20 May 2008

Atmel ARM Based Microprocessor Offers Power Saving & Speed

Atmel, a member of the ARM Connected Community, has confirmed that its 400 MHz offers reduced power consumption, but doesn’t let down on speed.

Atmel said its AT91SAM9G20 ARM926EJ-S-based embedded microprocessor  draws only 80 mW in full-power mode with all peripherals turned on.

The AT91SAM9G20, pin-compatible with the 200 MHz AT91SAM9260, offers four times the cache and on-chip SRAM memory and features improved error correction for external NAND Flash as well as an enlarged Ethernet FIFO that improves latency.

The AT91SAM9G20 is targeted at power-constrained applications that also need high performance. These include point-of-sale terminals, building automation, security cameras and bar code readers.

The AT91SAM9G20 offers a wide choice of operating systems, with support for Microsoft Windows CE, .NET MF and Linux, as well as a number of real-time operating systems (RTOS) and middleware products from third parties including Adeneo, IAR, Keil, Mentor Graphics, Micrium, Segger and TimeSys.

In addition to halving the power consumption in full-speed operating mode - where the clock frequency is software programmable - the AT91SAM9G20 features four reduced-power modes, including Backup Mode where the main power supply is off and the device power consumption is sufficiently low (9uW) for an extended period of operation under battery supply, Atmel explained.

Networking, Communications and Image Sensing. Networking and communications requirements are met by 12M bps USB Full Speed Dual Host and Device ports, an Ethernet 10/100 Base T MAC, four USARTs, SPI, SSC and Two-Wire Interface (TWI). The image sensing requirements of many of the target applications for the AT91SAM9G20 are met by a fully integrated Image Sensor Interface (ISI).