Energy Micro unveils energy sensitive microcontroller for memory heavy demands

Energy Micro unveils energy sensitive microcontroller for memory heavy demands Oslo-based Energy Micro has unveiled details of its EFM32 Giant Gecko microcontroller product family that addresses energy sensitive applications with high memory requirements. The 32-bit Giant Gecko (GG) will provide Flash configurations up to 1024 KB with the added option of embedded USB connectivity.

There will be 48 EFM32GG microcontrollers offering a choice of 64, 128, 256, 512 and 1024 KB Flash memory blocks and a RAM of 32 KB or 128 KB. The microcontrollers' pin and software compatibility with the existing Gecko product family means designers can develop products using the existing Gecko microcontroller and migrate to Giant Gecko when the higher memory parts enter production.

Package options will include QFN64, QFP100 and BGA112.Built around the energy-efficient ARM Cortex-M3 processor architecture, the Giant Gecko, Gecko and Tiny Gecko microcontrollers demonstrate an energy usage a quarter of that of alternative 8-, 16- or 32-bit microcontrollers. With a wake-up time of just 2 µs and current consumption of 180 µA per MHz executing code from Flash, 900 nA in deep sleep mode and 20 nA in shut off mode, the microcontrollers are proven capable of extending typical battery life by 300 percent.The Giant Gecko's embedded USB connectivity option will be USB2.0 compliant at full speed (12 Mbit/s), integrating 2 KB endpoint buffers and handling up to 10 endpoints. It will provide support for USB host and on-the-go configurations as well as bootloader over USB.

Additional extended communication options offered by Giant Gecko will include dual I2C and up to 5 USART/UART serial interfaces.Giant Gecko will feature the same selection of energy-saving peripherals as the companion Gecko and Tiny Gecko products. These include: an 8-channel, 12-bit ADC using 200 µA at full resolution and 1 Msamples/sec conversion rate, a 4x40 segment LCD controller using 900 nA and a special Low Energy UART consuming just 100 nA at 9600 baud. In addition, for wireless encryption/decryption duties, an 128/256-bit AES accelerator block is also provided.

Availability

The EFM32 Giant Gecko from Energy Micro will begin sampling in Q1'2011 and pricing will start at $2.5 USD each in 100k quantities.

Detailed datasheets on the Giant Gecko will be released November 1st 2010.