Atmel Announces Three New Low Power tinyAVR Microcontrollers With Internal Temperature Sensor Capabilities

SAN JOSE, Calif., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel(R) Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML), a global leader in the development and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions, today announced three new members of the tinyAVR(R) Flash Microcontroller family, targeting battery chargers, sensor end-points and low-end motor control applications.

The devices offer three different Flash, EEPROM and SRAM combinations. The ATtiny25 has 2 KB of Self- Programmable Flash memory, whereas ATtiny45 and ATtiny85 have 4 KB and 8 KB, respectively. The ATtiny25/45/85 includes a temperature sensor allowing temperature calibration of system parameters. Being truly pin and functionally compatible, it is possible to migrate both up and down in memory footprint with minimum effort. All new devices are capable of 20 MIPS throughput when running at 20 MHz.

"The on-chip temperature sensor available in these parts eliminates the external circuitry required for any control application where system temperature is being monitored," said Jukka Eskelinen, Marketing Director for tinyAVR products. Cooling or heating fans and blowers can be made smarter. In embedded systems ATtiny25/45/85 can monitor and control temperature, power supply voltages and currents, and communicate to the system host through its Universal Serial Interface (USI) communication module. Internal temperature sensing is also valuable in portable electronic equipment which are exposed to temperature extremes.

As a part of Atmel's strategy to help design engineers drastically reduce development costs, design time and ultimately production cost, all advanced microcontroller features that are typically found only in high-end microcontrollers are now available in these small eight-pin microcontrollers. Functions like internal EEPROM, Differential ADC channels, and integrated 16 MHz high precision internal RC Oscillator enables advanced equipment to be manufactured in minimum area and cost. The on-chip, low power PLL is used to control two Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) outputs capable of generating a 250 kHz PWM output at 8-bit resolution. Paired with the user adjustable dead-time generators which are used to avoid pulse overlapping for the driver stage, this allows for reduced size and cost for external filter components when using the PWM to control power to a battery. Together with the four 10-bit A/D converter channels, and a fast analog comparator, this provides all the means for current and voltage control and safety when controlling power.

ATtiny25/45/85 also excels in battery-powered equipment due to their inherent low power consumption, and three individually selectable low power sleep modes. In addition, the application software can control the system clock frequency in real time. Maximum frequency, and top performance are available during active periods, whereas power consumption is reduced to a minimum at all other times. Additional power saving is achieved by using the Power Stop System allowing the user to turn off timers, USI, and/or ADC when not in use. The ATtiny25/45/85 consumes less than 100 nA in Power Down mode.

Complete evaluation and debug tools are available for the tinyAVR microcontrollers. The STK500 starter kit, which is available at $79, offers all the necessary hardware to evaluate programs and test the capabilities of the ATtiny25, ATtiny45 and ATtiny85.

Samples of ATtiny45 are available today in PDIP or SOIC 8-pin packages, and QFN 20-pad packages. ATtiny25 and ATtiny85 samples will be available in 2Q05. Volume production will commence in 2nd half of 2005 for the three devices. Volume prices for 10ku are $0.80, $0.97 and $1.27, for ATtiny25, ATtiny45 and ATtiny85 respectively.

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) portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions. Focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere You AreSM.

NOTE: Atmel(R), logo and combinations thereof, tinyAVR(R), and STK(R) are registered trademarks, and Everywhere You Are(SM) is the trademark of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information

Information on Atmel's tinyAVR microcontrollers can be retrieved at: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id=607 .

  Press Contacts

   Philippe Faure, Marketing Communication Manager - Microcontrollers
   Tel: +33 2 40 18 18 87, Email: philippe.faure@nto.atmel.com
   Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications Manager - Europe
   Tel: +33 1 30 60 70 68, Fax: +49 71 31 67 24 23
   Email: veronique.sablereau@atmel.com
   Clive Over, Director of Press Relations - USA and Asia
   Tel: +1-408-451-2855, Email: cliveover@atmel.com

CONTACT: Philippe Faure, Marketing Communication Manager -
Microcontrollers, +33 2 40 18 18 87, or philippe.faure@nto.atmel.com; or
Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications Manager - Europe,
+33 1 30 60 70 68, or fax, +49 71 31 67 24 23, or
veronique.sablereau@atmel.com; or Clive Over, Director of Press Relations -
USA and Asia, +1-408-451-2855, or cliveover@atmel.com, all of Atmel
Corporation

Web site: http://www.atmel.com/