MCUs Set Efficiency Benchmarks

Heralded as the market’s most energy efficient microcontrollers (MCUs), the EFM32 Gecko family relies on ARM Cortex-M3 architectures and allegedly consume a quarter of the energy required by existing 8-, 16-, or 32-bit MCUs. They consume less than 180 µA per MHz while executing code from flash and standby current consumption is typically 900 nA while running real-time clock, power-on reset, brown-out detector, and full RAM and CPU retention. Furthermore, the MCUs’ start-up time is less than 2 µs. The EFM32G operates from a single supply rail between 1.8V and 3.8V with an operating temperature range from -40°C to +85°C, and up to 128 KB of flash. As many as 22 different EFM32G MCUs will become available over the next few months in a variety of packages including QFN32, QFN64, QFP100, and BGA112. Available now in 32-pin QFN64 and BGA112 packages, pricing starts at $1.55 each/100,000. For further information, call Energy Micro AS, Novi, MI. (248) 994-7674.