Happy Gecko ARM M0-based USB MCUs from Si Labs
Source: Gecko
Silicon Labs is producing ARM M0-based USB-enabled MCUs called Happy Gecko which aim to lower USB power drain and simplify USB connectivity.
Adding USB interfaces to portable, battery-powered connected devices can double the application current consumption, says Silicon Labs.
Happy Gecko USB MCUs have five energy modes enabling applications to remain in an energy-optimal state by spending as little time as possible in active mode.
In deep-sleep mode, Happy Gecko MCUs have 0.9 μA standby current consumption (with a 32.768 kHz RTC, RAM/CPU state retention, brown-out detector and power-on-reset circuitry active).
Active-mode power consumption drops down to 130 µA/MHz at 24 MHz with real-world code (prime number algorithm). The USB MCUs further reduce power consumption with a 2-microsecond wakeup time from standby mode.
Like all EFM32 MCUs, the Happy Gecko family includes the six-channel Peripheral Reflex System (PRS) feature, which monitors complex system-level events and allows different MCU peripherals to communicate autonomously with each other without CPU intervention.
The PRS watches for specific events to occur before waking the CPU, thereby keeping the Cortex-M0+ core in an energy-saving standby mode as long as possible, reducing system power consumption and extending battery life.
Peripherals include an analogue comparator, supply voltage comparator, on-chip temperature sensor, programmable current digital-to-analog converter (IDAC), and a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with 350 μA current consumption at a 1 MHz sample rate. On-chip AES encryption enables the secure deployment of wireless connectivity for IoT applications such as smart meters and wireless sensor networks.
The Happy Gecko family eliminates external discretes like crystals and regulators with a crystal-less architecture featuring a full-speed USB PHY, an on-chip regulator and resistors. Happy Gecko MCUs are available QFN, QFP and chip-scale package (CSP) options small enough for use in USB connectors and thin-form-factor wearable designs.
The Happy Gecko family is supported by Silicon Labs’ Simplicity Studio development platform, which helps developers simplify low-energy design. The Simplicity Energy Profiler enables real-time energy profiling and debugging of code. The Simplicity Battery Estimator calculates expected battery life based on an application profile, energy modes and peripherals in use. The Simplicity Configurator provides a visual interface for MCU pin configuration, automatically generating initialisation code. Code developed for other EFM32 MCUs can be reused with Happy Gecko applications.
To help developers move rapidly from design idea to final product, the Happy Gecko family is supported by the ARM mbed ecosystem, which includes new power management APIs developed by Silicon Labs and ARM. These low-power mbed APIs are designed with low-energy application scenarios in mind, enabling rapid prototyping for energy-constrained IoT designs. ARM mbed APIs running on EFM32 MCUs automatically enable the optimal sleep mode based on the MCU peripherals in use, dramatically reducing system-level energy consumption. The Happy Gecko starter kit supports ARM mbed right out of the box. Silicon Labs has also launched mbed API support for Leopard, Giant, Wonder and Zero Gecko MCUs.
The Happy Gecko family includes 20 MCU devices providing an array of memory, package and peripheral options, as well as pin and software compatibility with Silicon Labs’ entire EFM32 MCU portfolio. Samples and production quantities of Happy Gecko MCUs are available now in 24-pin and 32-pin QFN, 48-pin QFP and 3 mm x 2.9 mm CSP packages. Happy Gecko MCU pricing in 10,000-unit quantities begins at $0.83 (USD). The Happy Gecko SLSTK3400A starter kit is available now and priced at $29 (USD MSRP).
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