Tiny ARM Packs A Punch

It's only 5 mm on a side (25 mm²). But the extremely small wafer-level, chip-size package (WCSP) houses a 32-bit microcontroller with some impressive memory and peripherals. The plastic WCSP is robust enough to handle standard surface-mount processing, so designers get performance without breaking the budget. A layer of copper evenly distributes heat when attaching the chip to a board.

The ML67Q406x (see the table), and its external-bus ML67Q405x sibling, use a 33-MHz ARM7TDMI code. The no-wait-state flash suits the part for real-time embedded applications. The large 16-kbyte SRAM provides plenty of work space for applications.

The chip holds a strong array of peripherals, including a pair of flexible DMA controllers; a multimaster I2C controller; a pair of 9-bit UARTs; two synchronous serial interfaces with SPI support; a four-channel, 10-bit analog-to-digital converter; a pair of I2S interfaces; and synchronized timers with pulse-width-modulation (PWM) support. The ML67Q406x can run on as little as 2.5 V. It only requires 25 mA of current in stop mode.

ML67Q406x pricing starts at $3.98 in an LQFP. A wide range of third-party software vendors, including Keil, Green Hills Software, and IAR, support the chip. Development boards are available as well.

For more information, visit Oki Semiconductor's Web site at www.okisemi.com.