Analog Devices, Inc. has announced its ADuCM302x series of ultra-low power microcontrollers designed to enable longer battery life and lower operating costs in IoT applications without sacrificing security and reliability functions. Consuming less than 38uA/MHz of current in active mode and less than 750nA in standby mode, the ADuCM302x microcontrollers enable longer operation between battery replacements or recharging, providing a better end-user experience and lower maintenance cost. This efficiency can also reduce costs for device makers by decreasing the number and size of batteries required, and enables new applications where battery replacement is impractical. While alternatives on the market often sacrifice key functionality to achieve efficiency benchmarks, the ADuCM302x series maintains a full suite of reliability and safety functions. Serving as the brain of a connected solution, these microcontrollers represent Analog Devices’ focus on delivering system-level solutions for the Internet of Things, and enabling intelligent decision-making closer to the sensor. They complement ADI’s broad portfolio of compatible sensing and wireless communication technologies, and will be supported by software and hardware development tools to help integrators optimize solutions for their unique application needs.
The ADuCM3027 and ADuCM3029 are the initial offerings in the series, differing only in flash memory (128K and 256k respectively). They outperform other general-purpose processors with a high ULPBench certified score of 245.5 points as established by the EEMBC (Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium), an independent industry alliance. The 32-bit ARM Cortex-M3 processor is easily configured to achieve the right balance of performance and power while still offering critical security and reliability functions. Faster encryption enabled by a combination of hardware and software protection mechanisms provides read-protection to prevent the device contents from being read by unauthorized users. Additionally, in-circuit write-protection prevents the device from being reprogrammed with unauthorized code. Voltage monitoring in standby-mode and error correction for the flash memory increase reliability by avoiding corruptions which could result in misoperation or system crashes.
