Tag Archives: SAM4C

28 new application notes for Atmel | SMART SAM4S devices

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Atmel engineers recently published 28 application notes for the company’s comprehensive Atmel | SMART SAM4S devices. Based on the powerful ARM Cortex-M4 core, this Atmel | SMART product line extends our Cortex-M portfolio to offer:

  • Increased performance and power efficiency
  • Higher memory densities: up to 2MB of Flash and 160KB of SRAM
  • And a rich peripheral set for connectivity, system control and analog interfacing

According to an Atmel engineering rep, the application notes target the use of peripheral modules and are based on drivers already available in the ASF (Atmel Software Framework).

“The application notes highlight the availability of the drivers and offers the reader relevant details about the API (application programming interface),” the rep told Bits & Pieces.

“This significant increase in the number of application notes for the SAM4 series gives the engineer a better starting point for using the products. More specifically, the new application notes cover the Atmel SAM4S/SD, SAM4N, SAM4L/LS, SAM4E, and to some extent, also the SAM4C and SAM G51/53 families.”

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So without further ado, the following app notes are now available from the Atmel website in PDF format:


ATM90E26 extends smart energy roadmap

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Atmel has introduced the ATM90E26, a low-cost metering Analog Front End (AFE) IC. According to an Atmel engineering rep, the ATM90E26 is specifically designed for smart grid communications, electricity metering systems and energy measurement applications.

“The Atmel Smart Energy platform includes several System-on-Chip (SoC) devices built around a unique dual-core ARM Cortex M4-based architecture. The platform includes the SAM4C with advanced security, in addition to metrology-enabled versions for single- and poly-phase metering (SAM4CMx) and Power-Line Communications (PLC) enabled solution (SAM4CPx),” the Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

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“The new ATM90E26 is pin-to-pin compatible with the IDT 90E22/23/24/25 devices, featuring UART support and improved power measurement resolution. By providing the discrete metrology AFE ATM90E26 as well as various MCU/MPU and PLC/wireless solutions, our Smart Energy Platform offers designers multiple options and various levels of integration to address their smart metering designs. For example, the ATM90E26 can be bundled with the SAM4CPx for a complete smart metering architecture.”

Key ATM90E26 features include:

  • Dynamic range of 5000:1 with 0.1% kWh accuracy and 0.2% kvarh accuracy.
  • Temperature co-efficient of reference voltage 15ppm/ºC (typ.).
  • Single-point calibration for active energy.
  • Up to 24x PGA to support shunt sensing in L line current channel.
  • Programmable startup and no-load power threshold.
  • Measures Vrms, Irms, P(Q/S), frequency, power factor and phase angle. Enhanced resolution for RMS and mean power.
  • Measurement accuracy better than 0.5%.
  • Configurable high-pass filter (HPF) in each ADC channel.
  • On-chip parameter diagnosis function and programmable interrupt output to reduce complexity and increase robustness of the meter.
  • Standard four-wire, simplified three-wire SPI interface, or a UART interface.
  • Dedicated voltage zero-crossing output pin (ZX); voltage sag detection.
  • Software reset available.
  • 3.3V single power supply; 5V compatible for digital input.

It should also be noted that Atmel’s ATM90E2x single-phase energy metering demo board can be used to evaluate and test ATM90E2x chips. More specifically, the board is capable of sampling single-phase voltage/current, meter active/reactive energy, output active/reactive energy pulses, as well as measure parameters such as voltage, current and power.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s smart energy platform? You can check out our detailed deep dive here.

GridVortex talks Atmel on LinkedIn

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Jonny Doin, the founder and CEO of GridVortex Systems, recently explained why and how his company uses Atmel microcontrollers (MCUs) in a series of LinkedIn posts.

First off, Doin said he was quite pleased with the support he’s received from global Atmel staff in various locations, including San Jose, France, Spain and Germany.

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“We needed support for the crypto core details for the CPKCL and promptly [kicked-off] a teleconference with the crypto guys in France,” he wrote. “I now try to use Atmel parts in all my projects.”

In terms of specific silicon, Doin said:

“If you need a Cortex-M that does serious crypto operations, consider using an [ARM-powered] SAM4C16 from Atmel. It is a dual Cortex-M4 with 1MB/2MB Flash, 128K/256K RAM and very strong crypto support. The chip is targeted [at] Legal Metrology and offers secure hardware crypto to support TLS/SSL.

“It [also boasts] hardware support for ECC512, RSA1024, independent circuitry for AES and a subsystem that monitors memory areas and generates exception when the hash of the area changes. From what I saw, [this] is the fastest ECC512 engine in a microcontroller, [although it does not] tax the MCU cores. [Yes], you will need a crypto NDA to get access to the crypto hardware documentation, but the ECC crypto API is really complete. The timings are impressive and outperform [other microcontrollers].”

