Atmel Introduces New SAM G Family of ARM Cortex-M4-based Ultra-low Power MCUs In Small Form Factors for Smart, Connected Devices

San Jose, CA, January 7, 2014—Atmel® Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML), a global leader in microcontroller (MCU) and touch technology solutions, today announced the Atmel SAM G family of ARM® Cortex-M4-based MCUs that integrate high performance and ultra-low power in a small form factor. The complete solution is ideal for sensor hub and battery-operated consumer applications including sensor hubs for smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks as well as wearables, healthcare, gateways, bridges and audio devices.

More Smart Connected Devices

In the rapidly growing market for smart, connected devices in this era of the Internet of Things (IoT), there is demand for MCUs with ultra-small form factors, rich features, high performance, and lower power. Atmel’s new SAM G51 and SAM G53 series meet all these requirements with 3x3mm packaging, high-performance frequency at 48MHz, ultra-low power consumption down to 100µA/MHz in active mode, 7µA in sleep with SRAM retention and down to 3µs wake-up time. The new MCUs also have an option for a floating point unit (FPU) for applications requiring more computational power and precise calculations such as digital smart watches, wearables and mobile sensor hubs.

Other key features for the new family include:

• High-performance throughput and efficiency with a Cortex M4-based MCU and FPU
• Up to 512KB of Flash and 96KB of SRAM
• 3x3mm WLCSP, 49 balls with 0.4mm pitch
• Flexible serial peripherals and ultra-low power ADC
• Peripheral Event System and SleepWalking
• Atmel ultra-low power picoPower technology

Need for Sensor Hub Solutions

With more than 50 billion devices projected to be connected by 2020, according to market research*, there will be an increased need for sensor hub solutions for smart, connected devices. Sensor hubs are MCUs that take the load off an applications processor to offer a more energy efficient solution, along with managing all the sensors in the device and converting the data into useful information. The new SAM G family offers an ultra-low power, high performance sensor hub solution, expanding the company’s current portfolio of sensor hub options. Atmel has also added two new sensor partners including Cywee and AKM to its program to offer a complete system solution running on the Atmel platform. See all of Atmel’s third party sensor and sensor fusion partners.

"Devices within the IoT market increasingly are smaller and battery powered, and require higher performance and lower power," said Oyvind Strom, Sr. Director of Microcontroller Products, Atmel Corporation. "Atmel’s new SAM G Cortex-M4 family provides all the requirements for sensor hub and IoT applications delivering the industry’s lowest power consumption and highest performance, all packaged in some of the most compact form factors to meet every space constrained designer’s needs."

Tools

To accelerate the design, a SAM G53 Xplained Pro evaluation kit is available for the SAM G53 families. The ATSAMG53-XPRO evaluation board includes an embedded debugger, Atmel Studio 6 integrated development platform and the Atmel Software Framework. The kit is also fully supported by third party partners IAR and Keil.

Availability

Atmel’s new SAM G family of devices is available now.

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, communications, computing and automotive markets.

*http://share.cisco.com/internet-of-things.html