Atmel Extends CAP Family of Customizable Microcontrollers With ARM7-based Product

Colorado Springs, Colorado (ots/PRNewswire) -

- CAP7 Integrates FPGA Logic, Cuts IC Costs by Over 50%

Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today that it has
extended its CAP family of customizable microcontroller-based
System-on-a-Chip products with an ARM7 core. The new CAP7
customizable microcontroller is architecturally compatible with
Atmel's broad range of off-the-shelf ARM7-based MCUs and incorporates
metal programmable cell fabric (MPCF) technology to integrate up to
450K equivalent ASIC gates in a metal programmable block for custom
logic netlist conversion. Atmel's flexible design flow allows an easy
conversion path from FPGA netlist to the metal programmable block.

According to Atmel's marketing director, Jay Johnson, "Design
engineers frequently use programmable ICs to accelerate their
proprietary DSP algorithms in a gate array technology. Many choose
FPGAs which represent a flexible, cost-effective solution for
market-testing new products, when volumes cannot be predicted.
However, once production ramp begins and controlling bill of
materials is a priority, our CAP7 customizable MCUs offer a painless
cost reduction path, without the typical NRE and long development
cycle associated with a standard cell ASIC."

By eliminating an external FPGA, Atmel's customizable
microcontrollers can reduce IC costs by at least 50%. For example, in
medium volumes (50K units), a 1 to 2M gate FPGA and ARM7 MCU, 2-chip
solution, market price is between US$13 and US$20. With unit prices
under US$6, CAP7 can cut the cost by more than half. In addition,
with an 80MHz CAP7, designers can double performance and reduce power
consumption by 90%, compared to 1 to 2 watt FPGA solutions.

Available for ARM7-based Designs. The initial CAP7 product release
includes the AT91CAP7S, based on the ARM7TDMI(R) processor core. The
AT91CAP7S has 160K bytes of on-chip fast SRAM and either a 250K or
450K block of metal programmable ASIC gates. Peripherals include USB
device, SPI master and slave, two USARTs, three 16-bit timer
counters, an 8-channel, 10-bit analog to digital converter, and a
full complement of supervisory functions. Additional peripherals from
Atmel's extensive IP library or customer IP may be instantiated in
the MP block.

Availability and Pricing. There is a one-time charge of US$150,000
for design, mask fees, and prototypes. The CAP7 is available now for
design. The AT91CAP7S250 in a 144 pin LQFP package is priced at
US$5.44 for 50K unit quantities.

About MPCF. The MPCF technology offers the density and unit costs
of cell-based ASICs with the quick turn around and low NREs of gate
arrays. The key to the MPCF technology is an 8 transistor core cell
that is only 3.2 um high and 2.0 um wide in Atmel's 130nm process,
achieving densities up to 210,000 usable gates per square millimeter
which is 35% more available gates than sea-of-gates technology.

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) 2007 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), logo
and combinations thereof, and others, are registered trademarks, or
trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. ARM(R),
ARM7TDMI(R) and others are registered trademarks or trademarks of ARM
Ltd. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:
Atmel's AT91CAP product information may be retrieved at:
http://www.atmel.com/products/AT91CAP/
Press Contacts:
Barbara Bailey, Marketing Communications Manager - USA
Phone: +1-719-540-1895, Email: bbailey@cso.atmel.com
Peter Bishop, Communications Manager, Atmel Rousset, France
Phone: +33-(0)-4-42-53-61-50, Email: peter.bishop@rfo.atmel.com
Veronique Sablereau, Corporate Communications Manager - Europe
Phone: +33-1-30-60-70-68, Email: veronique.sablereau@atmel.com

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

ots Originaltext: Atmel Corporation
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Contact:
Barbara Bailey, Marketing Communications Manager - USA,
+1-719-540-1895, bbailey@cso.atmel.com, or Peter Bishop,
Communications Manager, Atmel Rousset, France, +33-(0)-4-42-53-61-50,
peter.bishop@rfo.atmel.com, or Veronique Sablereau, Corporate
Communications Manager - Europe, +33-1-30-60-70-68,
veronique.sablereau@atmel.com, all of Atmel Corporation