Energy Micro, an Oslo-based provider of and RF transceivers and microcontrollers, has announced that it has expanded the EFM32 Gecko microcontrollers offering with the addition of compact devices in a BGA48 packaging.
The new Gecko devices in active state require a current supply of 150 µA/MHz and are based on Energy Micro’s ARM Cortex-M3 processor. The devices are ideal for compact applications with space restrictions, such as portable fitness & health products and home automation systems. The Tiny VFBGAA48 Gecko device, despite its small size, offers energy-friendly peripherals including a low-power LCD driver and a low-energy LESENSE sensor interface.
The Vice Present of worldwide Sales and Marketing at Energy Micro, Andreas Koller explained that the latest variants offered in small packages will enable to develop smaller solutions without compromising the system performance.
The LESENSE function block is a low-energy sensor interface capable of independently monitoring a maximum of 16 capacitive, resistive or inductive sensors featured in the processor core. This flexibility will enable designers to retain basic functionality while the processor is kept in shut-off or sleep mode. The RoHS-compliant, Cortex-M3 Tiny microcontroller is a VFBGA48 device offering 4KB RAM and 32KB Flash memory.
The Gecko microcontroller series offered by Energy Micro consists of over 240 variants. The ultra-low power 32-bit Tiny Gecko microcontroller series includes over 35 devices featuring a 32-bit Cortex-M3 running at 32MHz, low and high frequency oscillators, 24-bit real-time counter, pulse counter, and peripheral reflex capability to enable autonomous operation and direct memory access controller.