What this Cortex-M3 controller brings to the board
The LM3S817-EGZ50-C2T: 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 MCU from the Stellaris 800 series, clocked at 50 MHz with 64 KB of Flash and 8 KB of RAM.
50 MHz — what it buys you on the bus
50 MHz core handles a UART-to-SPI bridge, a PWM motor phase loop, and a 10-bit ADC scan. Internal oscillator saves a crystal BOM line.
EOL hot — what that means for your BOM line
Peripherals and I/O — what's on the pins
Thirty GPIOs, six 10-bit ADC channels, and serial interfaces covering Microwire, SPI, SSI, and UART/USART. PWM module and watchdog are on-chip.