Solid State Supplies has signed the new Energy Micro ARM Cortex-M3 based microcontroller line in the UK.
Officially launched this month, Energy Micro's EFM32 is a 32-bit device which is targeted to compete with lower performance 8-bit MCUs in low power applications, most notably utility meters.
See: Smart meter plan is potential boost to industry
According to Energy Micro CEO Geir Forre: "We have been able to implement a Cortex-M3 whose active power consumption with flash active will be much lower than anyone else's Cortex-M3."
Forre said there are several low-power modes and quiescent current will be "sub-100nA with everything shut down".
Of particular interest is the chip's 'Energy Mode 1' which allows peripherals to act autonomously with the CPU core completely shut down.
Talking of an on-chip serial transceiver, Forre said: "Without CPU intervention, it can receive and put data directly into RAM, and it can transmit directly from RAM. At 10kbit/s, a large amount of data can take a long time."
The ADC is another autonomous peripheral. "It can convert at a specific time, you can preset the time with the real-time clock," said Forre. "Most of the peripherals can have some form of automation."
The list includes: DMA, hardware 256-bit AES, external bus interface, integrated high frequency oscillators, ADC and DAC.
All autonomous activities are either data-triggered, or time-triggered by internal clocks.
“In an era when milliwatts matter, Energy Micro leads the field and fits perfectly into our processor and embedded platforms portfolio,” comments John Macmichael, Commercial Director, Solid State Supplies.