Atmel Introduces Industry's First ARM Cortex-M3 Flash MCU With On-Chip High Speed USB Device-and-Transceiver

San Jose, California (ots/PRNewswire) -

- SAM3U is Code Portable from Atmel's Established ARM7- and
ARM9-based MCU Families

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the SAM3U,
the industry's first ARM(R) Cortex(TM)-M3 Flash microcontroller
integrating high speed (480 Mbps) USB Device-and-Transceiver, 4-bit
192 Mbps SDIO/SDCard 2.0, 8-bit 384 Mbps MMC 4.3 Host and 48 Mpbs SPI
interfaces on-chip. This connectivity, together with the SAM3U's 96
MHz/1.25 DMIPS/MHz operating frequency, makes the SAM3U the unique
Cortex-M3 device suited to applications with intensive communications
requirements, such high speed gateways in industrial, medical, data
processing and consumer applications. The introduction of the SAM3U
expands Atmel's 32-Bit MCU portfolio consisting of ARM and AVR32
products.

To fully exploit the SAM3U's high speed communications
peripherals, the device is built around a high data-bandwidth
architecture with a 5-layer bus matrix, 23 DMA channels and
distributed on-chip memory including up to 52k Bytes of SRAM split in
three blocks and up to 256k Bytes of Flash in two banks. The dual
bank Flash offers in-application programming (IAP) where one memory
bank is written with a new version of the firmware while the
processor executes from the other bank. A programmable boot feature
enables switching between the two Flash banks at the next MCU reboot.

Additional features include an 8-channel each 10- and 12-bit ADC,
the latter with integrated Programmable Gain Amplifier (PGA),
differential and single ended input to remove external OpAmps and a
one Msps sample rate, 4 UARTs, 5 SPI, 2 I2C, I2S, timers, PWM,
128-bit unique ID, and power and reset management. The External Bus
Interface offers the choice between 8- and 16-bit data bus widths for
extended memory or connection to external FPGAs and ASSPs. The
SAM3U's supply voltage ranges from 1.62V to 3.6V, a feature not
commonly found on Cortex-M3-based MCUs.

Jacko Wilbrink, Atmel's Marketing Director for ARM-based
Microcontrollers , commented, "Atmel was the first to adapt USB Full
Speed in its ARM Flash MCUs as a de-facto standard peripheral and we
are now driving the deployment of USB High Speed in the embedded
space. USB Full Speed at 12 Mbps displaced the UART; USB High Speed
at 480 Mbps has the potential to replace parallel wire
interconnections, reducing cost, improving reliability and improving
EMI characteristics."

Power optimization - The SAM3U incorporates a sophisticated power
management regime that minimizes power consumption under all
conditions of use. The device can be put in Backup mode with the core
and peripherals powered down, in which power consumption is only 2.5
uA. Wake-up from backup mode can be triggered by multiple sources and
is accelerated via a high speed on-chip RC Oscillator reducing the
average power consumption critical for battery operated systems.

Code portability between SAM7 and SAM3 MCUs - The Cortex-M3 core
has a completely new instruction set architecture, different from
previous ARM cores. Migrating legacy ARM7 code to the Cortex-M3
requires a complete re-write of the assembler code. Atmel has taken
steps to ensure maximum code portability between its ARM7-, ARM9- and
Cortex-M3-based microcontrollers. Its SAM7, SAM9 and Cortex-M3-based
SAM3 MCUs have identical hardware abstraction layers and a unified
programming model, as well as common peripherals that provide
near-recompile-and-go code portability between devices.

Comprehensive support eco-system - Atmel's SAM3U flash MCU is
supported by a rapidly growing number of development tools, real-time
operating systems (RTOS), middleware products and technical support
services from industry-leading third parties that include IAR(R),
Keil(R), Micrium(R), and Segger(R). Atmel provides a software package
with register descriptions and device drivers for all peripherals,
along with project examples that ease the use of the microcontroller.
The SAM3U Evaluation Kit is available for benchmarking and a quick
start in application development.

Availability and Pricing - The AT91SAM3U is available in Flash
memory densities of 64k, 128k and 256k Bytes and ships in 100 and 144
pin 0.5mm pitch QFP and 0.8 mm pitch BGA packages. Samples are
available now. Production volumes will be available in 4Q09, with
prices starting at US$3.50 in quantities of 10k units.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of
microcontrollers, 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 consumer, industrial, security, communications,
computing and automotive markets.

(c) 2009 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), Atmel
logo and combinations thereof and others, are registered trademarks
or trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. ARM(R) and
others are registered trademarks or trademarks of ARM Ltd. Other
terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:

Atmel's AT91SAM product information may be retrieved at
http://www.atmel.com/products/at91/default.asp

Atmel Press Contacts:
Peter Bishop, Communications Manager, Atmel Rousset
Tel: +33-(0)4-42-53-61-50, Email: peter.bishop@atmel.com
Helen Perlegos, Public Relations
Tel: +1-408-487-2963, Email: helen.perlegos@atmel.com

ots Originaltext: Atmel Corporation
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Contact:
Peter Bishop, Communications Manager, +33-(0)-4-42-53-61-50,
peter.bishop@atmel.com, or Helen Perlegos, Public Relations,
+1-408-487-2963, helen.perlegos@atmel.com, both of Atmel