Atmel Launches SAM9R64 ARM-based MCU with High Speed USB Device in 10x10mm, 0.8mm pitch BGA Package

Atmel Launches SAM9R64 ARM-based MCU with High Speed USB Device in 10x10mm, 0.8mm pitch BGA Package

AT91SAM9R64 Integrates ARM926EJ-S with USB High Speed Device, 64K Byte SRAM configurable as TCM, 10 serial communication channels

Atmel Corporation announced its AT91SAM9R64 ARM9-based microcontroller for high performance USB-enabled embedded control applications. Designed to boot from the USB port, SDCard or an external NAND Flash, the SAM9R64 offers the flexibility to reduce the number of memories for program and bulk data storage. In addition, the 32-bit microcontroller is optimized for space constrained applications, or intelligent USB High speed to SDIO, or SPI connectivity modules by being in a 10X10mm, 0.8mm ball pitch, BGA package.

High Speed USB. High Speed (480 Mbits/sec) USB is rapidly becoming the standard for system-to-PC connectivity. The SAM9R64 offers an upgrade for existing USB Full Speed (12 Mbits/sec) designs to High Speed USB that does not require any physical change in the connectors and is already supported by most PCs. The higher bandwidth enables fast transfer of large data logs and software updates, greatly improving the efficiencies of system maintenance and service.

Programmable memory bus voltage. In addition to traditional static memories, the SAM9R64 memory bus interface supports SDRAM and NAND Flash. Where 3.3V memories are cheaper, 1.8V memories are required for power sensitive applications. In order to maintain the required performance level at 1.8V, the I/O pads include a booster that can be enabled via software.

The SAM9R64 has a 4 KByte Instruction and 4 KByte data cache, 64 KBytes of SRAM, USB High Speed device, 24 DMA channels, an MCI/SDIO interface, 5 UARTs, SPI, SSC, TWI, 6 Timers, 4 PWMs with high-drive I/Os, and a battery backup RTC and associated registers.

Development Tools and Operating System Support. Atmel provides the GNU gcc C compiler, GNU gdb debugger free of charge. Commercial licenses from IAR (C compiler – Embedded Workbench™, Real-time Operating System (RTOS) – Powerware), Mentor Graphics (RTOS – Nucleus PLUS), Micrium (RTOS –uCOS/II), ExpressLogic (RTOS – ThreadX®) and Microsoft (OS – .NET Framework) are currently being ported for a complete embedded application prototyping.

Atmel provides a software package with register descriptions and device drivers for all peripherals and project examples that ease the use of the microcontroller. An evaluation board is available for benchmarking and a quick start in the development.

Availability and Pricing

The AT91SAM9R64 is available now in a 10x10mm, 0.8mm ball pitch, 144-pin BGA package and is priced at US$5.85 in volumes of 10,000 units. ■