ROUSSET, France, February 26 /PRNewswire/ --

- ARM7-based 32-bit Flash MCU with Software Programmable Power Switches 
and Voltage Scaling for Power-constrained Applications

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today a new series of
high-performance, ultra-low power ARM7TDMI(R)-based microcontrollers, the
AT91SAM7L series, embedding power switches controlling multiple power islands
and programmable voltage regulators to reduce power consumption in active and
standby modes. There is a rapidly growing demand for more power efficient
products that is driven by a market trend towards environmentally friendly,
battery operated and portable products like media players, remote controls,
weather stations, calculators, toys, control panels, thermostats and
hand-held medical devices such as glucose meters, blood pressure meters and
fitness monitors. The demand for green products is pushing manufacturers to
consider low-power standby modes even on products supplied by the power grid.
The individual standby power of audio or TV equipment is small at around 1 or
2 W per unit, but the fact that billions of these are maintained in standby
mode, results in a total power consumption of thousands of megawatts.

Active and passive power control techniques. The AT91SAM7L series
features innovative power reduction techniques for both active and standby
modes. In active mode, the power consumption is optimized via a programmable
operating voltage, operating frequency, and peripheral clock activity, and
the use of DMA instead of the CPU for data transfers. The SAM7L operates in
single supply mode down to 1.8V and consumes 0.5mA/MHz typical in active mode
when executing code out of its Flash memory. The power consumption in the
different standby modes is controlled via power switches, scalable voltage
regulators, and the use of sampling techniques on Voltage Monitors, Power On
Reset and Brown Out Detector instead of continuous measurement. This provides
a higher level of granularity than is available in competing products, while
achieving at least the same levels of power saving. In power down mode, the
AT91SAM7L consumes only a typical 100nA, which is believed to be a unique
feature for 32-bit MCUs.

Low power modes and fast wake-up. In Power Down mode, only the Fast 
Wake-up (FWUP) pin is supplied, allowing a system wake-up through a simple 
push button. This feature can be used to control power on/off in applications
such as calculators. In Backup mode, only the supply controller, the 
zero-power POR and the 32kHz oscillator remain running. The RTC, the 2K
backup SRAM, the BOD, the charge pump, the LCD voltage regulator and the LCD
Controller can be set on or off separately. This mode can be used when time,
context or display need to be saved even if the main application is not
running. In Wait mode, the 2MHz RC oscillator provides a rapid wake-up time
for fast external event management.

Segment LCD Controller. The AT91SAM7L128/64 embeds LCD features. These
include a Segment LCD Controller, built-in drivers and the programmable LCD
power supply for contrast control comprising a regulated Charge Pump and an
adjustable Voltage Regulator. It is intended for monochrome passive liquid
crystal displays (LCD) with up to 10 common terminals and up to 40 segment
terminals.

Choice of On-chip Flash and Extensive Peripheral Set. The AT91SAM7L
series has two members, the AT91SAM7L128 and the AT91SAM7L64 with
respectively 128k Bytes and 64k Bytes of Flash memory. The AT91SAM7L series
also integrates a wide range of peripheral functions, including USART, SPI,
Timer Counter, RTC and Analog-to- Digital Converters. The AT91SAM7L128/64
System Controller includes a Reset Controller capable of managing the 
power-on sequence. Correct device operation can be monitored by a built-in
Brown Out Detector and a Watchdog Timer running off an integrated 
oscillator. This complete set of system functions minimizes the number of 
external components as the chip can run at maximum speed without any 
external oscillator.

Development Tools and Real-Time Operating System Support. The SAM7L is
supplied with a low-cost Starter Kit, the AT91SAM7L-STK, and runs the
comprehensive set of application development tools that has been built up
over the years for Atmel's ARM(R)-based microcontrollers.

Availability and Pricing. The AT91SAM7L128 and the AT91SAM7L64 are
available now; packaged in a 128-pin LQFP package and a 144-pin 10x10mm 0.8mm
ball pitch BGA package. Pricing is below US$4 in volumes of 10,000 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) 2008 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), logo and
combinations thereof, and others, are registered trademarks, or trademarks of
Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. ARM(R), ARM7TDMI(R) and others are
registered trademarks or trademarks of ARM Ltd. Other terms and product names
may be trademarks of others.

Information:

Atmel's AT91SAM7L product information may be retrieved at
http://www.atmel.com/products/at91/default.asp

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: hperlegos@atmel.com



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