Energy Micro EFM32 Gecko microcontrollers

Energy Micro has introduced a further 100 EFM32 Gecko microcontrollers. Pin and code compatible with the existing Gecko and Tiny Gecko products, the ARM Cortex-M3 based Leopard Gecko and Giant Gecko microcontrollers bring memory configurations up to 1 MB, have more package choice and additional energy saving and have connectivity and display driving options.

The Leopard Gecko product family is comprised of 60 MCUs, providing 32 kB RAM as standard and Flash of either 64, 128 or 256 kB. At the top of the Energy Micro portfolio, the 40 MCU Giant Gecko family provides Flash configurations of either 512 or 1024 with 128 kB of RAM.

An extended range of package options comprises the QFN64, QFP100, BGA112 and the new QFP64 and BGA120 packages. The latest low power Geckos also take CPU operating speeds up to 48 MHz.

A feature introduced by the Leopard Gecko and Giant Gecko product families is a 400 nA backup power mode, enabling the RTC to keep running and providing 512 back-up register bytes. To help further reduce external component counts, the latest MCUs also integrate three on-chip op amps.

The latest MCUs have the added option of a 320 x 240 dot direct drive TFT controller capable of driving display updates without CPU intervention.

A USB 2.0 full speed connectivity option introduced on Leopard and Giant supports host and OTG protocols and up to 14 x 2 kB buffered end points, while a built-in 3.3 V regulator also allows users to run the MCU from USB link power. Additional communication options include five standard USART/UART serial interfaces and the company’s low energy UART, drawing only 150 nA at 9600 baud.