For ARM Yourself with The Newest MCUs Ease-of-Design Is Key
These 32-bit ARM microcontrollers are some of the latest and greatest in this ever-improving category of workhorse MCU devices.
The 32-bit microcontroller (MCU) has experienced ongoing innovation and growth in its capabilities for decades by incorporating the latest in semiconductor technology integration. Of course, a singular “it” doesn’t do the variety of 32-bit offerings on the market today any justice.
In this month’s Datasheet gallery you’ll find devices designed for applications ranging from automotive systems to rugged industrial environments. Plus, we have chips designed for general-purpose applications, affordability, developer accessibility, IP and data security, power efficiency, and, of course, diminutive size requirements.
If there’s a common thread, it’s the various incarnations of Arm Cortex processors to be found in these chips. Every product featured this month sports a 32-bit Arm Cortex CPU, whether an M0+, M4, M7, or M33. The domination of Arm cores has become a predictable pattern in our annual 32-bit MCU Datasheet coverage over the last few years; the industry is evidently smitten with them, for the time being.
All of the products featured in this month’s gallery were released since our last article covering these devices. As always, bear in mind that this collection represents only a small sample of the overabundance of 32-bit MCU available today. Even within individual companies, it was difficult to choose which of the many new 32-bit MCUs should be given the spotlight. My aim in their selection was to attempt to give a glimpse of the sheer breadth of functions that new 32-bit MCUs are serving.
Ultra EfficienT SoCs
Analog Devices MAX32690 Ultra-Efficient Microcontrollers (MCUs) are advanced system-on-chips (SoCs) featuring an Arm Cortex-M4F CPU, the latest generation BLUETOOTH 5.2 Low Energy (LE) radio, and large flash and SRAM memories. These devices unite processing horsepower with the connectivity required for IoT applications. The MAX32690 MCUs operate within a -40°C to +105°C temperature range, ideal for industrial environments. All devices are available in a 68-lead TQFN-EP (0.40mm pitch) package and a 140-bump WLP (0.35mm pitch) package.
- Ultra-Efficient Microcontroller for Battery-Powered Applications
- 120MHz Arm Cortex-M4 Processor with FPU
- Ultra-Low-Power, 32-Bit RISC-V (RV32) Coprocessor Available to Offload Data Processing
- 7.3728MHz and 60MHz Low-Power Oscillators
- External Crystal Support (32MHz Required for Bluetooth LE)
- 32.768kHz RTC Clock (Requires External Crystal)
- 8kHz Always-on Ultra-Low Power Oscillator
- 3MB Internal Flash, 1MB Internal SRAM
- 76.5μW/MHz ACTIVE Mode at 1.1V
- 1.8V and 3.3V I/O with No Level Translators
- External Flash and SRAM Expansion Interfaces
High-Performance Automotive MCUs
The Infineon TRAVEO T2G microcontrollers are based on the Arm Cortex-M4(Single core)/M7(Single core/Dual core) core and deliver high performance, enhanced human-machine interfaces, high-security and advanced networking protocols tailored for a broad range of automotive applications such as electrification, body control modules, gateway, and infotainment applications. Based on the powerful Arm Cortex M series core in single and dual core operation it offers state-of-the-art real time performance, safety and security features. Infineon TRAVEO T2G MCUs are used in motor control for hybrid and electric vehicles (HEV/EV), body electronics.
- Two 350-MHz 32-bit Arm Cortex-M7 CPUs, each with
- 100-MHz 32-bit Arm Cortex M0+ CPU with
- Inter-processor communication in hardware
- Three DMA controllers
- 8384 KB of code-flash with an additional 256 KB of work-flash
- 1024-KB of SRAM with selectable retention granularity
- Supports Enhanced Secure Hardware Extension (eSHE) and Hardware Security Module (HSM)
- Secure boot and authentication
Lots of Connectivity in This Family
The PIC32CZ CA Family of Microcontrollers (MCUs) is a high-performance ARM Cortex-M7 family with up to 8MB Flash, 1MB of SRAM, and Tightly Coupled Memory (TCM) all with ECC. Connectivity options range from standard serial communications (UART, USART, SPI, I2C, etc.,) I2S, CAN FD, and 10/100/1000 Ethernet. Advanced analog includes a 4.6875 Msps 12-Bit ADC and Peripheral Touch Controller. Supported by MPLAB X IDE, and MPLAB Harmony.
