Freescale Semiconductor is a global leader in the design and manufacture of embedded semiconductors for the automotive, consumer, industrial, networking and wireless markets. The company is based in Austin, Texas, and has design, research and development, manufacturing or sales operations in more than 30 countries.

Their unparalleled portfolio of power management solutions, microprocessors, microcontrollers, sensors, radio frequency semiconductors, analog and mixed signal circuits and software technologies are embedded in products used around the world.

The 56F803, a member of the 56800 core-based family of Digital Signal Controllers, combines the processing power of a DSP and the functionality of a microcontroller with a flexible set of peripherals on a single chip. This creates an extremely cost-effective solution for servo and motor control, power inverter and converter applications.

The 56800 core is based on a Harvard-style architecture consisting of three execution units which operate in parallel, allowing as many as six operations per instruction cycle. The microprocessor-style programming model and optimized instruction set allow straightforward generation of efficient, compact code for both DSP- and MCU-style applications. The instruction set is also highly efficient for C compilers, enabling rapid development of optimized control applications.