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32-bit

Dual-core multi-protocol MCUs boost Bluetooth LE 5.0, Zigbee 3.0, Thread connectivity

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STMicroelectronics has expanded the STM32WB portfolio of dual-core multi-protocol microcontrollers (MCUs) by introducing the STM32WB35 and STM32WB30 Value Line, giving designers more flexibility to target cost-conscious market opportunities.

The extremely low-power MCUs integrate a 2.4GHz radio managed by a dedicated Arm Cortex-M0+ core, with a 64MHz Arm Cortex-M4 for the main application, to permit uninterrupted real-time performance. They support Bluetooth Low Energy 5.0, Zigbee 3.0, OpenThread (IEEE 802.15.4) protocols, and concurrent modes, with built-in security features. All stacks are fully certified, supported, and handled by ST and available free of charge. The new devices are suited to large-scale IoT applications such as fleet and resource management, as well as asset monitoring and tracking.

Packaged in QFN48, the new devices are pin-compatible with existing STM32WB5x devices and share common MCU features, giving users the flexibility to easily scale and migrate their designs. The MCUs integrate the radio balun, USB2.0 Full Speed device with crystal-less oscillator, embedded capacitors for 32MHz crystal, and DC/DC step-down converter to minimize the Bill of Materials (BoM) and platform footprint. Outstanding RF performance, with programmable output power up to +6dBm and with a 102dBm link budget, ensures reliable connectivity over longer distances, while ultra-low power consumption extends battery runtime.

All STM32WB products are supported in the market-proven STM32Cube ecosystem, an exhaustive software development suite offering a combination of embedded software libraries and software tools addressing all the needs of a complete project development cycle, thus ensuring a consistent user experience across the whole portfolio.

The STM32WB35 and STM32WB30 Value Line devices are available with up to 512 KBytes of integrated Flash memory and up to 96 KBytes of SRAM, with a Quad-SPI interface for connecting to external high-speed memory. They also provide a rich selection of analog peripherals, digital interfaces, and fast I/Os, many of which are 5V tolerant.

With a focus on security, the STM32WB MCUs integrate Secure firmware installation (SFI), hardware encryption for the application and radio stacks, hardware public-key Authority (PKA), hardware accelerators for state-of-the-art cryptographic algorithms, and support for secure Over-The-Air (OTA) firmware updates.

The STM32WB35 and STM32WB30 Value line are in production now, in the QFN48 package. Prices start from $1.57 for the STM32WB30CEU5A for orders in volume.

Display shield leverages 32-bit MCUs for HMI designs

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The new STM32 Nucleo display shield from STMicroelectronics leverages the affordability of STM32G0 microcontrollers (MCUs). The new X-NUCLEO- GFX01M1 SPI shield is supported in the latest TouchGFX software, version 4.15.0, which introduces additional new features including support for low-cost non-memory-mapped SPI Flash ICs.

Designing with STM32G0 and TouchGFX lets developers target a bill of materials as low as $5 to add a small graphical display to any project. Simple devices such as timers, controllers, and home appliances can thus offer a smartphone-like user experience.

The new X-Nucleo-GFX01M1 shield is supported by a new X-cube-display package that offers simple “hello world” example. The shield contains a 2.2-inch QVGA (320×240) SPI display, 64-Mbit SPI NOR Flash, and a joystick and is ready to use with various STM32 MCU development boards such as the NUCLEO-G071RB. The STM32G071RB is a mainstream Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU that integrates up to 128kBytes Flash, 36kBytes SRAM, extensive communication interfaces, analog peripherals, fast I/Os, hardware security ID, and a USB Type-C Power Delivery controller

The latest TouchGFX software builds on the TouchGFX Engine’s partial framebuffer, which can reduce the GUI RAM footprint by up to 90% and allow a simple user interface in as little as 16-20KB of internal MCU RAM. A new rendering algorithm enhances GUI performance by realizing partial screen updates in an optimized order to allow extra updates and avoid visually distracting tearing effects. Also new, support for non-memory-mapped SPI Flash allows more complex GUIs to use low-cost off-chip storage for memory-hungry graphics assets such as images and fonts.

To ease user-interface prototyping, an optimized application template for the STM32G071 Nucleo board and display kit is available in TouchGFX Designer. It is also possible to introduce an RTOS to the setup if required and use TouchGFX Generator to change to other hardware.

All elements are available now, including the X-cube-display package and TouchGFX 4.15.0 with code examples for running the G071RB. The X-NUCLEO- GFX01M1 and STM32G0 products are in mass production and available through the normal ST distribution channels.

In addition, a new graph widget simplifies showing sequential data using lines, bars, area plots, histograms, or combined visualizations. The widget works smoothly with any STM32 MCU and developers can customize aspects such as colors and layout using TouchGFX Designer.

