Optimise performance on Kinetis K-series MCUs

In embedded systems, resources are often limited and getting the best possible performance out of those resources can be critical. Although the idea of performance and low power might seem contradictory, the ability to perform a task quickly and then enter a low power mode can lead to an overall reduction in system power consumption. Therefore, almost any system can benefit from efforts to improve performance.

Increasing performance for an embedded system can be a complicated task. There are often nuances of the inner workings of the architecture and system features that impact the system. In addition, every system might have different performance goals. For example, some systems might be focused on pure CPU performance while another system might need to optimise throughput on a communications port like ethernet or USB.

This application note will explain the features found on Kinetis K-series devices that can affect system performance. The document is not a step-by-step guide on how to optimise an application as there isn't a hard set of rules that will work in all cases. The main goal is to explain the key architectural and system module features that can be tuned to optimise an application so that designers can make informed decisions when designing their system hardware and software.

View the PDF document for more information.

Originally published by Freescale Semiconductor Inc. at www.freescale.com as "Optimizing Performance on Kinetis K-series MCUs".