Low-power AVR devices optimised for performance and power efficiency applications

Mouser now stocks the ATtiny102 and ATtiny104 microcontrollers from Atmel. Part of Atmel's new AVR Tiny portfolio, these small 8-bit microcontrollers are optimised for applications that require performance, power efficiency, and ease of use in a small package. The microcontrollers are low-power CMOS 8-bit microcontrollers based on the Atmel AVR-enhanced RISC architecture. The AVR core combines a rich instruction set with 16 general purpose working registers directly connected to the ALU, which streamlines instructions in a single clock cycle. By executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, the devices achieve throughputs close to 1 MIPS per MHz (up to 12 MIPS), allowing system designers to optimise power consumption versus processing speed. The devices replace the discrete components previously used to perform simple intelligent functions such as timing, motor control, and on/off functionality. At the same time, the devices provide more capabilities than discrete components and integrate powerful features in a small, low pincount package with just 1kB of flash memory. The devices include self-programming for firmware upgrades, non-volatile data storage, and accurate internal oscillator to provide more reliable motor control, and high-speed serial communication with USART. The devices operate via voltages ranging from 1.8V to 5.5V, include a 10-bit ADC with internal voltage references, and offer sleep currents at less than 100nA in power down mode with SRAM retention. The microcontroller is supported by the Atmel ATtiny104 Xplained Nano evaluation kit, also available from Mouser. The Nano uses the company’s development ecosystem, including Atmel Studio 7, an IDE that gives designers a seamless and easy-to-use environment for coding, building, simulating, programming, and debugging applications for their microcontrollers. The devices integrate features previously only available in larger microcontrollers, making them ideal for smaller applications including logic replacement and the latest cost-optimised applications in industrial, home automation, LED lighting, fan control, and personal healthcare applications.