- Processor: Arm Cortex-M7; 300MHz (2.14 DMIPS/MHz); Instruction and Data L1 Cache 16KB each with ECC; Floating Point Unit (FPU); Memory Protection Unit (MPU); Multiply Accumulate Unit (MAC)
- Operating Voltage Range: 1.75-3.6V
- Memory: 8MB Dual Panel Flash with ECC; 1MB SRAM with ECC; 256KB Tightly Coupled Memory (TCM) with ECC; 8KB TrustRAM
- System: 16-Channel DMA Controller; Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC)
Fast Transmission Rate and Simplified Sensors
The NuMicro NUC1263 series 32-bit microcontroller from Nuvoton is based on Arm Cortex-M23 core for Armv8-M architecture with LED Light Strip Interface (LLSI), I3C, and USB2.0 full-speed device using built-in 48 MHz oscillator to support the communication with PC and Mobile accessories. It runs up to 72MHz and features 64Kbytes of Flash, 20Kbytes of SRAM, 2.5V ~ 5.5V wide operating voltage, and -40°C ~+105°C operating temperature. The NUC1263 series provides two I3C peripheral which can support 1.0V to 3.6V voltage input, compiling with the MIPI I3C v1.0 standard. It can support the fastest transmission rate of 12.5Mbps, support dynamic addressing, simplify multi-sensor management, and reduce system complexity and power consumption.
- Arm Cortex-M23
- Memory: Up to 64KB Flash; 20KB SRAM; Independent 4KB ISP ROM; 2KB SPROM
- Analog: Up to 16 channels of 12-bit 800kSPS ADC; Up to 4 channels of 8-bit 200 kSPS DAC; Up to 4 sets of analog comparators (ACMP)
- PWM: Supports maximum clock frequency up to 144MHz; Supports 16-bit resolution PWM counter; Up to 24 channel PWM outputs
Security and Advanced Configurable Peripherals
NXP’s LPC43S6x are Arm Cortex-M4 based microcontrollers for embedded applications which include an Arm Cortex-M0 coprocessor and an Arm Cortex-M0 subsystem for managing peripherals, up to 1MB of flash and 154 kB of on-chip SRAM, 16kB of EEPROM memory, a quad SPI Flash Interface (SPIFI), advanced configurable peripherals such as the SCTimer/PWM and the Serial General Purpose I/O (SGPIO) interface, security features with AES engine, two High-speed USB controllers, Ethernet, LCD, an external memory controller, and multiple digital and analog peripherals. The LPC43S6x operate at CPU frequencies of up to 204MHz.
- Arm Cortex-M4 processor core, running at frequencies of up to 204MHz.
- Arm Cortex-M0 coprocessor capable of off-loading the main Arm Cortex-M4 application processor, running at frequencies of up to 204MHz.
- JTAG
- Built-in NVIC.
- Cortex-M0 subsystem
- Arm Cortex-M0 subsystem coprocessor controlling the SPI and SGPIO residing on a separate AHB multilayer matrix. Includes 2kB + 16kB of SRAM, running at frequencies of up to 204MHz.
An MCU for Intensive HMI Designs
The Renesas RA4M1 group of microcontrollers (MCUs) uses the high-performance Arm Cortex-M4 core and offers a segment LCD controller and a capacitive touch sensing unit input for intensive HMI designs. The RA4M1 MCU is built on a highly efficient low power process and is supported by an open and flexible ecosystem concept—the Flexible Software Package (FSP), built on FreeRTOS—and is expandable to use other RTOSes and middleware. The RA4M1 is suitable for applications where a large amount of capacitive touch channels and a segment LCD controller are required.
- 48MHz Arm Cortex-M4
- 256kB Flash memory and 32kB SRAM
- 8kB Data Flash to store data as in EEPROM
- Scalable from 40-pin to 100-pin packages
- Segment LCD controller
- 14-bit A/D converter
- Capacitive touch sensing unit
- USB 2.0 Full Speed
- CAN 2.0B
- SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C)
- SPI/ I2C multimaster interface
Accelerated Computation Performance
The EFM32WG990F256-BGA112 is an ARM Cortex-M4 based microcontroller (MCU) with speeds up to 48MHz. With the full DSP instruction set and floating point unit in this device, developers can speed up computation performance. Built on top of a low-power platform that includes innovative low energy techniques, fast wake-up times, and energy saving modes, the EFM32WG990F256-BGA112 is ideal for energy sensitive applications. In addition, this device includes 256kB Flash, 32kB RAM, 87 Dig I/O Pins, 4 x 16-bit timers, and multiple communication interfaces.
