July 2, 2012 -- Atmel Corp. has announced sampling of the Atmel SAM4SD32, the industry's first 2-MByte embedded Flash Cortex-M4 processor-based microcontroller (MCU). Atmel's SAM4SD32 offers best-in-class low power consumption at 200µA/MHz in active mode, a savings of over 50% vs. the nearest competitor, when running at 120MHz.

With 2MBytes of embedded Flash, the SAM4SD32 is an ideal device for industrial and consumer applications requiring increased program memory, data storage and low power consumption. Such applications include wireless thermostats, GPS sport watches, smart meters and 1D bar code readers. Wired and wireless communication stacks, multi-language and multi-applications support, and data logging requirements are driving the need for higher memory densities in these applications.

Atmel's SAM4SD32 runs at a high-performance 120-MHz operating frequency and features cache memory for accelerated code execution out of Flash. In addition, the Cortex-M4 processor-based device integrates code-protection features, 160KBytes of SRAM and dual-bank Flash for safe in-field firmware upgrades.

The SAM4SD32 is supported by the SAM4S-EK2, a full-featured evaluation kit that enables fast development and code evaluation. The SAM4S-EK2 is supported by the recently launched Atmel Studio 6 integrated development environment (IDE), which accelerates the design process while also reducing the overall cost of creating new designs because it includes professional-quality development tools and Atmel Software Framework, and is free of charge. With Atmel Software Framework, designers get a large library of proven and free source code, including over 1,100 project examples.

Availability and Pricing

The Atmel SAM4SD32 is sampling now with general availability in September 2012. The device is available in QFP100 packaging priced at $7.94 in 1000-piece quantities. The SAM4SD32 will be available in a new smaller VFBGA100 7x7mm package option.

Sampling now, the Atmel SAM4S-EK2 full-featured kit supports the SAM4SD32 for faster development and code execution. The kits will be priced at $149 and will be generally available in September 2012.