May 18, 2012 -- Scubapro-Uwatec AG and Energy Micro AS have announced that the EFM32 Gecko microcontroller (MCU) has been selected to power the Scubapro Meridian dive computer. Meridian is a sophisticated dive computer with a luxury watch design, powered by a single CR2032 lithium battery.

Designed for use at depths of up to 120 meters, the Meridian is the first 32-bit dive watch-computer. It incorporates an advanced diving algorithm and performs multi-gas decompression. Its integrated heart-rate monitor enables adaptive workload calculations.

While diving, the Meridian can be configured to display a variety of dive information including depth, dive time, decompression status, and water temperature. Above the surface it handles remaining desaturation time, no-fly time, and features a built-in thermometer and altimeter that is perfect for mountain treks.

"Our adaptive algorithm, which accounts for the effects of workload, micro bubbles and temperature for every dive, is more advanced than basic time/ pressure-based diving algorithms. However, the added complexity requires extreme calculation power and energy efficiency that only Energy Micro's 32-bit MCUs can provide," said Reima Holopainen, R&D Manager of Uwatec. "In creating the unique design of the Meridian we also challenged the EFM32 support team with special requests critical to our application. With excellent responses from Energy Micro the Meridian design was realized in optimal time."

Energy Micro's EFM32G890 Gecko is a 32-MHz, 32-bit MCU based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor. Requiring just 180µA/MHz while active, the device provides the flexibility of five MCU sleep modes, three of which draw less than a µA of current. The Gecko has a short 2-µs wake-up time, integrates 90 general purpose I/Os, and a 0.55-µA built-in LCD controller. An eight-channel peripheral reflex system (PRS) allows peripherals to inter-communicate without CPU intervention.