Microchip’s 8-bit tinyAVR MCUs enable increased functionality in sensor nodes

Microchip Technology has expanded its tinyAVR MCU series with the addition of two new devices offering advanced analogue features and the largest memory variants in the family.

Designed for reliable operation in harsh environments, the ATtiny3217 and ATtiny3216 offer built-in safety functions to help designers to create robust and safe systems.

To enhance the capability and responsiveness of sensor applications, including capacitive touch interfaces, the ATtiny3217 and ATtiny3216 bring the benefit of two Analogue-to-Digital Converters (ADCs) that enable systems to implement touch control simultaneously with other analogue measurements.

One ADC can be used with the Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) for touch signal acquisition, while the second one monitors other inputs such as thermistors and pressure sensors, or both ADCs can be used for faster sampling of different types of sensors.

Additional benefits of the ATtiny3217 and ATtiny3216 MCUs include improved real-time performance and accuracy. The dual ADC can be used for synchronous sampling of analogue signals, improving the overall system real-time performance and accuracy. In addition, the devices feature a hardware-based Event System that enables inter-peripheral communication without CPU involvement, reducing latency and ensuring faster system response.

Both devices also come with built-in safety functions to help designers to detect and respond to voltage supply variations or drops, including Power On Reset (POR), programmable Brownout Detect (BOD), Voltage Level Monitor (VLM) and Windowed Watchdog Timer (WWDT).

Both MCU’s provide improved noise immunity and functionality in extreme environments. The devices operate at up to 5V and are available in 125°C variants and with 32 KB of Flash, designers have plenty of room for their application code while retaining a small physical footprint on the PCB.

All tinyAVR MCU series devices are supported by the Atmel Studio 7 integrated development environment (IDE) and the Atmel START code configurator. For evaluation purposes, the ATtiny3217 Xplained Pro evaluation kit is also available.

The ATtiny3217 and ATtiny3216 are available now for sampling and in volume production.

Source from:newelectronics