Doin also noted that he is currently testing an Energy Meter that includes an ARM-based SAM4C.

“Atmel has won almost all chips on my design. I am using the SAM4C, ATM90E25, AT86RF212B and the LED controllers from mSilica, MSL20xx. I try to use Atmel parts in all my projects. The IPv6 router for my mesh networking is being designed around the SAMA5D3. The intelligent nodes in the mesh are SAM4C16+AT86RF212B. My software defined LED power driver is being built around the SAMD10/MSL20xx and our intelligent smart vision cameras will also use Atmel processors.”

In addition, Doin confirmed that his company was in the process of designing its endpoint hardware with the SAM4C16.

“The documentation is really good, and so far we just got everything we needed directly from the datasheet,” he added. “Maybe we’ll [also] decide to use a SAM4C32 in one of our designs, so I am looking forward to the updated datasheet.”

Last, but certainly not least, Doin said he successfully designed a high-precision servo-DAC using delta demodulation and one of the center-aligned PWMs of the SAM4C16.

“Using just one digital output and one ADC input I achieved a very stable, precision DAC, at under 19cents of external discrete components. I [recently showcased] the DAC prototype at a recent meeting in Atmel San Jose. I plan to publish the design as an AppNote for the SAM4C16 (and also for the ATmega, which also has the same PWM) and present it as a lecture at the next Embedded Systems Conference,” he concluded.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s portfolio for your next project? You can check out a detailed breakdown of our microcontrollers here.

A closer look at Atmel’s smart energy platform (Part 4)

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In part one of this series, Bits & Pieces introduced Atmel’s recently launched SAM4C series of products, with a spotlight on the SAM4C16 and SAM4C8. In part two, we took a closer look at both the software and hardware metrology of the SAM4Cx. In part three, we discussed Atmel’s family of PLC physical layer and system-on-a-chip (SoC) area standards-compliant OFDM-based solutions, designed for narrowband communications using a low-voltage electric power distribution network.

Today we’ll be talking about wireless connectivity products in the context of Atmel’s smart energy platform. As we’ve previously discussed on Bits & Pieces, efficient smart energy wireless applications require both high-performance and power efficiency, which is why Atmel’s transceivers deliver a leading RF link budget with the industry’s lowest power consumption.

In addition, we offer the most feature-rich IEEE 802.15.4-compliant transceiver family available. Indeed, Atmel transceivers support both regional 700/800/900MHz, as well as global 2.4GHz frequency bands. This enables engineers to develop wireless applications for customers worldwide, including emerging markets like China.

“Powerful hardware features like antenna diversity or external power amplifier support let engineers further boost transceiver performance to maximize network reliability and RF range of their system,” an Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

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“Atmel MCU wireless transceivers support not only IEEE 802.15.4-compliant applications, but provide on-air data rates up to 2Mbit/s for general purpose ISM applications, with pin compatibility ensuring an easy transition between devices or frequency bands.”

Key products include Atmel’s AT86RF212B, a low-power, low-voltage RF transceiver for the regional 700/800/900 MHz frequency bands which is available in Japan, China, Europe and North America. This transceiver offers an extremely optimized 120 dB link budget (-110 dBm receiver sensitivity /+10 dBm transmit power) designed for low-cost IEEE 802.15.4, ZigBee and high data rate ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) applications.

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Meanwhile, Atmel’s AT86RF233 transceiver is targeted at the 2.4GHz ISM band, available worldwide. This transceiver offers link budgets up to 105dB (-101dBm receiver sensitivity/+4dBm transmit power). To help engineers accelerate system development and prototyping, Atmel also offers a variety of free software suites, various hardware evaluation boards, as well as development kits and modules.

These include:

Metering

  • SAM4CMP8/16/32 Metrology Demo Board
  • ATM90Exx AFE + SAM4C Demo Board
  • ATM90Exx AFE + SAM4L Demo Board
  • SAM4C Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit

Power Line Carrier

  • SAM4CP16 PLC evaluation kit.
  • Certified PRIME stack (base node and meter).

Wireless

  • Evaluation Kits and Reference Designs for IEEE 802.15.4 compliant Transceivers and SOCs,
  • e.g. AT86RF212B (sub-1GHz) and AT86RF233 (2.4 GHz).
  • SAM4 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kits combined with wireless extension boards.

General

  • SAM4S and SAM4L Xplained Pro evaluation kits.

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s new comprehensive smart energy platform? Be sure to check out our official smart energy product page, along with part one, part two and part three of our deep dive.

