Silicon Labs Introduces Lowest Power MCU with ARM Cortex-M3 Processor

Silicon Labs Introduces Lowest Power MCU with ARM Cortex-M3 Processor

Silicon Labs announced the industry's lowest power microcontroller (MCU) family based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor and the first "power-aware" development tools. The Precision32 SiM3L1xx MCU and development environment use innovative mixed-signal technology to reduce power consumption in active mode to 175A/MHz at 3.6V, and reduce power consumption in sleep mode to less than 250nA when the real-time clock is enabled. The new ultra-low-power mixed-signal MCUs are ideal for smart meters, instrument monitoring, home automation, wireless security, asset tracking, personal medical devices, and other power-sensitive applications connected to the Internet of Things (IoT).
Ultra-low-power MCUs are key building blocks for building IP-enabled devices connected to the Internet of Things.
The SiM3L1xx series products are the industry's most energy-efficient 32-bit MCUs based on the ARM Cortex-M3 processor with a frequency of up to 50MHz and are especially designed for breakthrough ultra-low power consumption. New Precision32 mixed-signal MCUs include power-efficient peripherals and an innovative architecture that consumes less current than many other 8-bit MCUs, allowing developers to implement high-performance 32-bit cores in their low-power embedded designs without draining the battery life.
The new microcontrollers reduce power consumption in active mode through a number of key innovations. For example, dynamic voltage scaling can adjust the voltage of internal devices according to changes in application conditions. Compared with other 32-bit MCUs, the integrated high-efficiency DC-DC step-down converter can reduce power consumption in active mode by 40%. Dedicated peripherals such as data transfer managers, AES encryption modules, and runtime encoders can accelerate the processing of RF protocols in wireless applications without CPU intervention, greatly reducing system power consumption.
Enhanced direct memory access (DMA) can reduce protocol-related power consumption by 90%, and RAM and register retention state can be quickly woken up within 4 seconds. This series of MCU products also has a patented technology LCD controller, and its charge redistribution architecture can reduce display power consumption by about 40% without affecting performance.
SiM3L1xx MCUs can also significantly reduce power consumption in sleep mode by optimizing the power consumption of on-chip peripherals such as charge pumps, RTCs, sensor interfaces, sleep mode UARTs, comparators, and LCD controllers. The charge pump generates an energy-efficient input voltage for the circuit in sleep mode, reducing the sleep current of analog circuits by 35% and digital circuits by 50%. The SiM3L1xx MCUs support multiple alarm options, an RTC for timing and interrupts, a sleep-mode UART for low-power device communication, and a sensor interface for sensor excitation and measurement while the MCU is in sleep mode. The automatic sensor interface can continue to count in sleep mode and wake up the MCU after the count overflows or the count reaches a programmable threshold.
The SiM3L1xx and supporting development tools are designed with the overall system power budget in mind. To minimize system power consumption, SiM3L1xx MCUs utilize patented voltage translation techniques, as well as advanced peripherals that reduce power consumption by other ICs in the system. For example, a high-efficiency DC-DC converter can reduce the operating current of the overall system. Configuring the lowest acceptable output voltage for the IC device connected to the MCU minimizes overall power consumption. This technology is especially suitable for battery-powered applications, such as smart meters.