The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Metrowerks Inc. to Support Motorola's Processor

23 October 1998

Metrowerks' CodeWarrior for PowerPC Embedded Systems Release 4 to Support the Motorola MPC555 Processor

    AUSTIN, Texas--Oct. 22, 1998--Metrowerks Inc. (TSE:MWK.) (ME:MWK.) today announced that it will support Motorola's MPC555 processor for the highly rugged automotive environment. The 32-bit, PowerPC-based microcontroller will be used for both engine and transmission control in the next generation of electronics-intensive automobiles due in 2000.
    The MPC555 processor, developed by Motorola's Powertrain Transportation Systems Group, follows several years of working with key automobile manufacturers to improve control of ignition, injection and transmission systems, and emissions and fuel efficiency for diesel and gasoline-driven cars without raising costs.  MPC555 is a single-issue processor that can operate in the automotive environment at clock speeds of 40 MHz.  The CPU contains a double precision floating point unit to accelerate advanced algorithms for engine control and diagnostics.
    The MPC555 processor boasts 448 Kbytes of flash memory and a four-bank memory controller that works with SRAM, EPROM, flash, E2PROM and a memory-protection unit.  The design of the large flash memory array was created to yield a controller that would be sufficiently powerful to handle both the engine and transmission control.  The CodeWarrior debugger will support the MPC555 special purpose register sets, memory mapped register sets, on-board watchpoints and breakpoints and the background debug mode (BDM) port, common to Motorola's HC16 and 68300 families.
    CodeWarrior for PowerPC Embedded Systems Release 4 will support code generation for the MPC555 processor out of the box, with the most advanced integrated solution in the embedded market today. Metrowerks' CodeWarrior product is an integrated development environment (IDE) whose source code debugger works with a variety of embedded tools including Macraigor Systems' BDM wiggler and Hummingbird hardware.  Metrowerks' proven IDE for rapid code development allows engineers to address both performance and time-to-market issues when they choose the MPC555 processor for a product design.
    "Metrowerks has been a proven industry-leader in the support of Motorola technology," said Dick Spilo, strategic marketing manager for the Transportation Systems Group, Motorola, SPS.  "The availability of CodeWarrior embedded tools for the MPC555 will  provide automotive engineers with a powerful and intuitive toolset for development in the highly-demanding and complex automotive environment."
    "CodeWarrior development tools have captured the opportunity to be an integral part of automotive technology as the industry migrates from the 68K to the PowerPC processor," said Greg Galanos, president and chief technology officer, Metrowerks.  "We are very excited to extend our support through CodeWarrior for PowerPC Embedded Systems to benefit this very important advancement in automotive technology."

Pricing and Availability

    CodeWarrior for PowerPC Embedded Systems Release 4 will be available for purchase from Metrowerks in November. CodeWarrior embedded solutions start at $2,500 for a single seat, and include one product update and technical support for the CodeWarrior IDE for one year. Multi-user and academic licenses are available at a discounted price. For more information on pricing and availability, contact Metrowerks at 512/873-4700 or sales@metrowerks.com.

About Metrowerks Embedded System Products

    The CodeWarrior Integrated Development Environment (IDE) is the most powerful multi-host, multi-target, multi-language software development solution available in the market. CodeWarrior's state-of-the-art design gives embedded software developers a flexible, high-performance toolset to help them clear many of the productivity and time-to-market hurdles they face today. CodeWarrior accelerates the development process by combining advanced compilers with an editor, debugger, linker and code browser, all controlled by a single, intuitive graphical user interface (GUI).
    CodeWarrior provides engineers with the ability to pick the host platform, programming language, and target processor that best suits the needs of the project, without having to learn a whole new set of development tools.  CodeWarrior is hosted on Windows 95/98, Windows NT and Solaris, and offers a choice of several high-level programming languages (C, C++, EC++, Pascal, and Java), as well as full support for in-line assembly. CodeWarrior compilers are available to target PowerPC, MIPS, 68K, x86, and other families of microprocessors.

Metrowerks, the Metrowerks logo and CodeWarrior are registered trademarks of Metrowerks Inc. All other company and product names may be registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective companies/holders, and are hereby recognized.

Statements in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties, including successful and timely development of the product and customer acceptance of the product.