The new microcontroller families are based on the Arm® Cortex®-M23 core, with SAM L11, which integrates Arm TrustZone® for Armv8-M, a programmable environment that provides hardware isolation between certified libraries, intellectual property, and application code. Microchip offers robust security by including chip-level tamper resistance, secure boot, and secure key storage. All of this, together with TrustZone technology, protects customer applications against remote and physical attacks.
Both microcontroller families achieve the lowest power consumption on the market, along with best-in-class capacitive touch sensing, water resistance, and noise immunity. When its power consumption was evaluated, the SAM L10 received a ULPMark™ score of 405, which is more than 200 percent higher than the performance of the closest competitor certified by the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC®). Microchip utilizes its proprietary picoPower® technology to achieve the lowest power consumption on the market in both active and all sleep modes.
In addition to TrustZone technology, the SAM L11's security features include a cryptographic module compatible with AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), GCM (Galois Counter Mode), and SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm). Secure boot and secure key storage are also included
Tamper detection capabilities build trust in the hardware, as well as providing a secure bootloader for secure firmware updates.
Microchip has signed an agreement with Trustonic, a member of Microchip's Security Design Partner Program, to offer a comprehensive security solution that simplifies security implementation and enables customers to bring end products to market faster. Microchip has also partnered with Secure Thingz and Data I/O Corporation to provide secure delivery services to SAM L11 customers within a proven security environment.
Both microcontroller families include Microchip's latest-generation Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) for capacitive touch capabilities. Designers can easily add touch interfaces that provide a remarkably pleasant and efficient user experience, even in humid and noisy environments, while maintaining low power consumption. The touch interface makes these devices ideal for a wide range of applications in automotive, home appliances, medical, and user interface design.
The SAM L10 (DM320204) and SAM L11 (DM320205) Xplained Pro evaluation kits are now available for $58.00 each to expedite initial development. All SAM L10/L11 microcontrollers are supported by the Atmel Studio 7 Integrated Development Environment (IDE), IAR Embedded Workbench, Arm Keil® MDK, and Atmel START, a free online tool for configuring peripherals and software to accelerate development. START also supports TrustZone technology for configuring and deploying secure applications. A powerful debugging and data analysis tool is also available for real-time monitoring and analysis of power consumption, as well as for fine-tuning power consumption on the fly based on application needs. Microchip’s QTouch® Modular Library, 2D Touch Surface Library, and QTouch Configurator are also available to facilitate the development of touch solutions.
The SAM L10 and SAM L11 devices are now available with various pin count and package options for volume production.
