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Ultra-low Power Microcontroller Development Kits for Apollo MCUs Launched by Ambiq Micro
New microcontroller board evaluation kits offer rich toolset and features for extending battery life in products for the Internet of Things (IoT)
AUSTIN, Texas, November 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Ambiq Micro, a leader in ultra-low power integrated circuits, today announced a duo of
Apollo MCU evaluation kits to enable engineers to assess the capabilities and cutting-edge
low-power performance of the Apollo sub-threshold microcontroller: the 'Apollo EVB'
evaluation board and the 'Apollo EVK' evaluation kit.
Announced in January this year, the new suite of Apollo MCUs is based on the 32-bit
ARM(R) Cortex-M4 floating point microcontroller and redefines 'low power' with energy
consumption that is typically five to ten times lower than that of MCUs of comparable
performance. The dramatic reduction in energy consumption is achieved using Ambiq's
patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform and can enable
significantly longer battery life in wearable electronics and other battery-powered IoT
applications.
A key feature of the primary kit, the EVB evaluation board, is the integration of an
on-board hardware debugger together with a complete Software Development Kit (SDK). In
addition, the system also comes with FreeRTOS, all the necessary hardware drivers, plus a
wide selection of code examples to enable quick and effective hardware and software
evaluation, development, debug and prototyping.
The Eclipse based graphical software Integrated Design Environment (IDE) and the Open
On-chip (OpenOCD) debugger command-line terminal interfaces run without any external
modules or hardware. However, external support is available via a standard 10-pin ARM
connector for debugging with other third-party tools such as Keil, IAR, Segger or
Lauterbach. The baseboard's AM-Link mode also enables it to operate as a stand-alone
debugger for an external target/prototype system for in-circuit debugging. Also included
is a serial wire output (SWO) channel, which supports Instruction Trace Macrocell (ITM)
debug output information.
The EVB system can be powered via the single micro-USB cable from either a PC USB port
or via a DC adapter included in the kit, with further options for connecting to an
external battery or power supply. There is a choice of system operation at either 2.0V or
3.3V with selection via a jumper setting using the on-board voltage regulators or via the
external battery connector. Additionally, the board offers split power rails for the
Apollo MCU and expansion connector peripherals enabling individual power sources and
simultaneous current measurements on both rails.
The EVB has several on-board user interfaces including three user pushbuttons, an MCU
reset pushbutton, four user LEDs, and a serial-wire-debug activity LED. The baseboard also
includes four female expansion card connectors in individual 2x14 pin arrays, which also
function as header test points. The baseboard also features an additional right-angle 2x14
header connector for attaching smaller expansion cards.
The second kit, the Apollo EVK evaluation kit adds further functionality and comprises
the EVB board system plus add-on modules that include a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) add-on
card, and a Sensor Expansion Card.
The BLE card is based on Dialog Semiconductor's low power DA14581 and includes an
on-board 2.4GHz antenna. The Sensor Expansion Card comes pre-populated with a host of
different sensors including a number of three-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes and a
magnetometer, along with 128MB of serial Flash memory for storage of sensor data. This
modular board also allows additional radios and/or sensors to be added either via a
fly-lead approach or via alternate add-on boards.
The Apollo EVB evaluation board and Apollo EVK evaluation kit are available now at
prices of $249 and $299, respectively.
About Ambiq Micro - http://ambiqmicro.com/company-overview Â
Â
Media contactsÂ
Ambiq Micro [http://www.ambiqmicro.com ]Â
Mike Salas, +1-512-879-2854, msalas@ambiqmicro.comÂ
Publitek [http://www.publitek.com ]Â
Alexandra Sorton, +44-(0)1225-470-000, alexandra.sorton@publitek.comÂ
Â
Ambiq Micro
Ultra-low Power Microcontroller Development Kits for Apollo MCUs Launched by Ambiq Micro
New microcontroller board evaluation kits offer rich toolset and features for extending battery life in products for the Internet of Things (IoT)
AUSTIN, Texas, November 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Ambiq Micro, a leader in ultra-low power integrated circuits, today announced a duo of
Apollo MCU evaluation kits to enable engineers to assess the capabilities and cutting-edge
low-power performance of the Apollo sub-threshold microcontroller: the 'Apollo EVB'
evaluation board and the 'Apollo EVK' evaluation kit.
Announced in January this year, the new suite of Apollo MCUs is based on the 32-bit
ARM(R) Cortex-M4 floating point microcontroller and redefines 'low power' with energy
consumption that is typically five to ten times lower than that of MCUs of comparable
performance. The dramatic reduction in energy consumption is achieved using Ambiq's
patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform and can enable
significantly longer battery life in wearable electronics and other battery-powered IoT
applications.
A key feature of the primary kit, the EVB evaluation board, is the integration of an
on-board hardware debugger together with a complete Software Development Kit (SDK). In
addition, the system also comes with FreeRTOS, all the necessary hardware drivers, plus a
wide selection of code examples to enable quick and effective hardware and software
evaluation, development, debug and prototyping.
The Eclipse based graphical software Integrated Design Environment (IDE) and the Open
On-chip (OpenOCD) debugger command-line terminal interfaces run without any external
modules or hardware. However, external support is available via a standard 10-pin ARM
connector for debugging with other third-party tools such as Keil, IAR, Segger or
Lauterbach. The baseboard's AM-Link mode also enables it to operate as a stand-alone
debugger for an external target/prototype system for in-circuit debugging. Also included
is a serial wire output (SWO) channel, which supports Instruction Trace Macrocell (ITM)
debug output information.
The EVB system can be powered via the single micro-USB cable from either a PC USB port
or via a DC adapter included in the kit, with further options for connecting to an
external battery or power supply. There is a choice of system operation at either 2.0V or
3.3V with selection via a jumper setting using the on-board voltage regulators or via the
external battery connector. Additionally, the board offers split power rails for the
Apollo MCU and expansion connector peripherals enabling individual power sources and
simultaneous current measurements on both rails.
The EVB has several on-board user interfaces including three user pushbuttons, an MCU
reset pushbutton, four user LEDs, and a serial-wire-debug activity LED. The baseboard also
includes four female expansion card connectors in individual 2x14 pin arrays, which also
function as header test points. The baseboard also features an additional right-angle 2x14
header connector for attaching smaller expansion cards.
The second kit, the Apollo EVK evaluation kit adds further functionality and comprises
the EVB board system plus add-on modules that include a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) add-on
card, and a Sensor Expansion Card.
The BLE card is based on Dialog Semiconductor's low power DA14581 and includes an
on-board 2.4GHz antenna. The Sensor Expansion Card comes pre-populated with a host of
different sensors including a number of three-axis accelerometers and gyroscopes and a
magnetometer, along with 128MB of serial Flash memory for storage of sensor data. This
modular board also allows additional radios and/or sensors to be added either via a
fly-lead approach or via alternate add-on boards.
The Apollo EVB evaluation board and Apollo EVK evaluation kit are available now at
prices of $249 and $299, respectively.
About Ambiq Micro - http://ambiqmicro.com/company-overview Â
Â
Media contactsÂ
Ambiq Micro [http://www.ambiqmicro.com ]Â
Mike Salas, +1-512-879-2854, msalas@ambiqmicro.comÂ
Publitek [http://www.publitek.com ]Â
Alexandra Sorton, +44-(0)1225-470-000, alexandra.sorton@publitek.comÂ
Â
Ambiq Micro