Atmel's SAM3U Evaluation Kit and Extensive Software Ecosystem Jump-Start Cortex M3-Based Application Development

San Jose, California (ots/PRNewswire) -

- Ready-to-Use Development Board plus Tools, Operating Systems
and Protocol Stacks Accelerate Programming of SAM3U ARM Cortex-M3
Based Flash MCU

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the
availability of the SAM3U-EK Evaluation Kit for rapid application
development on the industry's first ARM(R) Cortex(R) -M3 based Flash
microcontroller with high-speed 480 Mbps USB + Phy. In addition to a
plug-and-play socket for the high-speed USB device it features a high
speed SDIO/SDCard/MMC slot, two UART connectors, a ZigBee(R) radio
header, two analog inputs, audio in- and outputs and a JTAG-ICE debug
port. For application development purposes, the SAM3U-EK board
contains a 240 x 320 TFT color LCD display with resistive touch-panel
and backlight, 3D accelerometer and temperature sensor,
potentiometer, on-board 512K x 16-bit PSRAM and 2G-bit x8 or x16 NAND
Flash Memories, 12MHz and 32KHz clock sources and a backup battery.

On power-up, the SAM3U-EK runs an interactive demonstration that
takes advantage of its touch screen capability. This enables the user
to experience some of the outstanding features of the SAM3U and the
Evaluation Kit. This demonstration includes a facility that enables
the SAM3U-EK to be connected to the high-speed USB port of a PC,
where it is viewed as a USB key. Product documentation, sound and
image samples and demonstration software may be downloaded from it
and viewed on the display.

For application development, the SAM3U-EK plugs directly into a
PC where it is supported by a wide range of tools, debuggers,
operating systems and protocol stacks from industry-leading third
party suppliers, including the following:

IAR Development Toolchain

Anders Flodin, Director of Business Development, IAR(R)
Systems(R) AB, commented, "IAR offers the unique toolchain for all
Atmel microcontroller families. Supporting the SAM3U is a
manifestation of our long term relationship with Atmel giving
customers the tightest level of integration. We provide fully tested
implementations and world-wide support with the IAR Embedded
Workbench(R) development toolchain, IAR PowerPac(TM) RTOS and
middleware products. The IAR Systems software implementation,
including the High Speed USB device stack and SDCard drivers,
utilizes the DMA and distributed memory architecture to sustain the
100+ Mbps data rates." More information about IAR products and
services can be found at www.iar.com.

Micrium uC/OS-II Operating System and Protocol Stacks

According to Jean Labrosse, President and CEO of Micrium, "Use of
Micrium's RTOS with the SAM3U highlights our strength and expertise
in the Cortex-M3 space. Involved throughout Cortex-M3 development,
Micrium's uC/OS-II and uC/USB Device are naturals to be used with the
SAM3U-EK Evaluation Kit. In addition, sample projects and demos of
Micrium's uC/FS File System and uC/GUI are also available for
download from the Micrium Web site at www.micrium.com/atmel."

"Micrium's RTOS code, documentation, and support result in
substantial time-to-market advantages required by most embedded
designs today. Micrium currently supports all Atmel microcontroller
families, and we are excited to be a part of the SAM3U effort,"
Labrosse added.

Keil Development Toolchain

"The Keil Microcontroller Development Kit (MDK-ARM) supports the
full range of Atmel 32-bit ARM technology-based microcontrollers; the
current version includes peripheral simulation and device-specific
views for the SAM3U series," said Reinhard Keil, director MCU tools,
ARM. "Our tools provide trace capabilities with logic analyzer and
event viewers that utilize the extended debug features of the
Cortex-M3 processor. Additionally, the Keil Real-Time Library
(RL-ARM) delivers a comprehensive set of middleware components with
template projects for the unique SAM3U peripherals."

SEGGER Development Toolchain

"As a result of the close partnership between Atmel and SEGGER,
our middleware, debugging and production tools are readily available
for the new SAM3U. SEGGER's complete portfolio including the
market-leading J-Link already fully supports the new SAM3U-EK
evaluation kit. Our middleware makes optimum use of both the
Cortex-M3 core as well as the sophisticated peripherals of the
device," said Rolf Segger, Chief Technology Officer of SEGGER
Microcontroller. A trial version of SEGGER software for the SAM3U
evaluation kit is available for download from: www.segger.com.

FreeRTOS Operating System

FreeRTOS(R) founder Richard Barry said, "FreeRTOS is supporting
Atmel customers by providing a completely free real time kernel
download that includes a pre-configured project for the new SAM3U
microcontrollers - just open the project, compile, download then
run."

Mr. Barry continued, "FreeRTOS is a very widely used commercial
grade open source real time kernel that can be used in commercial
applications. Free support is provided by a wide user community
(FreeRTOS was downloaded nearly 80,000 times during 2008). Standard
commercial licensing, support and middleware options are also
available. This provides Atmel customers with a choice of licensing
models and complete peace of mind." FreeRTOS can be downloaded from
www.FreeRTOS.org.

Availability and Pricing

The SAM3U-EK Evaluation Kit is available now, order code
AT91SAM3U-EK, price US$199.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of
microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory
and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's
broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is
able to provide the electronics industry with complete system
solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications,
computing and automotive markets.

(c) 2009 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), Atmel
logo and combinations thereof and others, are registered trademarks
or trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. ARM(R) and
others are registered trademarks or trademarks of ARM Ltd. Other
terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:
Atmel's SAM3U product information and demonstration video may be
retrieved at:
http://www.atmel.com/products/at91/sam3landing.asp?family_id=605
For further information about the SAM3U4E device that powers the
SAM3U-EK, visit:
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=4562
Press Contacts:
Peter Bishop, Communications Manager, Atmel Rousset
Tel: (+33)-(0)-4-42-53-61-50, Email: peter.bishop@atmel.com
Helen Perlegos, Public Relations
Tel: +1-408-487-2963, Email: helen.perlegos@atmel.com

ots Originaltext: Atmel Corporation
Im Internet recherchierbar: http://www.presseportal.de

Contact:
Peter Bishop, Communications Manager, Atmel Rousset,
(+33)-(0)-4-42-53-61-50, peter.bishop@atmel.com, or Helen Perlegos,
Public Relations of Atmel, +1-408-487-2963, helen.perlegos@atmel.com