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.
PolarFire SoC FPGAs achieve AEC-Q100 qualification ASIC Design Services
DSP, Micros & Memory
Microchip Technology’s PolarFire SoC FPGAs have earned the Automotive Electronics Council AEC-Q100 qualification.
Read more...Integrated STM32WBA6 wireless microcontrollers Altron Arrow
DSP, Micros & Memory
Cost-efficient and highly integrated embedded controllers for emerging 2,4 GHz wireless applications in smart home, health, factory, and agriculture.
Read more...Ultra-low-power MCU with FPU Arm Cortex-M33 Altron Arrow
DSP, Micros & Memory
STMicroelectronics has expanded its STM32 ultra-low-power family with the launch of the STM32U3 for cost-sensitive applications in industrial, medical, and consumer electronics devices.
Read more...Low-jitter oscillators
DSP, Micros & Memory
The JOH21, JOE21 and JOD21 low-jitter oscillators with differential output are designed for applications that require accurate timing and precise synchronisation.
Read more...Raspberry Pi 5 SBC Electrocomp Express
DSP, Micros & Memory
The Raspberry Pi 5 single board computer builds on the phenomenal success of its predecessor, the Raspberry Pi 4, delivering a 2-3x increase in CPU performance.
Read more...The world’s first RISC-V MCU to achieve PSA-L2 iCorp Technologies
DSP, Micros & Memory
Espressif’s ESP32-C6 is the world’s first RISC-V MCU to achieve PSA-L2 security certification, security certification, underscoring the company’s commitment to delivering robust, secure, and reliable IoT solutions.
Read more...32 Mbit SRAM chip Brabek
DSP, Micros & Memory
To meet the demand for high-density fast CMOS SRAM, Alliance Memory has introduced a new 32 Mbit device in the 6 x 8 mm 48-ball FBGA package, which offers a wide power supply range from 1,65 to 3,6 V.
Read more...SMT power inductors Future Electronics
Passive Components
The Würth Elektronik WE-MXGI SMT power inductors are the latest addition to Würth Elektronik’s moulded power inductor series, engineered for high-frequency power applications.
Read more...Connectivity for industrial applications iCorp Technologies
DSP, Micros & Memory
Quectel has introduced the SG882G, its latest flagship Android/Linux smart module, designed to deliver exceptional computing power, multimedia capabilities, and seamless connectivity for industrial and consumer applications.
Read more...Eval board for MEMS sensors Altron Arrow
DSP, Micros & Memory
ST’s STEVAL-MKI109D is an evaluation platform that allows engineers to monitor the behaviour of ST MEMS sensors and maximise the performance of new product designs, accelerating time to market.
printer friendly version