Tiny microcontrollers improve code efficiency

The ATtiny102 and ATtiny104 microcontrollers from Atmel are in stock at Mouser Electronics. Part of Atmel's new AVR Tiny portfolio, these small 8bit devices are optimised for applications that require performance, power efficiency and ease of use in a small package.

The low-power CMOS microcontrollers are based on the Atmel AVR-enhanced RISC architecture. The AVR core combines a rich instruction set with 16 general-purpose working registers directly connected to the arithmetic logic unit, which streamlines instructions in a single clock cycle. By executing powerful instructions in a single cycle, the devices achieve throughputs close to 1MIPS/MHz (up to 12MIPS), enabling system designers to optimise power consumption versus processing speed.

The ATtiny102/104 devices replace the discrete components previously used to perform simple intelligent functions such as timing, motor control and on/off functionality. At the same time, the devices provide more capabilities than discrete components and integrate powerful features in a small, low-pincount package with just 1kbyte of flash memory.

The devices include self-programming for firmware upgrades, non-volatile data storage, an accurate internal oscillator to provide more reliable motor control, and high-speed serial communication with USART. They operate via voltages between 1.8V and 5.5V, include a 10bit analogue-to-digital converter with internal voltage references, and offer sleep currents at less than 100nA in power-down mode with SRAM retention.

The ATtiny104 is supported by the Atmel ATtiny104 Xplained Nano evaluation kit, also available from Mouser Electronics. The Xplained Nano uses Atmel's development ecosystem, including Atmel Studio 7, an integrated development environment that assists designers with coding, building, simulating, programming and debugging applications for Atmel microcontrollers.

The ATtiny102/104 devices integrate features previously available only in larger microcontrollers, making them suitable for smaller applications including logic replacement and the latest cost-optimised roles in industrial, home automation, LED lighting, fan control and personal healthcare.