NXP microcontrollers with Ethernet — highest bandwidth, easy-to-use

Ethernet is the most widely-installed Local Area Network (LAN) technology in the world. It's been in use since the early 1980s and is covered by the IEEE standard 802.3, which specifies a number of speed grades. In embedded systems, the most commonly used format runs at both 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps (and is often referred to as 10/100 Ethernet).

Using Ethernet in embedded applications enables high-bandwidth data transfer and, in particular, lets the system connect to the Internet without using a computer. That opens up a number of possibilities, including the ability to report status to a web page or receive instructions remotely.

There are more than 20 NXP ARM MCUs with built-in Ethernet, covering all three generations of ARM (ARM7, ARM9, and the new Cortex-M3). A list of NXP's Ethernet-equipped products can be found in the Products section below. NXP uses essentially the same implementation across all three generations, so designers can save time and resources by reusing their Ethernet function when systems move to the next generation of ARM.

NXP's Ethernet block (see below) contains a full-featured 10/100 Ethernet MAC (media access controller) that uses DMA hardware acceleration to increase performance. The MAC is fully-compliant with IEEE standard 802.3 and interfaces with an off-chip Ethernet PHY (physical layer) using the MII (Media Independent Interface) or RMII (Reduced MII) protocol along with the on-chip MIIM (Media Independent Interface Management) serial bus.

LPC24xx Ethernet Block

The NXP Ethernet block is distinguished by the following:

• Full Ethernet Functionality
  The block supports full Ethernet operation, as specified in the 802.3 standard.
• Enhanced Architecture
  NXP has enhanced the architecture with several additional features including receive filtering, automatic collision back-off and frame retransmission, power management via clock switching, and more.
• DMA Hardware Acceleration
  The block has two DMA managers, one each for transmit and receive. Automatic frame transmission and reception with Scatter-Gather DMA offloads the CPU even further.

Designers often want to use Ethernet in combination with USB, but this can have a serious impact on performance. NXP's ARM MCUs use an infrastructure that's designed to perform several tasks at once.

NXP's ARM7 procesors combine Ethernet with USB connectivity and an integrated LCD controller. To improve the performance of these demanding operations, the ARM7 architecture uses a second AHB bus dedicated to Ethernet operations. Supported by DMA blocks, the dual-bus system offloads the CPU considerably, freeing it up for other tasks.

Dual AHB Structure (LPC24xx)

In its ARM9 and Cortex-M3 processors, NXP incorporates a multilayered bus matrix. Different bus masters can access the matrix simultaneously, so there's greater system flexibility and performance is optimized. The matrix provides enhanced support for Ethernet, USB, and LCD peripherals, since they act like independent bus masters.

NXP's Cortex-M3 Architecture

Easy-to-use stacks and operating systems reduce the time it takes to implement the complex protocols used with the Ethernet channel. NXP partners with a number of leading suppliers to offer complete software support for Ethernet.

Click for datasheet. Also, see datasheet disclaimer.
, , indicate product status. Click or for more or less detail.

LH79524 System-on-Chip with ARM720T microcontroller, 16KB SRAM, LCD controller up to true color or XGA, touch screen controller, MMU, AHB, APB, 32-bit external memory interface, USB 1.1 full speed device, 10/100 ethernet, I2C, 10-bit ADC

LH79525 System-on-Chip with ARM720T microcontroller, 16KB SRAM, LCD controller up to true color or XGA, touch screen controller, MMU, AHB, APB, 16-bit external memory interface, USB 1.1 full speed device, 10/100 ethernet, I2C, 10-bit ADC

LPC2362 ARM7TDMI-S microcontroller with 128KB flash, ISP/IAP, 10/100 Ethernet, USB 2.0 device/host/OTG, CAN, 10-bit ADC/DAC

LPC2364 Microcontroller with 128KB flash, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2365 Microcontroller with 256KB flash, 10/100 ethernet, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2366 Microcontroller with 256KB flash, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2367 Microcontroller with 512KB flash, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2368 Microcontroller with 512KB flash, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2377 Microcontroller with 512KB flash, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2378 Microcontroller with 512KB flash, USB 2.0, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation, dual AHB bus architecture

