Stellaris ARM Cortex-M3 MCU with Ethernet and CAN
The Texas Instruments LM3S9D90-IQC80-A1T is a 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller from the Stellaris 9000 series, clocked at 80 MHz. It packs 512 KB of Flash program memory and 96 KB of RAM, with a full set of peripherals including Ethernet MAC+PHY, CANbus, USB OTG, and multiple serial interfaces (I²C, SPI, UART, SSI, Microwire, IrDA, LIN). The 100-LQFP package provides 60 general-purpose I/O lines and a 16-channel 12-bit ADC. It is rated for the industrial temperature range of -40°C to 85°C, making it suitable for factory automation, building control, and networked embedded systems that require both real-time control and wired connectivity.
80 MHz core and memory — what they mean for the design
The 80 MHz Cortex-M3 core delivers enough throughput for protocol stacks (Ethernet TCP/IP, CANopen) alongside control loops, without needing an external host processor. The 512 KB Flash is sized for a full firmware image with network stacks and application code; the 96 KB RAM supports moderate-sized data buffers for Ethernet frames and CAN message queues. If your application needs more RAM for large packet buffers or multiple protocol instances, you would be looking at a higher-density sibling — but for a single Ethernet node with CAN gateway functionality, this memory partition is well balanced.