Atmel AVR32

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AVR32 is a proprietary processor architecture from the US manufacturer Atmel . It is a 32-bit - RISC architecture with DSP - and SIMD functionality and integrated MMU .

The AVR32 architecture is similar to Atmel's 8-bit RISC architecture AVR . In contrast to the 8-bit AVR processors, the AVR32 architecture offers a common address space for program and data memory, i.e. it does not have a Harvard architecture . The speed disadvantages of the classic Von Neumann architecture are avoided by not using a common data and address bus, which can become a bottleneck, but a switching network via which several units can transmit data at the same time.

AVR32 (AP7000) microprocessor

architecture

The Atmel 32-bit MCU / DSP - RISC architecture is characterized in particular by high throughput with low power consumption, which is a mandatory requirement for developers and users in portable, battery-operated systems.

First, the AT32AP7000 microprocessor and other AP700x derivatives were presented, which can be operated at a maximum of 150 MHz. The AP7000 derivatives only have a few 10  Kbytes of internal SRAM memory and they require external memory that holds the program code. For this purpose, they have an extensive external memory interface that also allows NAND flash , SDRAMs and even memory cards to be connected directly.

In addition, the AVR32-UC3 product family was presented in 2007, which differs from the AP7000 family in particular through the internal program memory (flash). There are variants with an internal Ethernet controller and with USB controllers. They have up to 512 kB of internal flash and up to 64 kB of internal memory. Their maximum clock frequency is 60 to 66 MHz.

The developers of the AVR32-RISC processor made sure to process more data with fewer clock cycles and thus optimize and reduce the overall power consumption. JTAG debug interface and OCD system (on-chip debug system) form an efficient system for programming and troubleshooting. Data and command cache also accelerate the system. The MMU allows the porting of an operating system such as B. NetBSD / Embedded Linux / Embedded Real-Time Linux . A "Tightly Coupled Bus" provides a fast connection to the Pixel - coprocessor . The core of the AVR32 achieves a higher data throughput by avoiding non-productive processor clocks as much as possible.

With the availability of the AT32AP7000, which can be described as "full expansion", it is possible to develop and evaluate all expansion stages of this family.

AVR UC3

In 2011 the development continued with the UC3 series. These are 32-bit controllers with up to 123 input / output connections and up to 512 KiB flash memory with the following subgroups:

C series

These are the most powerful controllers in the AVR family. You offer u. a.

  • Clock rates up to 66 MHz
  • A floating point unit (FPU)
  • Memory protection
  • Ethernet support
  • Pulse width modulation with the option of providing dead times
  • 12-bit ADC with 16 channels and 2 million samples per second (MSPS)
  • 12 bit DAC with 4 channels and 1.5 million samples per second

L series

These controllers are optimized for minimal power consumption, especially for use in mobile devices. They have a direct interface to capacitive sensors ("QTouch") such as touchscreens as well as integrated temperature sensors and the core can be operated with voltages down to 1.62V.

A0 / A1 series

Controllers in this subgroup are optimized for high data throughput, have USB and Ethernet interfaces and SRAM areas of 32 or 64 KiB.

A3 / A4 series

These controllers also have an interface to SD cards and optionally an AES encryption module. The SRAM memory is up to 128 KiB.

B series

B-series controllers are installed in particularly small housings and are suitable for applications in the tightest of spaces. In many cases they are a more powerful alternative to the ATtiny.

D series

Are advertised as entry-level microcontrollers that u. a. who have I2S (Inter-IC-Sound, especially for fast DA converters ), Full-Speed ​​USB, QTouch etc.

Audio series

These controllers are specially optimized for the operation of the Atmel AUDIO-IPs.

Development tools

EVK1100

The EVK1100 is an evaluation and development tool for the AVR32 AT32UC3A microcontroller.

Main features: supports the AT32UC3A Ethernet port Sensors: light, temperature, potentiometer 4x20 Blue LCD (PWM Adjustable backlight) Interface for JTAG, Nexus, USART, USB 2.0, TWI, SPI SD and MMC Card Reader The AVR32 AT32UC3 software library includes drivers , Software service and demo applications. Each software module contains the complete source code, examples, HTML documentation and ready-to-use projects for the IAR EWAVR32 and GNU GCC compilers.


EVK1101

The EVK1101 is an evaluation and development tool for the AVR32 AT32UC3B microcontroller.

Main features: supports AT32UC3B sensors: light, temperature interface for JTAG, Nexus, USART, USB 2.0, TWI, SPI SD and MMC card reader


EVK1104

The AVR32 EVK1104 is the evaluation kit for the AT32UC3A3256, which is an AVR32 controller with many communication interfaces such as e.g. B. high-speed USB including ON-The-Go functionality.

properties

AT32UC3A3256 LCD TFT Display SDRAM Memory Quantum capacitive Touch System SD-Card Slot USB HS OTG connector


EVK1105

The AVR32 EVK1105 is an evaluation kit for the AT32UC3A0512, which shows the capabilities of the AVR32 controllers in terms of Hi-Fi audio decoding and streaming.

The kit contains the reference hardware and software for a Generic MP3 Player Docking Station.

Reference design for audio platform AT32UC3A0512 LCD TFT Display Quantum capacitive Touch System SD-Card Slot USB FS OTG connector Fast Ethernet Connector

AVR32 and Linux

Starting with kernel version 2.6.19, the Linux kernel supports Atmel's AVR32 architecture directly for the first time. Atmel has adapted the gcc 4.x as the primary open source tool chain under Linux to the AVR32 architecture.

In cooperation with Atmel Norway and the Berlin company ExactCODE GmbH, the free T2-SDE Linux project was adapted as Embedded Linux to AVR32 as a reference implementation at the beginning of 2007 and is available including product support. The AVR32-STK1000 starter kit reference implementation with running T2-SDE Linux was first presented to the public in Hanover at CeBIT 2007.

With the release of version 4.12 of the Linux kernel, support for the AVR32 architecture was discontinued. The developers justified this step with the fact that there were no users or only very few, so that the effort for maintaining the code would no longer be appropriate. In addition, parts of the network stack of the last kernel version can no longer be compiled with the latest compilers for this architecture.

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