Low-power MCU adds a new weapon! GigaDevice launches GD32L233 series microcontroller

The GD32L233 series MCU provides excellent power efficiency and optimized processing performance with multiple operating modes and sleep modes. Compared with similar low-power products in the industry, it has more abundant peripheral resources and application flexibility, thus paving the way for the continuous improvement of system-level energy efficiency. It is widely used in typical markets such as industrial meters, small consumer electronic devices, portable medical devices, battery management systems, data acquisition and transmission. The GD32L233 product portfolio provides 10 models in 4 package types. Samples and development boards are currently available, and will be officially mass-produced and supplied in November.

GD32L233 Series Cortex®-M23 Core Low Power MCU

The concept of low power consumption runs through the entire chip design process, in the evolution of manufacturing technology, the development of design concepts, and the innovation of chip architecture. The new GD32L233 low-power series MCU products effectively optimize system power consumption:

Based on ultra-low power process technology. The GD32L233 series MCU adopts the industry-leading 40nm ultra-low power (ULP) manufacturing technology, and the low leakage physical unit reduces power consumption from the hardware level.

Specially optimized low-power analog IP. Energy-saving terminal devices are often in standby mode and can be awakened at any time, which also determines that some analog circuits and peripherals of the chip are in the normally open mode. The GD32L233 series MCU products integrate specially optimized low-power analog IP to effectively reduce energy loss.

Adopt low-power digital design methodology. The new chip follows a variety of low-power digital design concepts, especially multi-voltage domain design. In multiple working modes, the chip can control the power on and off of idle modules to avoid unnecessary energy loss, thereby further enhancing the low-power characteristics.

The GD32L233 series MCU has a maximum main frequency of 64MHz, integrating 64KB to 256KB of embedded eFlash and 16KB to 32KB of SRAM, as well as various enhanced I/O and peripheral resources connected to two APB buses. The chip continues to use the industry-leading Arm® Cortex®-M23 core, and brings efficient processing capabilities through the streamlined and powerful Armv8-M instruction set and fully optimized bus design. It includes independent multipliers and dividers, and is suitable for low-power, energy-efficient and deeply embedded application scenarios.

The GD32L233 series MCU achieves excellent power efficiency, with the deep sleep current reduced to 2uA, the wake-up time less than 10uS, and the standby current as low as 0.4uA. In deep sleep mode, it can be triggered by a variety of system clocks and peripheral interfaces, supporting multiple wake-up sources including Low power Timer, Low power UART, RTC, LCD, standard I2C, USART, etc. The chip supply voltage is 1.7-3.6V and supports battery (Vbat) power supply. The newly designed power management unit provides up to six low-power modes including partial sleep, deep sleep and key wake-up. The power consumption in the highest main frequency full-speed working mode is only 66uA/MHz, reflecting an excellent energy efficiency ratio. Flexible power supply modes can achieve lower average power consumption and extend battery life.

The new MCU is equipped with a rich set of peripheral interfaces to enhance connectivity, with a GPIO reuse rate of up to 93%. Compared with similar low-power MCUs on the market, products with the same package can release more I/O resources. In addition to power supply, the remaining I/O interfaces can be used to configure more functions, greatly meeting user development needs.

The GD32L233 series MCU provides up to 4 general-purpose 16-bit timers, 2 basic timers and 1 32-bit low-power timer, as well as standard and advanced communication interfaces: up to 2 USARTs, 2 UARTs, 1 low-power LPUART, 3 I2Cs, 2 SPIs, 1 I2S and 1 USB 2.0 FS controller. Among them, the 32-bit Low power Timer and Low power UART can run in Deep-sleep1/2 mode and wake up the MCU. In terms of analog peripherals, it also integrates a 12-bit ADC with a sampling rate of 1M SPS, a 12-bit DAC and 2 comparators.

The GD32L233 product introduces a new multi-channel DMA selector module (DMAMUX), which increases the flexibility of routing between peripherals and DMA. Through self-configuration, DMA function can be provided for almost all peripherals. The chip integrates a full-function calendar RTC, a programmable voltage monitor (PVD) and a programmable undervoltage reset protection (BOR), which can monitor the battery power and voltage anomalies at all times and wake up the MCU. It supports segment code LCD display and provides two formats of 8*28 segments and 4*32 segments. It also integrates a high-precision temperature sensor with an accuracy of ±5℃, which is particularly suitable for the application development of portable personal health monitoring equipment such as blood oximeters and blood pressure meters, as well as environmental monitoring sensors.

GD32L233 Series MCU Product Portfolio

The GD32L233 series supporting development boards have been released simultaneously, including the GD32L233R-EVAL full-function evaluation board and the GD32L233C-START and GD32L233K-START entry-level learning kits, which correspond to different packages and pins, making it easier for users to develop and debug. They will also be available for sale through authorized agent channels and the GD32 Tmall flagship store (GD32.tmall.com).