LPC2387 ARM7TDMI-S microcontroller with 512KB flash, dual AHB bus architecture, USB full-speed device/host/OTG, 10/100 Ethernet, ISP/IAP, CAN, 10-bit ADC/DAC

LPC2388 Microcontroller with 512KB flash, external memory interface, dual AHB bus architecture, USB full-speed device/host/OTG, 10/100 ethernet, ISP/IAP, CAN, and 10-bit ADC/DAC

LPC2458 Microcontroller with 512kB flash, USB 2.0 device/host/OTG, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, CAN, ISP/IAP, external memory interface

LPC2460 Flashless microcontroller with dual AHB bus architecture, USB 2.0 device/host/OTG, 10/100 ethernet, CAN, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation, external memory interface

LPC2468 Microcontroller with dual AHB bus architecture, 512KB flash, USB 2.0 device/host/OTG, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation, external memory interface

LPC2470 ROMless microcontroller with dual AHB bus architecture, external memory interface, LCD STN/TFT controller, USB 2.0 device/host/OTG, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation

LPC2478 Microcontroller with dual AHB accelerator architecture, 512KB flash, external memory interface, LCD STN/TFT controller, USB 2.0 device/host/OTG, 10/100 ethernet, SD/MMC, I2S, real-time emulation

• Refine These with the ARM7 Core MCUs Parametric Filter

Click for datasheet. Also, see datasheet disclaimer.
, , indicate product status. Click or for more or less detail.

LPC3240 ARM926-EJS microcontroller with 256KB SRAM, hardware vector floating-point coprocessor, USB On-The-Go host/device, SDRAM memory interface, 10/100 ethernet, SD interface

LPC3250 ARM926-EJS microcontroller with 256KB SRAM, hardware vector floating-point coprocessor, USB On-The-Go host/device, SDRAM memory interface, 10/100 ethernet, LCD controller, SD interface

Click for datasheet. Also, see datasheet disclaimer.
, , indicate product status. Click or for more or less detail.

LPC1754 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 128KB flash, 32KB SRAM, USB 2.0 Host/Device/OTG, 1 CAN, I2S, 12-bit ADC, 10-bit DAC

LPC1756 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 256KB flash, 32KB SRAM, USB 2.0 Host/Device/OTG, 2 CAN, I2S, 12-bit ADC, 10-bit DAC

LPC1758 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 512KB flash, 32KB SRAM, USB 2.0 Host/Device/OTG, 2 CAN, I2S, 12-bit ADC, 10-bit DAC

LPC1764 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 128KB flash, 32KB SRAM, 10/100 ethernet, 2 CAN, 12-bit ADC

LPC1766 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 256KB flash, 64KB SRAM, 10/100 ethernet, USB 2.0 Host/Device/OTG, 2 CAN, I2S, 12-bit ADC, 10-bit DAC

LPC1767 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 512KB flash, 64KB SRAM, 10/100 ethernet, I2S, 12-bit ADC, 10-bit DAC

LPC1768 ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 512KB flash, 64KB SRAM, 10/100 ethernet, USB 2.0 Host/Device/OTG, 2 CAN, I2S, 12-bit ADC, 10-bit DAC