A closer look at Atmel’s smart energy platform (Part 3)

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In part one of this series, Bits & Pieces introduced Atmel’s recently launched SAM4C series of products, with a spotlight on the SAM4C16 and SAM4C8. In part two, we took a closer look at both the software and hardware metrology of the SAM4Cx.

Today, we’ll be discussing Atmel’s lineup of PLC physical layer and system-on-a-chip (SoC) area standards-compliant OFDM-based solutions, designed for narrowband communications using a low-voltage electric power distribution network. Proven in large-volume deployments across several utilities and markets, our unique technology offers high performance and integration levels, low power sipping, reduced bill-of-materials (BOM) costs, PRIME / ITU-T G.9904 and CENELEC compliance.

“Offered in a single chip SoC and in a two chip PHY+MCU configurations respectively, the Atmel SAM4CP16B and ATPL230 PRIME version 1.4 compliant devices include two additional Robust modes, DQPSK and DBPSK – achieving an increase in gain of up to +14.5 dB as compared to version 1.3.6 devices,” an Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

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“These devices also can operate at a wider span of FCC and ARIB bands with up to 8 selectable channels achieving baud rates ranging from 5.4 to 1028.8 kbps.”

Meanwhile, Atmel’s built in Class-D amplifier architecture is up to 30% more efficient than competing solutions with only a handful of external discrete components – neatly reducing power waste due to heat dissipation and increasing long-term reliability via optimized thermal behavior.

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In addition, an extensive array of system IO, LCD, memory, RTC, DMA and cryptographic resources available in SAM4CP16C facilitates integration of application, communication and metrology software (using external ATSENSE devices) to achieve highly reliable, flexible and cost effective smart meter designs.

“Plus, with free certified PRIME stacks for Atmel, devs will be able to concentrate their development efforts on application development,” the engineering rep noted.

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“With modular software architecture and the advanced capabilities of the management plane, the Atmel stack provides unparalleled flexibility in software architecture, while reducing the memory requirements of the top-level application.”

Interested in learning more about Atmel’s new comprehensive smart energy platform? Be sure to check out our official smart energy product page, along with part one, part two and part four of our deep dive.

A closer look at Atmel’s smart energy platform (Part 1)

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Driven by evolving environmental concerns and regulations, the market for energy, water and gas metering systems is rapidly changing. To be sure, traditional standalone meters are currently being replaced by complex networked systems that utilize a variety of communication methods.

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To meet the needs of an evolving smart grid, engineers require solutions capable of providing advanced connectivity options, iron-clad security, precise metrology, versatility and a high-level of integration.

Atmel addresses the needs of the evolving smart energy market with application-specific, as well as standard microcontroller (MCU), microprocessor (MPU), security, memory, wireless and power-line connectivity devices. Simply put, our portfolio offers developers a wide range of best-in-class feature sets and performance for smart grid equipment.

“Today’s smart meter architect demands various levels of integration depending on system architecture partitioning, project timelines, and the level of flexibility needed to address various utility and geographical requirements,” an Atmel engineering rep told Bits & Pieces.

“The Atmel platform provides a unique multi-level architecture built around the same multi-core architecture as outlined below. Various devices integrate the building blocks of the smart meter, namely, metrology sensing (ADC), metrology DSP, application, communication, and security processing, as well as connectivity to home area and neighborhood area networks.”

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Key Atmel differentiators include:

  • Leading-edge connectivity
  • Low power 802.15.4/4g wireless devices
  • Field proven, low power PLC (PRIME)
  • Integration & flexibility
  • Flexible (SW or HW) metrology
  • Multi-standard wireless and PLC solutions
  • Advanced cryptography
  • Best-in-class metrology
  • Dynamic range of up to 6000:1
  • 25M units shipped since 90’s
  • Broad MCU portfolio
  • Large array of SAMD, SAM4 and SAM5 solutions
  • Best-in-class tools from Atmel, IAR and Keil

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At the core of Atmel’s smart energy platform is the SAM4C series of products, starting with the SAM4C16 and SAM4C8 system-on-chip solutions for smart energy applications built around two high performance 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 RISC processors. These devices operate at a maximum speed of 100 MHz and feature up to 2Mbyte of embedded Flash, 304 Kbytes of SRAM and on-chip cache for each core.

The dual ARM Cortex -M4 architecture facilitates the integration of various layers, including application, communications and metrology functions in a single device. It also offers options for integrated software metrology or external hardware metrology AFE (analog front end), as well as an integrated or an external power-line carrier (PLC) physical layer solution. Essentially, this is a modular approach that is sure to meet various design needs.

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Interested in learning more about Atmel’s new comprehensive smart energy platform? Be sure to check out our official product page here and part two of our deep dive here.