It may not be the best known microcontroller (MCU) brand, but an Ambiq Micro MCU has broken a record for low power consumption.
The company’s Apollo device recently broke the EEMBC ULPBench record, and handsomely too: it outscored the next best by more than a factor of 2, achieving a score of 377.
The benchmark, created to assist embedded designers in selecting the lowest-power MCU, standardises a typical low-power design workload and measures the actual energy required to complete that workload. This approach normalises the many different behaviours of MCU operation such as active current, sleep current, wake-up time, core efficiency and cache efficiency. It then synthesises this data into a single value developers truly care about – the amount of energy required to complete their specific application.
The Apollo MCU is based on a high-performance, 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4 processor with floating point unit. It runs at up to 24 MHz and integrates ultra-low power memory, up to 512 KB Flash and 64 KB RAM. The microcontroller comes with a rich set of timing peripherals, I2C/SPI master and slave ports, and a UART for communicating with peripherals and legacy devices.
What really sets it apart in the energy consumption stakes, though, is Ambiq’s patented Subthreshold Power Optimised Technology (SPOT) platform, which enables the Apollo MCU to achieve its best-in-class power consumption in both active mode and sleep mode. It consumes a meagre 34 μA/MHz executing instructions from Flash and sleep-mode currents can be as low as 140 nA.
Bridging the gap between MCUs and MPUs Future Electronics
Editor's Choice AI & ML
The Renesas RA8 series microcontrollers feature Arm Helium technology, which boosts the performance of DSP functions and of AI and machine learning algorithms.
Read more...The 8-bit survival syndrome – Part 2
DSP, Micros & Memory
Just like the 4-bit pre-microcontroller, the 8-bit MCU has been finding ways to stick around. Their features and speeds have been improving, offering competitive reasons to work with them.
Read more...Enhanced code protection for USB µC portfolio Future Electronics
DSP, Micros & Memory
To help easily incorporate USB power and communication functionality into embedded systems, Microchip Technology has launched the AVR DU family of microcontrollers.
Read more...General-purpose MCU with RISC-V architecture EBV Electrolink
DSP, Micros & Memory
Renesas has released a general-purpose MCU to enhance its existing RISC-V portfolio, and this is its first MCU using a RISC-V core developed internally at the company.
Read more...Compact power relays Future Electronics
Interconnection
The new HE-R Series power relays by Panasonic Industry are PCB-mounted relays for easy board assembly, with both two- and four-pole contact arrangement options.
Read more...8-bit MCU with I3C support Avnet Silica
DSP, Micros & Memory
The PIC18-Q20 8-bit microcontrollers from Microchip easily interface with devices operating in multiple voltage domains, and the built-in I3C interface supports higher-speed and lower-power data transfers than I2C.
Read more...An evolutionary step in customisable logic Altron Arrow
DSP, Micros & Memory
Microchip Technology is offering a tailored hardware solution with the launch of its PIC16F13145 family of microcontrollers, which are outfitted with a new Configurable Logic Block module.
Read more...MCU for battery-powered applications Altron Arrow
DSP, Micros & Memory
Included in ST’s family of devices is the STM32U031, an ultra-low-power MCU featuring an ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit core running at up to 56 MHz.
Read more...Serial SRAM up to 4 MB EBV Electrolink
DSP, Micros & Memory
The chips are designed to provide a lower-cost alternative to traditional parallel SRAM products, and include optional battery backup switchover circuitry in the SRAM memory to retain data on power loss.
Read more...SiP supports LTE/NB-IoT and GNSS RF Design
DSP, Micros & Memory
The nRF9151 from Nordic Semiconductor is an integrated System-in-Package that supports LTE-M/NB-IoT, DECT NR+ and GNSS services.
printer friendly version