- Flexible Energy Management System: 20nA @ 3V Shutoff Mode; 0.4µA @ 3V Shutoff Mode with RTC; 0.65µA @ 3V Stop Mode, including Power-on Reset, Brown-out Detector, RAM and CPU retention; 0.95µA @ 3V Deep Sleep Mode, including RTC with 32.768 kHz oscillator, Power-on Reset, Brown-out Detector, RAM and CPU retention; 63µA/MHz @ 3V Sleep Mode; 211µA/MHz @ 3V Run Mode, with code executed from flash
- 256/128/64 kB flash
- 32 kB RAM
- Up to 93 General Purpose I/O pins
Ultra-Low-Power with Connectivity Muscle
The ultra-low-power STM32L053x6/8 microcontrollers incorporate the connectivity power of the universal serial bus (USB 2.0 crystal-less) with the high-performance Arm Cortex-M0+ 32-bit RISC core operating at a 32MHz frequency, a memory protection unit (MPU), high-speed embedded memories (up to 64Kbytes of Flash program memory, 2Kbytes of data EEPROM and 8Kbytes of RAM) plus an extensive range of enhanced I/Os and peripherals.
- Ultra-low-power platform: 1.65V to 3.6V power supply; -40 to 125 °C temperature range; 0.27μA Standby mode (2 wakeup pins); 0.4μA Stop mode (16 wakeup lines); 0.8μA Stop mode + RTC + 8KB RAM retention; 88μA/MHz in Run mode
- Memories: Up to 64KB Flash memory with ECC; 8KB RAM; 2KB of data EEPROM with ECC; 20-byte backup register; Sector protection against R/W operation
- Up to 51 fast I/Os (45 I/Os 5V tolerant)
- Ultra-safe, low-power BOR (brownout reset) with 5 selectable thresholds
- Programmable voltage detector (PVD)
- Clock sources: 1 to 25MHz crystal oscillator; 32kHz oscillator for RTC with calibration; High speed internal 16MHz factory-trimmed RC (+/- 1%); Internal low-power 37kHz RC; Internal multispeed low-power 65kHz to 4.2MHz RC; PLL for CPU clock
A Versatile 32-Bit MCU
The TM4C123GE6PM microcontroller is targeted for industrial applications, including remote monitoring, electronic point-of-sale machines, test and measurement equipment, network appliances and switches, factory automation, HVAC and building control, gaming equipment, motion control, transportation, and fire and security.
- 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 80-MHz processor core with System Timer (SysTick), integrated Nested Vectored Interrupt Controller (NVIC), Wake-Up Interrupt Controller (WIC) with clock gating, Memory Protection Unit (MPU), IEEE754-compliant single-precision Floating-Point Unit (FPU), Embedded Trace Macro and Trace Port, System Control Block (SCB) and Thumb-2 instruction set
- On-chip memory, featuring 128 KB single-cycle Flash up to 40 MHz (a prefetch buffer improves performance above 40 MHz), 32 KB single-cycle SRAM; internal ROM loaded with TivaWare for C Series software; 2KB EEPROM
- Two Controller Area Network (CAN) modules, using CAN protocol version 2.0 part A/B and with bit rates up to 1 Mbps
- Universal Serial Bus (USB) controller with USB 2.0 full-speed (12 Mbps) and low-speed (1.5 Mbps) operation, 32 endpoints, and USB OTG/Host/Device mode
- Advanced serial integration
PUBLISHED IN CIRCUIT CELLAR MAGAZINE • MARCH 2024 #404 – Get a PDF of the issue
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Sam Wallace - became Circuit Cellar's Editor-In-Chief in August 2022.
His experience in writing, editing, and teaching will provide a great perspective on the selection, presentation, and clarity of editorial content. The Circuit Cellar audience will benefit from his strong academic background encompassing a Master of Fine Arts in Writing and a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics with honors. His passion for learning and teaching is a great fit for Circuit Cellar's continuing mission of Inspiring the Evolution of Embedded Design.
