STMicro STM32L5 Cortex-M33 ARMv8-M MCU Family Targets Secure IoT Applications

STM32L5

STMicro STM32 microcontrollers have so far been based on Arm Cortex-M0/M0+, M3, M4, or M7 cores, although we’ve also seen a yet-to-be formally announced Cortex A7 variant shows up in Linux 4.17 with STM32MP157C. The company has very recently announced a new family, namely the STM32L5 series, powered by an Arm Cortex-M33 ARMv8-M 32-/64-bit TrustZone enabled core clocked at up to 110 MHz, and equipped with on-chip SMPS for easy low power efficiency, USB FS device, and USB type-C PD Controller. Two sub-families are part of the STM32L5 series: STM32L552 with 256 to 512 KB of Flash memory and from 48 to 144-pin packages. STM32L562 with 512 KB of Flash memory, and an additional encryption accelerator engine (AES, PKA, and OTFDEC). Besides the extra HW crypto block both share the same key specifications: MCU Core – Arm Cortex-M33 ARMv8-M core clocked at up to 110 MHz (+20% versus Cortex-M4) with […]

STLink-V3 Modular Debugger & Programmer for STM32/STM8 Adds I2C, SPI, CAN Interfaces

STLink V3

STLink is the in-circuit debugger and programmer for STMicro STM32 and STM8 micro-control working with SWIM and JTAG/SWD interfaces. ST Microelectronics has now introduced STLink-V3 which also provides a Virtual COM port interface allowing the host PC to communicate with the target microcontroller through one UART, as well as bridge interfaces (SPI, I2C, CAN, GPIOs) which can be used for programming of the target through the bootloader for example. Key features of STLink V3 debugger: Stand-alone probe with modular extensions Self-powered through a USB connector (Micro-B) USB 2.0 high-speed compatible interface Direct firmware update support (DFU) JTAG / serial wire debugging (SWD) specific features:3 V to 3.6 V application voltage support and 5 V tolerant inputs Flat cables STDC14 to MIPI10 / STDC14 / MIPI20 (connectors with 1.27 mm pitch) JTAG communication support SWD and serial wire viewer (SWV) communication support SWIM specific features (only available with adapter board MB1440):1.65 […]

STMicro STM32F7x0 & H7x0 Value Line Microcontrollers Deliver Cortex-M7 Performance at Lower Cost

STMicro introduces their first Arm Cortex-M7 microcontrollers in 2014 with STM32F7 series clocked up to 200 MHz. The next year, Atmel – now Microchip – announced SAM S70 & SAM E70 Cortex-M7 MCU families clocked at up to 300 MHz, STMicro up the ante to 400 MHz with their STM32H7 family in 2016, and more recently NXP launched their i.MX RT series “crossover” processor with the Cortex-M7 reaching up to 600 MHz. AFAIK, nobody has tried to push the clock speeds higher, but STMicroelectronics most recently unveiled STM32F7x0 & H7x0 Value Line microcontrollers with the same performance level as their earlier STM32F7 and STM32H7 MCUs, but with a lower price by reducing the amount of internal flash. Three Cortex-M7 value line families have been introduced: STM32F730 entry-level MCU @ 216MHz with 64KB flash, 8KB data / instructions cache, 256KB RAM and 16KB+64KB TCM (Tightly Coupled Memory). The microcontroller also includes […]

STMicro VL53L1X Time of Flight (ToF) Sensor Extends Distance Measurement Range up to 4 Meters

STMicroElectronics VL53L0X ToF (Time-of-flight) range sensor is a tiny chip that can accurately and quickly measure distance up to 2 meters using laser light.  I had the chance to test the sensor via TinyLIDAR board connected Arduino and Raspberry Pi, and found it was a great little sensor. TinyLIDAR includes an STM32 MCU, but you can also find standalone board for as low as about $4 shipped on Aliexpress. However, if 2 meters is too short a range for your project, the good news is that STMicro has now launched VL53L1X ToF “FlightSense” sensor with a range of up to 4 meters. VL53L1X is pin-to-pin compatible with VL53L0X, so existing PCBs could be re-used with the new sensor. STMicro VL53L1X main specifications: Emitter: 940 nm invisible laser (Class1) SPAD (single photon avalanche diode) receiving array with integrated lens Low-power microcontroller running advanced digital firmware Distance Ranging up to 4 meters […]

