Atmel Announces Three Low-Power tinyAVR Microcontrollers With High-Speed Timers

San Jose, California, November 1 (ots/PRNewswire) -

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today three new
20-pin tinyAVR(R) Flash microcontroller devices with high-speed
timers targeting battery chargers, sensor end-points and motor
control applications.

The devices are pin-compatible, differing only in the size of
their Flash, EEPROM and SRAM memories. The ATtiny261 has 2 Kbytes of
self-programmable Flash memory, whereas the ATtiny461 and ATtiny861
have 4 Kbytes and 8 Kbytes, respectively. All devices deliver 20 MIPS
throughput when running at 20 MHz.

"The ATtiny26 has been very successful and offered an unrivalled
combination of processing power, analog performance and high-speed
timers. We have updated this device with the latest AVR(R) features
and increased processing speed while decreasing power consumption.
The new ATtiny261 operates down to 1.8 volts. It also has enhanced
interface options and a unique on-chip temperature sensor," said
Jukka Eskelinen, Marketing Director for tinyAVR products. "The
ATtiny461 and ATtiny861 offer a migration path to customers who run
out of code space with the ATtiny261," he added.

The internal 8 MHz RC oscillator and the on-chip PLL run the
10-bit timer/counter at up to 64 MHz. The high-speed timer/counter
with three independent PWM generators and programmable dead times
make the devices ideal for battery chargers, battery monitoring,
power monitoring and motor-control applications.

All devices have internal EEPROM, pull-up resistors, an internal 8
MHz precision oscillator and 12 general I/O pins for application use.
Alternatively, the I/O pins work as ADC inputs or PWM (Pulse Width
Modulation) outputs.

Commonly used microcontroller peripherals are all integrated. The
ATtiny261/461/861 devices include a Universal Serial Interface (USI),
which can be easily configured to work as an SPI, UART or TWI.
Advanced analog capabilities, such as built-in temperature
measurement, a fast analog comparator and a programmable analog gain
amplifier, allow highly-integrated designs with a small price tag. A
total of eleven 10-bit A/D converter input channels allow a wide
selection of peripherals to be connected in sensor and control
applications, and the internal temperature sensor allows reliable
system parameter calibration.

The ATtiny261/461/861 excels in battery-powered equipment due to
inherently low power consumption and individually-selectable
low-power sleep modes. A balance between system performance and power
consumption is achieved by directly controlling the system clock
frequency. Additional power saving is achieved by selectively turning
off timers, the serial interface, and/or ADCs when not in use. As a
result, the power consumption of the device in 1.8V active mode at 1
MHz is less than 400 uA and in power-down mode just a few uA.

Price and Availability

Complete evaluation and debug tools are available for the tinyAVR
microcontrollers. The STK(R)500 and STK505 starter kits are available
at US$79 each and offer all the necessary hardware to evaluate
programs and test the capabilities of the ATtiny261, ATtiny461 and
ATtiny861.

Samples of ATtiny261, ATtiny461 and ATtiny861 are available in
20-pin SOIC and PDIP and 32-pad QFN packages. All three devices are
in volume production. Volume prices for 10k units are US$0.80,
US$0.90 and US$1.15, respectively.

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, Atmel ICs can be found Everywhere
You Are(R).

NOTE: Atmel(R), logo and combinations thereof, Everywhere You
Are(R), AVR(R), tinyAVR(R) and others, are registered trademarks, or
trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and
product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:

Atmel's ATtiny261, ATtiny461 and ATtiny861 product information may
be retrieved at
http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/devices.asp?family_id=607 -791

For further information on tinyAVR family, go to
http://www.atmel.com/products/avr/ .

Press Contacts:
Philippe Faure, Marketing Communications Manager -- Microcontrollers
Phone: +33-2-40-18-18-87, Email: philippe.faure@nto.atmel.com
Helen Perlegos, Public Relations -- USA and Asia Pacific Rim
Phone: +1-408 487-2963, Email: hperlegos@atmel.com
Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications Manager -- Europe
Phone: +33-1-30-60-70-68, Fax: +49-71-31-67-24-23
Email: veronique.sablereau@atmel.com

Web site: http://www.atmel.com

ots Originaltext: Atmel Corporation
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Contact:
Philippe Faure, Marketing Communications Manager - Microcontrollers,
+33-2-40-18-18-87, or philippe.faure@nto.atmel.com, or Helen
Perlegos, Corporate PR - USA and Asia, +1-408-451-2855, or
hperlegos@atmel.com, or Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications
Manager - Europe, +33-1-30-60-70-68, fax, +49-71-31-67-24-23, or
veronique.sablereau@atmel.com, all of Atmel Corporation