Circuit Cellar Newsletter: Microcontroller Watch

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Texas Instruments Redefines the MCU with Ten Times, STM Launches the STM32U5 Extreme Low-Power Microcontrollers, Microchip Offers the First Microcontroller Integrated with Arm Trustzone

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Inspiring the Evolution of Embedded Design

August 09, 2022

Microcontroller Watch

Texas Instruments Redefines the MCU with Ten Times More Processing Capability

Texas Instruments introduces a portfolio of Microcontrollers (MCU) that are capable of 10x the processing capability then devices that exist today. Engineers will be able to combine a processor-level compute power with the simpler design of the MCU for real-time control, analytics, and network applications with the TI Sitara AM2x MCUs.

STM Launches the STM32U5 Extreme Low-Power Microcontrollers Focused on Cybersecurity

STMicroelectronics has announced the STM32U5 series, a new generation of extreme power-saving microcontrollers (MCUs). These MCUs are meant to meet the demanding power and performance requirements of the new designs of devices in smart applications, which include wearables, personal medical devices, home automation, and industrial sensors.

Microchip Offers the First Microcontroller Integrated with Arm Trustzone Technology and Robust Secure Subsystem

Microchip Technologies is now offering a microcontroller (MCU) that is the first in the industry to integrate Arm Trustzone technology and a robust secure subsystem. The MCU is an Arm Cortex-M23-based unit supported by secure key provisioning.

With security threats growing in complexity, they are causing new and different product development challenges in the Internet of Things (IoT) consumer, industrial, medical, and other industries.

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Editor's Desk by Stephen Vicinanza

Microcontrollers Are Reaching New Heights

Microcontrollers have always been an important part of the electronics world, keeping pace with other areas of embedded systems, but not really expanding broadly. That is changing with several of the major manufacturers releasing higher-performing MCUs, that could likely have the compute power reaching close to that of Microprocessors.

Texas instruments AM243x MCU family is based on Arm Cortex – R5F cores, running at 800MHz each, over 1GHz compute speeds. The impact of such speeds is outstanding design capability held in a tight package. The performance at that level is 10X the performance of existing devices on the market right now. Developers are ready to expand their use of the MCU, rather than turn to the MPU. But this is not the only chip with greater uses.

STM is STM32U5 series is a new generation of ultra-low-power and high-performance MCU’s that are set to change the way designers are building and launching devices. On the side of the lifecycle, and battery life of smaller to larger devices, these chips really capture the needs of the modern development team. Based on an ARM Cortex-M33 processor, the latest addition to the STM stable of MCUs is ready for use IoT, with a WI-FI module, a Bluetooth module, and Azure Certified Device Program standing. Built and developed for Azure, these MCUs are going to change the landscape of security. Finally, Microchip Technologies has come out with Arm Trustzone technology and a robust secure subsystem, which opens the doors for many new designs with secure key provisioning.

They can deliver a better security platform and higher performance in an integrated Arm Trustzone environment.

While many engineers were set to move into the MPU landscape to increase processing power, create more hardware-orientated security, and run at higher speeds, the entire MCU industry caught up. These innovations will keep many designers on the MCU train, as the uses of the microcontroller expand to keep up with the great expansion in connected devices.

Circuit Cellar fans, join us next week when we delve deeper into the Internet of Things (IoT) to keep up with growth at lightspeed.

RP4 B-based dual-arm robot offers 13 Degrees of Freedom

The myBuddy by Elephant Robotics is a dual-arm platform built around a Raspberry Pi 4B. This platform is enabled with 13 Degrees of Freedom (DoF) and a maximum payload of 250g for each arm. The platform also supports VR control and integrates a 7” touchscreen display.