• Refine These with the ARM Cortex-M3 Core MCUs Parametric Filter

• CMX-MicroNet TCP/IP Stack (by CMX Systems)
• CMX-TCP/IP Stack (by CMX Systems)'
• EasyWEB Tiny Web Server (by Keil)
• embOS/IP TCP/IP Stack (by SEGGER)
• LPC32xx Linux Board Support Package (BSP)
• LPC32xx WinCE 6.0 Board Support Package (BSP), VBeta (Oct 30, 2008)
• μC/TCP-IP Protocol Stack (by Micrium)
• μIP Embedded Web Server Demo (by FreeRTOS.org)
• NicheLite Software for LPC23xx/LPC24xx with IAR EWB, V1.02 (Feb 13, 2008)
• NicheLite Software for LPC23xx/LPC24xx with Keil MDK, V1.02 (Jul 17, 2007)
• NicheLite Software for LPC32x0 with Keil MDK using the LPC3250 Evaluation Board from PHYTEC, V1.0 (Jul 1, 2009)
• NicheLite Software for LH (Aug 15, 2008)
• NicheStack TCP/IP Protocol Stack (by InterNiche)
• RL-TCPnet TCP/IP Protocol Suite (by Keil)
• RTXC Quadnet TCP/IP Protocol Stack (by Quadros)
• Sample Code Bundle for LPC23xx/LPC24xx Peripherals using Keil's μVision, V1.60 (Mar 10, 2009)
• smxNS and smxNet TCP/IP Stacks (by MicroDigital)
• Windows Embedded CE BSP for NXP LPC32x0 (by Adeneo)

• Refine These Support Documents Matches

• AN10403 Connecting Ethernet Interface with LPC2000, V1 (Feb 7, 2007)
• AN10744 Ethernet Secondary ISP Bootloader (with Flash Utility and Bootloader Software), V1.0 (Sep 3, 2008)
• AN10775 NicheLite for LPC Implementation Notes, V2 (Jul 13, 2009)
• AN10799 Porting uIP1.0 to LPC23xx/24xx (with Software), V2 (Jun 15, 2009)
• AN10845 Porting uIP1.0 to LPC1700 (with Software), V1 (Jun 30, 2009)
• AN10846 Getting started with NicheLite for LPC3250, V1 (Jul 1, 2009)
• AN10859 LPC1700 Ethernet MII Management (MDIO) (with software), V1 (Aug 6, 2009)
• AN-3468 μC/OS-II, μC/TCP-IP and the NXP LPC2468 (by Micrium)

• Refine These Support Documents Matches

	Enabling Embedded Systems to access Internet Resources Sergio Scaglia, NXP Semiconductors © February 2009; English; Ordering code: Not Orderable
	LPC23xx and LPC24xx Overview training video Training Module: LPC2400 & LPC2300 Series Ethernet, USB, CAN & LCD © July 2, 2008; English; Ordering code: Not Orderable
	LPC2300/LPC2400 TCP/IP Overview TCP/IP and LPC2300/LPC2400 Family © October 2007; English; Ordering code: Not Orderable

• The Insider's Guide To The NXP LPC2300/2400 Based Microcontrollers (by Hitex Development Tools), V1.00 (Feb 2007)

• MCU Options Campaign Home

• Microcontrollers USB Support
• Microcontrollers LCD Support
• Microcontrollers Motor Control Support

Software from NXP referenced on this page is provided AS-IS by NXP Semiconductors. NXP Semiconductors does not support or warrant the software contained herein for any purpose other than for informational use.

Microcontrollers selection guide September 2009 The choice for embedded technologies © September 2009; English; Ordering code: 9397 750 16803

	ARM7 MCU with Ethernet, USB OTG, CAN, and optional LCD controller 72-MHz, 32-bit microcontroller with ARM7TDMI-S™ core LPC24xx © August 2008; English; Ordering code: 9397 750 16574
	ARM7-based MCUs with integrated LCD controller NXP ARM7-based microcontroller with integrated LCD controller LH754xx and LH7952x © June 2007; English; Ordering code: 9397 750 16053
	ARM7-based microcontrollers with Ethernet, USB, and CAN peripherals 72-MHz, 32-bit microcontroller with ARM7TDMI-S™ core LPC23xx © August 2008; English; Ordering code: 9397 750 16573
	ARM9 MCUs with up to 256-KB SRAM, Ethernet, USB, and LCD controller NXP 266-MHz, 32-bit ARM926EJ-S processor LPC32x0 © August 2008; English; Ordering code: 9397 750 16605
	Cortex-M3 based microcontrollers with Ethernet, USB, CAN and 12-bit ADC 100 MHz, 32-bit Microcontrollers with Cortex-M3™ core, LPC1700 series © February 2009; English; Ordering code: 9397 750 16676