The MC68332, a highly-integrated 32-bit microcontroller, combines high-performance data manipulation capabilities with powerful peripheral subsystems. The MCU is built up from standard modules that interface through a common intermodule bus (IMB). Standardization facilitates rapid development of devices tailored for specific applications.

The MCU incorporates a 32-bit CPU (CPU32), a system integration module (SIM), a time processor unit (TPU), a queued serial module (QSM), and a 2-Kbyte static RAM module with TPU emulation capability (TPURAM).

The MCU can either synthesize an internal clock signal from an external reference or use an external clock input directly. Operation with a 32.768-kHz reference frequency is standard. The maximum system clock speed is 20.97 MHz. System hardware and software allow changes in clock rate during operation. Because MCU operation is fully static, register and memory contents are not affected by clock rate changes.

High-density complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (HCMOS) architecture makes the basic power consumption of the MCU low. Power consumption can be minimized by stopping the system clock. The CPU32 instruction set includes a low-power stop (LPSTOP) command that efficiently implements this capability.