Two new microcontroller families feature extensive connectivity interface options

Microchip has announced the SAM D5x and SAM E5x MCU families. These new 32-bit MCU families offer extensive connectivity interfaces, powerful performance and robust hardware-based security for a wide variety of applications. The microcontrollers combine the performance of an ARM Cortex-M4 processor with a FPU. This combination offloads the CPU, increasing system efficiency and enabling process-intensive applications on a low-power platform. Running at up to 120MHz, the MCUs feature up to 1MB of dual-panel Flash with ECC, easily enabling live updates with no interruption to the running system. Additionally, these families are available with up to 256KB of SRAM with ECC, vital to mission-critical applications such as medical devices or server systems. These new MCUs have multiple interfaces that provide design flexibility for even the most demanding connectivity needs. Both families include a QSPI with an XIP feature. This allows the system to use high-performance serial Flash memories, which are both small and inexpensive compared to traditional pin parallel Flash, for external memory needs. The devices also feature a SDHC for data logging, a PTC for capacitive touch capabilities and best-in-class active power performance (65uA/MHz) for applications requiring power efficiency. Additionally, the SAM E5 family includes two CAN-FD ports and a 10/100Mbps Ethernet MAC with IEEE 1588 support, making it well suited for industrial automation, connected home and other IoT applications.