MCUs target cost sensitive always-on devices

Article By : STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics has released two MCUs that combine ARM Cortex-M4 with dynamic efficiency technologies that cut RUN mode current to 112µA/MHz.

Latest STM32 devices are poised to become a robust and cost effective upgrade from the earlier models of the STM32F1 MCUs. The devices provide always-on sensor acquisition and flexibility for general purpose industrial applications qualified up to 125°C.

The efficiency gains were derived from the combination of the 100MHz 125DMIPS/339 EEMBC CoreMark ARM Cortex-M4 with ST’s power-saving dynamic efficiency technologies that cut RUN mode current to 112µA/MHz. These technologies include ST ART Accelerator for zero-wait execution from Flash while cutting down supply-voltage to 1.7V that maximizes the battery life of always-connected devices. The inclusion of an enhanced DMA Batch Acquisition Mode (BAM+) was made possible due to the presence of two separate RAM areas to process code and data efficiently.

Both the STM32F413 and crypto-enhanced STM32F423 contain 320KB of SRAM and up to 1.5MB Flash. The devices have the most features across the STM32F4 Access Lines. Both also provide rich audio capabilities which include a Serial Audio Interface (SAI). They also have an enhanced voice acquisition interface with multi-channel Digital Filter for Sigma-Delta Modulators (DFSDM) that enables low-power sound localization and beamforming. Two 12bit DACs, up to 10 UARTs, and three CAN 2.0B Active interfaces provide the devices with superior peripheral integration. An AES-256 cryptographic hardware accelerator and a True Random-Number Generator provide an upgrade in terms of security for the crypto-enhanced line.

The MCUs introduce a 100MHz dual-mode Quad SPI for connecting serial off-chip memory, 16bit Flexible Memory Controller (FMC) for external SRAM, PSRAM or NOR Flash. They also include 16bit QVGA or 8bit WQVGA LCD interface, and USB OTG with Link Power Management (LPM) and dual power rails that save external level shifting.