 Longevity

Product Longevity: NXP (formerly Freescal&#10|NXP

> - is there any "new" project in the queue for this architectures ?

From the "Longevity" list above, the last "new" ones were released in September 2010. Since then, everything has been Kinetis (ARM) or i.MX6 (ARM).

> - What coldfire cpu are going (or are already) obsolete / legacy ?

Check the Longevity list. The last ones on that list is the MCF5441x and some MCF51s which are guaranteed for 15 years from 2010. Lots of other ones are near time.

> - How long coldfire cpu will be available ?

It depends on what features you want. If you have to have a TPU then the last one with that was the MCF5235, and that one fell of the "supported" list and only shows up on this one, where the guarantee ran out last September:

Product Longevity - Archived|NXP

If you want something NXP don't make (or don't make any more) you can always embed a core into an FPGA, but then you've got the problem of sourcing IP for working peripherals and writing drivers for them. The core is easy compared to working Ethernet, USB and other useful things.

Coldfire compatible FPGA core with ISA enhancement - Brainstorming

Tom

[angelo_d]

Many thanks, very clear.

Still a doubt, what about longevity of MCF5307 ?

Considering it is not in any list, and datasheed rev 2 is from 2000, in the best case it is already "dead". Correct ?

[TomE]

> Still a doubt, what about longevity of MCF5307 ?

The "Longevity" list only handles products launched in 2010 and later.

The "Archived" list only handles from 2000, and only lists ColdFire chips from 2005.

So maybe they didn't have "longevity guarantees" prior to that.

Here's the same thing from 2011, also showing the first MCF chip listed in September 2005:

https://web.archive.org/web/20110607144949/http://www.freescale.com/webapp/sps/site/overview.jsp?cod...

The MCF5307 Product Page says the MCF5307CAI66B is "active", but that three others are "Not Recommended for New Designs". There are others that stopped being made in 2006, but that may have been a lead-free thing. That page also lists the "10 year longevity" which may be a cut/paste/default thing as the chips aren't listed on the Longevity page, and these things should match.

Ask your Distributor for better details.

Tom