STMicro STM32WB Dual Core Cortex M4/M0+ MCU Comes with Bluetooth 5 & 802.15.4 Radios

STMicro has announced yet another family part of their STM32 portfolio with STM32WB micro-controller family featuring an Arm Cortex M4 application core, a Cortex M0+ core to offload the main core of networking tasks, as well as Bluetooth 5 and 802.15.4 radios. The MCU’s 802.15.5 radio can run other wireless protocols concurrently, including OpenThread, ZigBee, or proprietary protocols used to connect devices to the Internet of Things (IoT). STM32WB MCUs share the following key specifications: Application Core – Arm Cortex-M4 CPU @ up to 64 MHz with FPU, adaptive real-time accelerator (ART Accelerator), MPU, 80 DMIPS and DSP instructions Memory  – Up to 256 KB RAM, including 64 KB with hardware parity check, 20×32-bit Backup Register Storage Up to 1 MB Flash with sector protection (PCROP) against R/W operations for Bluetooth Low Energy and 802.15.4 SW stack Quad SPI memory interface with XIP Radio 2.4 GHz RF transceiver supporting Bluetooth […]

STMicro Introduces Two STM32 Discovery Kits with 2G/3G or 4G LTE-IoT Cat M1/NB1 Connectivity

Embedded World 2018 trade fair will take place on  on take place on February 27 – March 1 in Nuremberg, Germany, and we’re starting to see some company announce new products and solutions for the embedded market. STMicro has just announced their showcase their very first cellular development kits at the event, based on a display-less variant on their 32L496GDISCOVERY Discovery board with cellular add-on boards: P-L496G-CELL01 Discovery kit with with a 2G/3G modem P-L496G-CELL02 Discovery kit with with an LTE-IoT Cat M1 (eMTC) / NB1 (NB-IoT) / 2G model Now the company has not started designed their own cellular modem, but instead relying on QUECTEL modems. Both kits share most of the same specifications: MCU – STMicro STM32L496AGI6 Arm Cortex M4F MCU@ 80 MHz with 1 MB Flash, 320 KB RAM in a UFBGA169 package On-board memory – 8 Mbit PSRAM On-board + external storage – 32 KB I2 […]

STMicro BlueNRG-MESH SDK for Bluetooth Mesh to Include Code for Firmware, Android and iOS Apps

Earlier this summer, the Bluetooth SIG announced Bluetooth Mesh, which supports many-to-many (m:m) device communications for up 32,767 unicast addresses per mesh network (in theory), and is compatible with Bluetooth 4.0 or greater hardware.  Several companies immediately unveiled Bluetooth Mesh SDK at the time including Qualcomm, Nordic Semi, and Silicon Labs. ST Micro has now unveiled their own BlueNRG-MESH SDK which the company claims is “the market’s only three-part SDK that provides two app developer packages for Android and iOS, and the embedded-development software for building smart objects such as light fittings and sensors”. Sadly, details about the SDK are near inexistent now, except – as one would expect – BlueNRG-MESH SDK will work with ST BlueNRG Bluetooth low energy wireless network processor based on an ARM Cortex M0 core, and corresponding development kits. [Update: STSW-BNRG-Mesh page has many more details about the SDK including the architecture diagram below. ] […]

STMicro Introduces 20 Cents STM8S001J3 8-Bit MCU in 8-Pin Package

STMicro has launched a new 8-bit micro-controller that sells for $0.20 per unit in 10k quantities, a price not too far from the one of cheapest MCU, especially considering it comes with flash. STM8S001J3 is also the first STM8 MCU offered in 8-pin package (SO8N), and should compete with some of the Microchip Attiny or PIC12F series micro-controllers. STM8S001J3 specifications: Core – 16 MHz advanced STM8 core with Harvard architecture and 3-stage pipeline,extended instruction set System Memory – 1 Kbyte RAM Storage 8 Kbytes Flash memory; data retention 20 years at 55 °C after 100 cycles 128-byte true data EEPROM; endurance up to 100 k write/erase cycles Clock, reset and supply management 2.95 V to 5.5 V operating voltage Flexible clock control, 3 master clock sources: external clock input; internal, user-trimmable 16 MHz RC; internal low-power 128 kHz RC Clock security system with clock monitor Power management – Low-power modes […]