Atmel launches ultra-low power, 8/16-bit AVR XMEGA series with USB and high-precision analog

SAN JOSE, USA: Atmel Corp. has announced additional unique features to the already-successful 8/16-bit AVR XMEGA microcontroller (MCU) family with the industry's lowest power consumption of 100nA with 5uS wake-up time.

The new Atmel AVR XMEGA family includes full-speed USB, the fastest and highest-precision analog systems, a Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller and the innovative event system that maximize real-time performance and throughput while reducing CPU load. This new family lowers overall system cost through higher integration, capacitive touch support, and ultra-low power consumption. The AVR XMEGA microcontrollers are designed for applications in the industrial, consumer, metering and medical segments.

The new AVR XMEGA MCUs integrate full-speed USB connectivity with unique functions that reduce overhead and provide higher data rates. Using the high-precision internal oscillator in the AVR XMEGA, designers can lower the system cost by eliminating the crystal oscillator traditionally required for full-speed USB. Atmel provides free software for all common USB device classes in the AVR Software Framework, which is a complete software package that includes drivers and communication stacks for AVR microcontrollers.

The AVR XMEGA family has unique high-precision analog functions. The family includes two 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with programmable gain stages that remove the need for external amplifiers. The ADCs operate down to 1.6V operating voltage, and have a combined sample rate up to 4MSPS. The two 12-bit digital-to-analog converters (DACs) also support systems that need fast and high-precision analog output. The DACs can drive high loads to reduce external driver component costs, while built-in current outputs enable embedded applications to remove external resistors or other constant current sources.

"Faster and higher-precision analog are increasingly important requirements in embedded applications, which have traditionally been solved with dedicated and expensive components," said Ingar Fredriksen, senior director, AVR products, Atmel. "The new AVR XMEGA family addresses all these specific needs in a single-chip solution. This new family also offers a unique combination of large flash memory and the market's lowest power consumption using the Atmel picoPower technology. The introduction of this new family is further testament that Atmel is a leader in microcontroller innovation."