XMEGA Series Of AVR

Processor

Presented by:Manisha Biyani (200601217)

Shashank Bolia (200601200

Existing Microcontrollers

Problems with 8/16 bit microcontrollers:

Old and inefficient architecture.

Most were developed before the breakthrough of

HLL such as C.

CPUs lack 16-bit arithmetic support, conditional

jumps and memory pointers.

Require several clock cycles per instruction limiting

the available MIPS at a given frequency.

Lack of support for the large memory sizes required

in today’s applications.

Existing Microcontrollers

Problems with 32 bit Microcontrollers:

Increase in speed and reduction in size of

digital logic was attained but at a cost of

static power consumption.

For many critical applications a transition

from 8/16 bit to 32-bit is not possible.

High cost !!

Why XMEGA?

Extreme

peripherals

Exceptional

Performance

Extended

picoPower

XMEGA

Why XMEGA ?

AVR XMEGA includes:2nd generation of picoPower technology

Innovative Event System for fast and CPU-independent inter-peripheral communication

100% predictable timing

4-channel DMA Controller boosts MCU performance

Memory Lock Bits

Fast 12-bit ADC and DAC

Fast Cryptography support for AES and DES

Availability and Pricing

picoPower Technology

The XMEGA consumes only 0.35 mA/MHz in active mode and offers true 1.6 V operation including all analog modules, oscillators, and Flash and EEPROM programming.

Using the 2nd generation of picoPower™ technology, the XMEGA consumes only 100 nA with RAM data retention and wake-up interrupts enabled.

When running a real time counter (RTC) from an external 32-kHz crystal it consumes an industry low 0.65 µA.

XMEGA MCUs run a Real-Time Counter, Watchdog Timer and Brown-out Detector with only 2 μA current consumption.

Overall, it cuts power and processing requirement by 98%

Durability of XMEGA

Microcontroller

Event System

Like a reflex in the human body the innovative XMEGA Event System enables inter-peripheral communication without CPU or DMA usage.

Events are routed between peripherals through a dedicated network outside the CPU, data bus and DMA controller.

The Event System enables the possibility for a change of state in one peripheral to automatically trigger actions in other peripherals.

Event System

Inter-peripheral communication without CPU or DMA usage.

XMEGA Event System

Event System avoids latency and saves

even more MIPS

8 Event Channels allows for up to 8

signals to be routed at the same time

100% predictable timing between

peripherals

Useful for real time application

XMEGA Event System

CPU active time is reduced by 98%

Direct Memory Access (DMA)

The DMA Controller allows high-speed transfers with minimal CPU intervention from one memory area to another

from memory area to peripheral

from peripheral to memory area

from peripheral to another peripheral

The four DMA Channels have separate transfer triggers

interrupt vectors

addressing modes

Error Detection: DMA can detect any erroneous data transfer.

Direct Memory Access (DMA)

The XMEGA Microcontroller is one of the few 8/16-bit

MCUs on the market with DMA

The DMA can transmit from1 byte to 16 Mbytes in a

single transfer. The large data transfer size is possible

due to the simple linear data memory address space in

the AVR, and auto increment/decrement and reload

features in the DMA controller.

By cutting the amount of cycles dedicated to

transferring data, the DMA controller has the added

benefit of cutting XMEGA power consumption by

allowing the CPU to spend more time in sleep mode.

Comparison of UART transfer speeds with

and without DMA controller

Comparison of cycle usage time and

current consumption in different modes

Direct Memory Access (DMA)

CPU usage v/s communication rate with and without DMA

ADC/DAC

XMEGA features high-speed two12-bit analog peripherals for high analog accuracy.

Capable of up to 2 Msps, XMEGA’s ADCs deliver the fastest sample rate and most accurate result compared to conventional MCUs.

XMEGA also features two 12-bit digital-to-analog converters (DAC) with up to 1 Msps and four advanced analog comparators, XMEGA microcontrollers have leading analog integration.

Hence, integrated 64x gain stage increases the dynamic range to 18-bits.

ADC/DAC

Event or Interrupt on conversion complete:

This feature will only give interrupts on the

conversion complete when the result is below or

above a certain limit.

So if we are not interested in results above for

instance 1V, we will not bother the CPU with them

either.

The DAC can give two outputs even when

only using one module.

Crypto Engine

Many wireless applications need secure high

bandwidth transmissions. With additional low-

power constraints, software based encryption

implementations fail both the bandwidth and the

power requirements. AVR XMEGA effectively

solves these problems. The XMEGA crypto engine

supports both Advanced Encryption Standard

(AES) and Data Encryption Standard (DES).

AES/DES

AES uses: 128 byte data block

128 byte key

DES uses 8 byte data block

8 byte key

AVR XMEGA is the only solution for highbandwidth encrypted data communication inlong life battery powered applications, like tollroad tags, wireless sensor nodes and ZigBee.

Memory Lock bits

Application Section for application code

Separate lock bits and protection and lock

bits for all section

Built in fast CRC check of a selectable flash

program memory section

Non-volatile Memory(NVM) spaces can be

locked for further W and R-W operations.

This prevents unrestricted access to the

application software.

Compatibility

100% pin- and code-compatible

All AVR XMEGA MCUs are pin- and 100%

code-compatible across all devices. With

XMEGA developers only need to keep and

maintain one code base that can be used and

re-used across multiple projects.

XMEGA uses the same instruction set as

existing AVR products, and code can easily

be reused

Compilers and development tools platforms

are same for all AVR Microcontrollers

Compatibility

Applications

AVR XMEGA microcontrollers are the perfect solution for a wide range of applications:

Industrial control

ZigBee®

HVAC

Optical transceivers

Climate control

Power tools

Wireless encryption

Medical applications

Hand-held battery

Sensors

Networking

Alarm systems

Applications

Extensive peripherals on the XMEGA microcontrollers support sensor-rich, communication-intensive, real-time applications

Many of the wireless applications we are using are prone to poachers. Any adversary can read and modify the data that is transferred through this wireless stream. Now XMEGA provides an extra layer of encryption which helps in preventing the malicious access to the data.

Time critical real-time and interrupt driven applications become safer, more responsive, and predictable with XMEGA.

With multiple time bases, extreme communication bandwidth and special features like Cryptography support, XMEGA is number one for demanding 8- and 16-bit embedded applications. At the same time XMEGA’s 2nd generation picoPower™ technology is the best choice for battery operated and energy critical applications.

From the Makers of XMEGA…

“…It is a great advantage for most 8- and 16-bit applications to avoid moving to a 32-bit MCU. By adding innovative features and high-end peripherals, and conserving CPU cycles, the XMEGA 8/16-bit MCU achieves the necessary system performance while preserving low power characteristics and user friendliness...”

“…We realized, after looking at a wide range of customer designs, that the majority of CPU cycles are spent handling interrupts and moving data. This realization meant that there was great potential to free up a significant amount of processing power by simply rethinking how various events are handled in the MCU. XMEGA micro-controllers are designed to revolutionize system performance, with lower power consumption…”.

References

XMEGA Microcontroller manual

http://www.atmel.com/products/AVR/default_xmeg

a.asp?source=ece_xmega

http://ece-news.stc-

d.de/microsite/atmel/xmega.html

http://embedded-system.net/atmel-avr-xmega-

microcontrollers.html