Movea’s SmartMotion tech ported to Atmel’s SAM G53

Movea recently ported its flagship SmartMotion technology to Atmel’s SAM G53 microcontroller, a 32-bit MCU based on ARM’s high-performance 32-bit Cortex-M4 RISC processor.

 Targeting mobile consumer devices such as smartphones and tablets, Movea’s SmartMotion technology enhances the user experience by delivering advanced motion driven applications including activity monitoring, context awareness, pedestrian dead-reckoning and mobile gestures – effectively turning sensor data into meaningful, personal information.

“Sensor hub architectures enabling always-on capabilities while maintaining ultra-low power consumption have become vital to deliver the context aware applications consumers are asking for,” explained Movea CEO Sam Guilaumé.

“Adding Atmel to our supported platforms allows industry OEMs to benefit from leading solutions to quickly and easily deploy the next generation of smart apps while offloading the main application processor; saving battery life, which is so precious to mobile users.”

Adrian Woolley, Director of Strategy, Microcontroller Business Unit, Atmel, expressed similar sentiments.

“The combination of our ultra-low power sensor hub microcontroller with Movea’s SmartMotion technology optimized for mobile devices and wearables meets the constraints of low power, high accuracy and flexibility,” he said. “This market-leading solution will feed the need for advanced capabilities and extended battery.”

As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, Atmel’s SAM G53 operates at a maximum speed of 48 MHz and features up to 512 Kbytes of Flash and 96 Kbytes of SRAM. The peripheral set includes one USART, two UARTs, three I2C-bus interfaces (TWI), up to two SPIs, two three-channel general-purpose 16- bit timers, two I2S controllers with two-way, one-channel pulse density modulation, one real-time timer (RTT) and one 8-channel 12-bit ADC. The device operates from 1.62V to 3.6V and is available in a 49-ball WLCSP package and a 100-pin LQFP package.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s SAM G53? You can check out our detailed data sheet here.

Atmel introduces ARM-based SAM G lineup

Atmel has unveiled its SAM G lineup, an ARM Cortex-M4-based family of MCUs that integrate high performance and ultra-low power in a small form factor. The SAM G series is ideal for a wide range of sensor hub and battery-operated consumer applications, including smartphones, tablets and Ultrabooks as well as wearables, healthcare, gateways, bridges and audio devices.

“In the rapidly growing market for smart, connected devices in this era of the Internet of Things (IoT), there is a demand for MCUs with ultra-small form factors, rich features, high performance and lower power,” explained Oyvind Strom, Atmel’s Sr. Director of Microcontroller Products. 
“Atmel’s new SAM G51 and SAM G53 series meet all these requirements with 3x3mm packaging, high-performance frequency at 48MHz, ultra-low power consumption down to 100µA/MHz in active mode, 7µA in sleep with SRAM retention and down to 3µs wake-up time.”

The new SAM G MCU lineup also offer a floating point unit (FPU) option for applications that require extra computational power and precise calculations such as digital smart watches, wearables and mobile sensor hubs.

Additional key specs include:

• High-performance throughput and efficiency with a Cortex M4-based MCU and FPU
• Up to 512KB of Flash and 96KB of SRAM
3x3mm WLCSP, 49 balls with 0.4mm pitch
• 
Flexible serial peripherals and ultra-low power ADC
• 
Peripheral Event System and SleepWalking
• 
Atmel ultra-low power picoPower technology

With more than 50 billion devices projected to be connected by 2020, there will be an increased need for sensor hub solutions for smart, connected devices. Essentially, sensor hubs are MCUs that take the load off an applications processor to offer a more energy efficient solution – along with managing all the sensors in the device and converting the data into useful information. 

The new SAM G family offers an ultra-low power, high performance sensor hub solution, expanding the company’s current portfolio of sensor hub options. In addition, Atmel has added two new sensor partners – Cywee and AKM – to its program which offers a complete system solution running on the Atmel platform.

“Devices within the IoT market increasingly are smaller and battery powered, requiring higher performance and lower power,” Strom added. “Atmel’s new SAM G Cortex-M4 family provides all the requirements for sensor hub and IoT applications delivering the industry’s lowest power consumption and highest performance – all packaged in some of the most compact form factors to meet every space constrained designer’s needs.”

Interested in learning more? You can check out Atmel’s SAM G lineup here.