ARTERY Launches Its First Low-power Cortex-M0+ AT32L021 MCU

HSINCHU, Feb. 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ARTERY officially unveiled an entry-level low-power AT32L021 series on February 28th. The AT32L021 series features configurable Flash memory and SRAM size, provides 7 types of package from larger to as small as 3 x 3 mm, and includes 21 models in total. The AT32L021 device supports power-saving and Sleep modes, short startup time and multiple wakeup events, which makes it suitable for battery-powered and small-sized applications that require low-power consumption, such as portable devices, wireless sensors, OBD, BMS, RF industrial control, wireless communication and IoT.

Power efficiency and longer operating time

AT32L021 series is based on ARM^®Corex^®-M0+ 32-bit core operating at a frequency of up to 80 MHz. It features 64 KB Flash memory and 9 KB SRAM, and provides a hardware divider for greater computing power. The AT32L021 device has the ability to enter/wake up low-power mode at faster speed. Its ultra-low power consumption is also amazing - around 9uA current consumption and 17us wakeup time in Deepsleep mode, and even 1.2uA current in Standby mode. It also provides 5 WKUP pins for wakeup from Standby mode, which could ensure low-power operating, low power consumption and rapid wakeup to guarantee longer battery life.

The key to determining MCU power consumption is the clock system, which switches hundreds of times per second in low-power mode for the corresponding applications, and provides fast data processing capabilities. AT32L021 series provide different clock sources, including HEXT, HICK, LECT, PLL and LICK, and each of them can be enabled and disabled separately for flexible switching. In addition, the unused clock source can be disabled to lower power consumption. Therefore, the AT32L021 can realize dynamic system clock management to meet application requirements in different scenarios and reduce power consumption.

Highly integrated peripherals reduce data latency

To reduce core processing time and power consumption, AT32L021 device incorporates rich peripherals, including 1x 12-bit 2 Msps ADC, 1x 16-bit advanced timer, 5x 16-bit general-purpose timers and 1x 16-bit basic timer, and communication interfaces such as 2x I²Cs, 2x SPIs/I²Ss, 4x USARTs, 1x CAN and 1x IRTMR. DMA can be used to achieve continuous high-speed transmission for USART, and TX/RX pin can be swapped. Each channel has a dedicated hardware DMA request logic, which can be triggered by hardware for continuous communication, effectively reducing data transmission latency. The CAN is compliant with CAN protocol version 2.0B, has high reliability and excellent error detection capability, and is widely used in automotive and industrial fields.

Industrial-grade products enhance reliability

AT32L021 series supports up to 39 fast GPIOs, almost all 5V-tolerant, protecting ports against 5V voltage surge. For the AT32L021 series, its operating temperature is -40℃ ~105℃, and it has obtained IEC-60730 certification, guaranteeing safe operation of device.

In addition, ARTERY develops security library (sLib) to strengthen the protection of product confidentiality. Security library is protected by codes so that solution providers can program core algorithm into this area. This area is only executable but cannot be read or deleted unless a correct code is keyed in, and it can be used for secondary development by solution providers, enhancing reliability of product development and application.

Furthermore, ARTERY provides a set of complete AT32 MCU development ecosystem and keeps optimizing hardware/software development tools and platform throughout the process of system development, mass production & programming, and follow-up firmware update, including AT-START board, AT-Link Family, BSP library, ICP/ISP, AT32 IDE and AT32 Workbench (GUI tool). We also support third-party development tools such as Keil, IAR and Eclipse and OS/UI platforms such as RT-Thread OS, FreeRTOS and LittlevGL, which offers developers with easy-to-use experience, reduces repeated work to enhance efficiency, and shortens development and mass production duration to speed up time to market.

AT32L021 samples are now available, and its mass production is scheduled to begin in March 2024.