Semiwiki on LinkedIn Semiwiki on Facebook Semiwiki on Twitter Register / Log in 
Array
(
    [content] => 
    [params] => Array
        (
            [0] => /forum/threads/a-new-mcu-vendor-ambiq-micro.5356/
        )

    [addOns] => Array
        (
            [DL6/MLTP] => 13
            [Hampel/TimeZoneDebug] => 1000070
            [SV/ChangePostDate] => 2010200
            [SemiWiki/Newsletter] => 1000010
            [SemiWiki/WPMenu] => 1000010
            [SemiWiki/XPressExtend] => 1000010
            [ThemeHouse/XLink] => 1000970
            [ThemeHouse/XPress] => 1010570
            [XF] => 2021770
            [XFI] => 1050270
        )

    [wordpress] => /var/www/html
)

A new MCU vendor: Ambiq Micro

D

Don Dingee

Moderator
Fresh off a $15M Series C funding round from Kleiner Perkins in November, Ambiq Micro has hit the ground running today with their first microcontroller products based on their Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT). SPOT uses standard CMOS with transition voltages less than 0.5V, a proven process from Ambiq's family of real-time clocks.

The new Apollo family of MCUs is based on the ARM Cortex-M4F core running up to 24 MHz. They have up to 512 kB FLASH and 64 kB RAM, along with a 13 channel 10-bit ADC capable of 1MS/sec. Peripherals include I2C/SPI and UART ports, and a temperature sensor is integrated. Packages are a 64-pin 4.5x4.5mm BGA with 50 GPIO pins, and a 42-pin 2.4x.2.77mm CSP with reduced GPIO pins. Sampling is underway, with production expected 1H2015. 10K+ volume pricing is from $1.50.
View attachment 12991
Ambiq is claiming typical power consumption 5 to 10 times lower than comparable MCUs, based on the subthreshold process. They cite 30uA/MHz operating power running from flash, and sleep mode as low as 100 nA. The ARM Cortex-M4F features a floating point unit, which might be handy for tasks like sensor fusion. Subthreshold parts will be an interesting trend to watch.

For more information, visit the press release:

Ambiq Micro’s Apollo microcontrollers redefine ‘low power’ with up to 10x reduction in energy consumption
 
Very interesting mcu. Great power consumption and performance. Little light on the peripherials but it's just 1st version. And if this work under stress, what's more interesting is their design method and their platform(spot) hinting that we're going to see kind of designs in many types of chips - which could open many opportunities to semi designers and to hardware products(and engineers) in general.
 
Is the"30uA/MHz" spec is calculated with a Vdd of 0.5V or the typical battery voltage of 3V? In other words, is it 15uW/MHz or 90uW/MHz?
 
That does beg an interesting question about subthreshold parts in general. I checked the data brief, Vdd is 1.8 to 3.8V. Somewhere there must be an internal stepdown to get to the 0.5V logic levels. I have not checked their white paper to see if they explore that further. I strongly suspect the efficiency quoted is in terms of external draw.
 
It made sense if we would consider semicon energy consumption is one of the main contributors for global warming. Last year 2014 was hottest year in the record, most probably because we had the great iphone 6, Core M and etc.
Besides sub threshold swing variation limits the scalability for the tech available on the mass production market.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top