Leveraging Nearly 30 Years of Aerospace Experience, Atmel ATmegaS128 AVRs Deliver Space-Grade Quality MCUs Including Latch-Up Immunity, Ceramic Packaging and Extended Temperature Range for Next-Generation of Space Applications
Atmel Corporation announced it is shipping the Atmel ATmegaS128 MCU targeting next-generation space applications. In addition to all the popular features of the megaAVR® family, the new AtmegaS128 - the first uC Rad Tolerant device for Atmel - delivers full wafer lot traceability, 64-lead ceramic package (CQFP), space screening, space qualification according to QML and ESCC flow and total ionizing dose up to 30 Krad (Si) for space applications. The ATMegaS128 is "latch up" immune thanks to a dedicated silicon process: SEL LET > 62.5Mev at 125°C, 8MHz/3.3V. SEU to heavy ions is estimated to 10-3 error/device/day for Low Earth Orbit applications.
With billions of commercial AVR devices widely deployed throughout the world, the new space-grade AVR family benefits from support of the Atmel Studio ecosystem and allows aerospace developers to use the industrial-version of the ATmega AVR to prototype their applications for a fraction of the cost. The ATmegaS128 is available in a ceramic hermetic packaging and is pin-to-pin and drop-in compatible with existing ATmega128 MCUs, allowing flexibility between commercial and qualified devices, enabling faster-time-to-market and minimizing development costs. With this cost-effective approach and a plastic Hirel-qualified version, the ATmegaS128 can be also considered in more general aerospace applications including class A and B avionic critical cases where radiation tolerance is also a key requirement.
Ecosystem and Starter Kits
To ease the design process and accelerate time-to-market, Atmel offers a complete STK600 starter kit and development system for the ATmegaS128 AVR MCU giving designers a quick start to develop code on the AVR with advanced features for prototyping and testing new designs. Customers can also start their designs with an industrial version of the Atmega128 - with the exact pin-out of the AtmegaS128 - to save costs. The new AVRs are supported by the proven Atmel Studio IDP for developing and debugging Atmel | SMART ARM® processor-based MCUs and Atmel AVR® MCU applications, along with the Atmel Software Framework.
Key Features for the Atmel Space ATmegaS128
- High-performance, low-power Atmel AVR 8-bit MCU
- High endurance, non-volatile memory
- Robust peripherals including 8- and 16-bit timers/counters, 6 PWM channels, 8-channel, 10-bit ADC, TWI/USARTs/SPI serial interface, programmable watchdog timer, on-chip analog comparator
- Power-on reset and programmable brown-out detection
- Internal calibrated RC oscillator
- External and internal interrupt sources
- Six sleep modes
- Power-down, standby and extended standby
Availability
Atmel is currently engaging with alpha customers on the ATmegaS128 devices now.
