Atmel AT32UC3A3 Microcontroller

Atmel AT32UC3A3 is a series of AVR32-RISC-based microcontrollers designed for digital media and audio player docking station markets. It is also applicable for wider range of embedded-system applications requiring high throughput of data transfer. AT32UC3A3 run at up to 66MHz and comes with various interfaces including ADC, DAC (for audio system), external memory and storage card (SDRAM, SRAM, NANDFlash, MMC, SD, SDIO, CF, etc), IDE, high speed USB with OTG (On-The-Go), serial communication, GPIO, JTAG (for on chip debuging).

Atmel AT32UC3A3 series:

• AT32UC3A3256
• AT32UC3A3128
• AT32UC3A364
  with Advanced Encryption System (AES):
• AT32UC3A3256S
• AT32UC3A3128S
• AT32UC3A364S

Atmel AT32UC3A3 Microcontroller - Block Diagram

AT32UC3A3 microcontroller features a distributed SRAM architecture that eliminates latency and potential delay for data flowing through the controller. The 128 KB SRAM is split into 3 regions, each offering a separate memory interface to the memory and peripheral DMA controllers, allowing simultaneous multiple high speed data transfers.

The DSP performance and wide range DSP specific instructions eliminates the need for custom audio decoder hardware. AT32UC3A3 microcontroller is capable of decoding various audio format such as stereo MP3 and AAC.

The AT32UC3A3 microcontroller offers an integrated stereo 16-bit bitstream DAC. This requires only a small external power amplifier to generate the output voltages required for headphones, line out or external speakers.

The AT32UC3A3 microcontroller offers multiple high speed communication interfaces, including a High Speed USB (480 Mbit/s) with OTG, a NAND flash controller with support for MLC (Multi Level Cell) error correction, and an MMC/SD port with support for up to two SD card slots with more than 12 Mbyte/s transfer speed.

Features of AT32UC3A3 microcontroller:

• Low Power, High Performance AVR 32 UC 32-Bit Microcontroller
  • Single-Cycle RISC Instruction Set including DSP Instruction Set
  • Performing 1.49DMIPS/MHz
    • Up to 91DMIPS Running at 66MHz from Flash (1 Wait-State)
    • Up to 54 DMIPS Running at 36MHz from Flash (0 Wait-State)
  • Read-Modify-Write Instructions and Atomic Bit Manipulation
  • Memory Protection Unit
• Multi-Layer Bus System
  • High-Performance Data Transfers on Separate Buses for Increased Performance
  • 8 Peripheral DMA Channels (PDCA) Improves Speed for Peripheral Communication
  • 4 generic DMA Channels for High Bandwidth Data Paths
• Internal High-Speed Flash
  • Single-Cycle Flash Access up to 36MHz
  • 256KBytes, 128KBytes, 64KBytes versions
  • Prefetch Buffer Optimizing Instruction Execution at Maximum Speed
  • 4 ms Page Programming Time and 8ms Full-Chip Erase Time
  • 100,000 Write Cycles, 15-year Data Retention Capability
  • Flash Security Locks and User Defined Configuration Area
• Internal High-Speed SRAM
  • 64KBytes Single-Cycle Access at Full Speed, Connected to CPU Local Bus
  • 64KBytes on the Multi-Layer Bus System
• System Functions
  • Power and Clock Manager Including Internal RC Clock and One 32KHz Oscillator
  • Two Multipurpose Oscillators and Two Phase-Lock-Loop (PLL),
  • Watchdog Timer, Real-Time Clock Timer
• Interrupt Controller
  • Auto-vectored Low Latency Interrupt Service with Programmable Priority
• Two Three-Channel 16-bit Timer/Counter (TC)
• External Memories
  • Support SDRAM, SRAM, NandFlash (1-bit and 4-bit ECC), Compact Flash
  • Up to 66 MHz
• External Storage device support
  • MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure-Digital (SD), SDIO V1.1
  • CE-ATA, FastSD, SmartMedia, Compact Flash
  • Memory Stick: Standard Format V1.40, PRO Format V1.00, Micro
  • IDE Interface
• One Advanced Encryption System (AES) for AT32UC3A3256S, AT32UC3A3128S and AT32UC3A364S
  • 256-, 192-, 128-bit Key Algorithm, Compliant with FIPS PUB 197 Specifications
  • Buffer Encryption/Decryption Capabilities
• One 8-channel 10-bit Analog-To-Digital Converter, multiplexed with Digital IOs.
• Universal Serial Bus (USB)
  • High-Speed USB (480Mbit/s) Device/MiniHost with On-The-Go (OTG)
  • Flexible End-Point Configuration and Management with Dedicated DMA Channels
  • On-Chip Transceivers Including Pull-Ups
• Four Universal Synchronous/Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitters (USART)
  • Independent Baudrate Generator, Support for SPI, IrDA and ISO7816 interfaces
  • Support for Hardware Handshaking, RS485 Interfaces and Modem Line
• One Synchronous Serial Protocol Controller
  • Supports I2S and Generic Frame-Based Protocols
• Two Master/Slave Serial Peripheral Interfaces (SPI) with Chip Select Signals
• Two Master/Slave Two-Wire Interface (TWI), 400kbit/s I2C-compatible
• 110 General Purpose Input/Output (GPIOs)
  • Standard or High Speed mode
  • Toggle capability: up to 66MHz
• On-Chip Debug System (JTAG interface)
  • Nexus Class 2+, Runtime Control, Non-Intrusive Data and Program Trace
• Single 3.3V Power Supply
• 144-pin TBGA and LQFP

AVR32 ATEVK1104 Evaluation Kit for AT32UC3A3 Microcontroller

To boost-up development time using AT32UC3A3 microcontroller, developer can use Atmel’s AVR32 ATEVK1104 evaluation kit. EVK1104 combines Atmel AVR32 microcontroller with a set of communication interface like USB device including On-The-Go functionality, NAND flash, SDcard and stereo-audio 16-bit DAC. The AVR32 ATEVK1104 evaluation kit demonstrates audio playback from USB mass storage device, SD card or NAND flash, and shows how music can be streamed or downloaded from a PC through the Hi-Speed USB interface. Atmel, later this year, is going to introduce Bluetooth, and ZigBee radio connectivity add-on kits.

Atmel AVR32 ATEVK1104 Evaluation Kit for AT32UC3A3 Microcontroller

Apple iPod and iPhone devices becoming more and more popular and there is an urge for manufacturers to add docking to their existing products. Since Apple use proprietary protocol for its docking interface, only licensees of Apple technology are able to add docking to their products. To registered licensees, Atmel will provide an iPod docking extension kit to the EVK1104 and EVK1105. The kit also contains the firmware and source code required to access and control the iPod and iPhone via the USB port.

According to the press release, the AT32UC3A3 devices are priced at US$4.41 for 10k units. Price of AVR32 ATEVK1104 development kit is US$169.

Reference:

• Press release: Atmel Launches new AVR32 Microcontroller with High Speed Communication for Digital Audio Solutions (_http://www.atmel.com/dyn/corporate/view_detail.asp?FileName=AT32UC3A3_4_20.html)
• AT32UC3A3 Series Preliminary Summary (AT32UC3A3256, AT32UC3A3256S, AT32UC3A3128, AT32UC3A3128S, AT32UC3A364, AT32UC3A364S) (_http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/32072S.pdf)
• AT32UC3A3 Series (_http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id=682#2073)
• PRODUCT HOW TO: Digital audio decoding in portable consumer devices made easy (_http://www.embedded.com/products/integratedcircuits/212100399?printable=true)