Atmel Next-Generation 32-bit AVR UC3L MCU Lowers Power Consumption by up to 90 Percent

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a leader in microcontroller and touch solutions, today announced production availability of the next-generation Atmel 32-bit AVR® UC3L microcontroller (MCU) with picoPower® technology and embedded capacitive touch controller peripherals. By lowering the static power consumption by 90 percent and active power consumption by 45 percent, Atmel enables a performance/power ratio unsurpassed in the microcontroller market. With 1.5 DMIPS per MHz and DSP (digital signal processing) instructions at your fingertips, embedded system engineers have more performance than ever before. Target applications for these products include audio processing applications such as USB and Bluetooth headsets, game pads and advanced voice or touch-enabled human interface devices. The Atmel 32-bit AVR UC3L series includes high-performance, low-power capabilities in an extremely compact physical form factor, at 5.5 x 5.5mm TLLGA package, to address the size constraints of portable applications.

The new Atmel 32-bit AVR UC3L MCUs cut static power consumption by 90 percent down to 9nA. This figure is lower than the tantalum capacitor decoupling the board power supply and comparable to leakage currents in even the most advanced battery technologies. Active power consumption is reduced to 165uA/MHz, a 45 percent improvement from previous generations. The performance of the Atmel 32-bit UC3L core enables further power savings by running at a far lower speed than conventional MCUs when providing the same performance.

The power saving is enabled by the Atmel picoPower low-power technology leadership that addresses all aspects of a microcontroller's power consumption, including active operation modes as well as all sleep modes. The enabling technology innovations include peripheral SleepWalking, where peripherals can operate in extremely low-power states and make qualified decision during CPU sleep.

"As portable applications designers demand more ease-of-use and increased capabilities, more compute power packed in extremely small spaces with an extended battery life becomes a must," said Dr. Oyvind Strom, product marketing director for AVR products, Atmel Corporation. "The next-generation Atmel 32-bit AVR UC3L MCU addresses these demanding tasks, including voice control, capacitive touch interfaces and other signal processing with a form factor and power consumption previously addressable by ASICs only."

About Atmel AVR UC3L Series

The Atmel AVR UC3L series is the first 32-bit MCUs with picoPower low-power technology. The L series delivers a wide range of unique capabilities to embedded engineers using 32-bit microcontrollers, such as a built-in capacitive touch peripheral module. A unique glue logic controller eliminates external PLDs, reducing the total system cost. The series also includes Atmel FlashVault code protection to allow the on-chip flash to be partially programmed and locked, creating secure on-chip storage for software intellectual property.

Additional innovative technologies, which were industry first in the UC3L series, include the interrupt eliminating Peripheral Event System, Clock Failure Protection, Spread Spectrum Clocks with fast startup times, a Frequency Meter, an RTC with Crystal Precision Tuner and calendar mode, and a PWM output on all 36 I/O pins. More information on the Atmel AVR UC3L series is available at: http://www.atmel.com/UC3.

Development Tools

The AT32UC3L-EK is the evaluation kit supporting the AT32UC3L0 family. The kit facilitates evaluation of power consumption and the Atmel QTouch® peripheral hardware module. It gives easy access to all I/O pins and can be used with the ATAVRRZ600 plug-in (sold separately) to evaluate wireless applications. The kit works with all Atmel AVR debuggers and is supported by the AVR UC3 Software Framework. The kit is available now at distributors with a suggested resale price of U.S. $79.00.

Availability, Pricing and Photos

The AT32UC3L0 series is available in 48-pin QFP, QFN and TLLGA packages down to a 5.5 x 5.5mm size. Production volumes are available now and are priced at U.S. $3.18 in 10k quantities.

To download a high-resolution photo, please click one of the following links:

About Atmel

Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, capacitive touch solutions, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on industrial, consumer security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

© 2010 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel®, Atmel logo and combinations thereof, AVR®, picoPower®, QTouch®, and others are registered trademarks, and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

SOURCE Atmel Corporation

WANT YOUR COMPANY'S NEWS FEATURED ON PRNEWSWIRE.COM?

440k+
Newsrooms &
Influencers

9k+
Digital Media
Outlets

270k+
Journalists
Opted In

GET STARTED