Microchip SAM D5x and SAM E5x ARM Cortex-M4 Micro-Controllers Launched with Optional Ethernet and CAN Bus

Microchip has just introduced two new families of micro-controllers based on ARM Cortex-M4F with SAM D5x and SAM E5x series sporting up to 1 MB of dual-panel flash and 256 KB of SRAM both with ECC support. Both families also support QSPI flash with XIP (eXecute In Place) support, features an SD card controller and a capacitive touch controller, with SAM E5x family also adding support for two CAN-FD ports and Ethernet.

Microchip SAM A5x/E5x key features and specifications:

MCU Core – ARM Cortex-M4F core running at 120 MHz with single precision Floating Point Unit (FPU)
Memory – Internal memory architecture with user configurable Tightly Coupled Memory, System memory, Memory Protection Unit and 4KB Combined I-cache and D-cache; up to 256KB ECC SRAM, up to 1MB ECC flash
Storage I/F – Quad Serial Peripheral Interface(QSPI) with Execute in Place (XIP) Support
Peripherals
- Up to 2x Secure Digital Host Controller (SDHC)
- Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) supporting up to 256 channels of capacitive touch
- Full speed USB with embedded Host/device
- Dual 1Msps 12-bit ADCs up to 32 channels with offset and gain error compensation.
- Dual 1Msps, 12-bit DAC and analog comparator
- Up to 8x Serial communication (SERCOM) ports configurable as UART/USART, ISO 7816, SPI or I²C
- SAM E5x series only:
  - 10/100M Ethernet MAC with IEEE1588 (E53/E54)
  - Dual Bosch CAN-FD 1.0 Controller (E51/E54)
Security – Symmetric (AES) and Asymmetric(ECC) Encryption, Public Key Exchange Support (PUKCC), TRNG and SHA- based memory integrity checker
Power Modes – Supports 5 Low power modes with 65µA/MHz Active Power Performance
Packages – 48 to 128-pin package options
Temperature Range – -40°C to 85°C

Some SAMD5x SKUs are pin-to-pin compatible ARM Cortex M0+ based SAMD2X MCU, so you can easily upgrade existing design with a more powerful MCU core. There only one main “sub-family” with SAMD5x: SAMD51, but SAME5x has three sub-families depending on Ethernet and CAN options:

SAME51 – 2x CAN-FD
SAME53 – Ethernet MAC
SAME54 – 2x CAN-FD and Ethernet MAC

Microchip has used the higher end version of SAME54 processor in SAM E54 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit in order to help customer kick-start development as soon as possible. Key features for ATSAME54-XPRO board:

MCU – Microchip ATSAME54P20A microcontroller
Storage – 256 Mbit QSPI Flash, SD/SDIO card connector, AT24MAC402 serial EEPROM with EUI-48 MAC address
Connectivity – 10/100M Ethernet (RJ45) via KSZ8091RNA PHY
USB – micro USB interface, host, and device
Expansion
- Parallel Capture Controller header (ArduCAM compatible)
- CAN connector
- Three Xplained Pro extension headers
Debugging
- 10-pin Cortex Debug Connector with SWD
- 20-pin Cortex Debug + ETM Connector with SWD and four bit trace
- Embedded Debugger
- Embedded current measurement circuitry (XAM)
Security – Microchip ATECC508 CryptoAuthentication device
Misc – 1x reset button, 1x programmable button, 1x QTouch PTC button, 1x yellow user LED, backup super capacitor, 32.768 kHz & 12 MHz crystals
Power Supply – 5V via micro USB port

The board and all Atmel SAMD5x / E5x processor are supported by Atmel Studio 7 IDE, and Atmel START online tool to configure peripherals and software.

Microchip SAM D5x and SAM E5x are in available in volume production, with pricing starting at $2.43 for 10K orders. SAM E54 Xplained Pro Evaluation Kit is available for $84.99. Adafruit is also working on – likely cheaper – SAMD51 based Feather M4 and Metro M4 boards that will support Arduino (See github for current code).

More details can be found on SAM D and SAM E MCU product pages.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.