Atmel Expands Lineup of ARM Cortex-M4 Flash Microcontrollers

Atmel has announced the expansion of its ARM Cortex-M4 Flash microcontroller lineup with the addition of the SAM4E series of devices featuring advanced connectivity peripherals, a floating point unit (FPU), advanced analog capabilities, and increased processing power.

　　The above-mentioned rich features make the SAM4E device an ideal device for industrial automation, home and building control, machine-to-machine communication, automotive aftermarket and energy management applications.

　　Atmel's SAM4E ARM Cortex-M4 processor MCU has a maximum operating frequency of 120MHz, providing greater processing power, with an FPU and an integrated cache that provides zero wait state flash access at full speed. The SAM4E microcontroller has a maximum of 1MB embedded flash memory, security and safety features, and a wide range of communication links, such as Ethernet IEEE1588 MAC, USB 2.0 devices and dual CAN. The SAM4E series has high performance and high system integration to meet the growing demand for high-speed wired and wireless communications.

　　The SAM4E device's advanced analog technology includes two independent 16-bit ADCs that provide dual sample-and-hold capability, offset and gain error correction, and a programmable gain amplifier that can measure a wide range of input signals with high accuracy.

　　"Industrial applications such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs) for the manufacturing automation market require microcontrollers that offer higher performance, advanced connectivity and better analog capabilities," said Ingar Fredriksen, senior director of Atmel's microcontroller products. "Atmel's new SAM4E family meets these specific needs by offering a unique combination of better connectivity, higher performance, a floating point unit and advanced analog capabilities. The new ARM Cortex-M4 family complements our broad portfolio of ARM microcontrollers, providing designers with a complete product line based on the popular ARM core."

　　To speed up the project development of designers, the SAM4E series is supported by the Atmel Studio 6 Integrated Development Platform (IDP). The free download of Atmel Studio 6 includes the Atmel software framework, a complete source code library, project examples, drivers and stacks. This IDP also comes with the Atmel Gallery software application store for embedded tools and extensions, and the Atmel Spaces collaborative work platform for software and hardware development projects based on Atmel microcontrollers.

　　Pricing, Availability and Specifications

　　The SAM4E microcontroller family offers 512KB and 1MB memory options in BGA and QFP packages.

　　Pricing for the SAM4E family starts at $5.10 per device in quantities of 1,000.

　　Atmel is sampling the new SAM4E 1MB devices now, with general availability in February 2013. The ATSAM4E-EK evaluation tool kit, which supports SAM4E device development, is available now, allowing design engineers to start prototyping and jump-start their designs.