Also new in TouchGFX 4.15.0, full out-of-the-box support for the STM32H725 lets developers run microprocessor-class graphics on ST’s Cortex-M7 MCUs. With 550MHz core frequency, ST’s Chrom-ART Accelerator™ for faster graphics performance, an Octal-SPI interface for high-speed connections to external Flash and RAM, and an XGA TFT-LCD controller, the STM32H725 is the new graphics flagship for the STM32 family. TouchGFX Designer contains sample source code and a demonstration video is available here.

MCUs target IoT apps with crypto engine capability

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Renesas Electronics Corporation announced the expansion of its RA6 Series microcontrollers (MCUs) with nine new RA6M4 Group MCUs, increasing the RA Family to 42 MCUs. These 32-bit MCUs boost operating performance up to 200 MHz using the Arm Cortex-M33 core based on Armv8-M architecture with Arm TrustZone technology. The RA6M4 MCUs deliver optimized performance together with leading-edge security and connectivity supported by the easy-to-use Flexible Software Package (FSP). In addition, the Renesas partner ecosystem offers software and hardware building blocks that work out-of-the-box with RA6M4 MCUs and FSP to address Industrial 4.0, building automation, metering, healthcare, and home appliance applications.

With strong security, rich connectivity, large embedded RAM with parity/ECC, low power consumption, and leverage of the Arm developer and tools ecosystem, the RA6M4 MCUs speed the development of intelligent IoT edge and endpoint devices. Renesas’ enhanced Secure Crypto Engine delivers excellent security solutions, incorporating multiple symmetric and asymmetric cryptography accelerators, advanced key management, security lifecycle management, tamper detection, and increased resistance to side-channel attack, in addition to Arm TrustZone technology. These integrated security features make the RA6M4 MCUs the ideal choice for connected applications and enable customers to realize lower BOM cost and secure element functionality in all their IoT designs.

Built on a highly efficient 40nm process, the RA6M4 MCUs drive power consumption down to 99uA/MHz while running the CoreMark algorithm from flash. The MCUs also support fast wake-up times of 30 µs from standby using a high-performance on-chip oscillator. Their high integration up to 1MB code flash memory and 256 KB of SRAM (64 KB with ECC) also make the RA6M4 MCUs well suited for low power and safety applications.

Key Features of the RA6M4 Group include: 200 MHz Arm Cortex-M33 with TrustZone technology; Renesas’ Secure Crypto Engine as part of a full security solution; Scalable from 64-pin to 144-pin LQFP packages; Ethernet controller with DMA; Capacitive touch sensing unit; USB 2.0 Full Speed and CAN; QuadSPI and OctaSPI memory interface, and advanced analog; SCI (UART, Simple SPI, Simple I2C), and SPI/ I2C multi-master interface; SDHI and SSI (Serial Sound Interface)

The RA6M4 with Flexible Software Package (FSP) allows customers to re-use their legacy code and combine it with software from partners across the vast Arm ecosystem to speed the implementation of complex connectivity and security functions. The FSP includes FreeRTOS and middleware, offering a premium device-to-cloud option for developers. These out-of-box options can be easily replaced and expanded with any other RTOS or middleware.

The FSP provides a host of efficiency-enhancing tools for developing projects targeting the RA6M4 MCUs. The e2 studio Integrated Development Environment provides a familiar development cockpit from which the key steps of project creation, module selection and configuration, code development, code generation, and debugging are all managed. FSP uses a GUI to simplify the process and dramatically accelerate the development process.

The RA6M4 MCUs are available now from Renesas’ worldwide distributors.

Extended-temperature ethernet PHY transceiver targets aero, military apps

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Aircraft, military vehicles, and ground-based systems that rely on intelligence, information, and secure connectivity to support mission success are enabled by enhanced technology designed to operate in extreme temperatures and environmental events. Microchip Technology Inc. announced its new VSC8540/41ET Gigabit Ethernet PHY RMII / RGMII Transceiver – a Commercial Off-The-Shelf (COTS)-based device upgraded for avionics and military applications.

Based on its COTS technology deployed in other industries, Microchip’s Gigabit Ethernet Physical Layer (PHY) transceiver features a military-grade, high-reliability (HiRel) plastic package that meets requirements for applications ranging from fighting vehicles to cockpit avionics and in-flight communication systems. The VSC8541ET Ethernet transceiver is a solution with Reduced Gigabit Media Independent Interface (RGMII) and GMII, and also supports RMII and MII Megabit interface. The transceiver is latch-up immune to atmospheric radiation effects while performing at a temperature range of –55 to 125 degrees Celsius. Product specifications include wafer and assembly lot full traceability; description of testing, electrical parameters and fault coverage; qualification report; and certificate of compliance.

As COTS-based technology, Microchip’s Ethernet PHY RMII / RGMII transceiver allows system designers to begin implementation with COTS devices before moving to military-grade components, reducing significant development time and cost.

Microchip’s RMII / RGMII transceiver is the latest high-reliability solution designed for extreme environments, building on the company’s aerospace and defense product portfolio. The device complements the company’s extended-temperature product offering that includes the following qualified devices:

  • 8-bit AVR microcontrollers with embedded ADC/DAC, Controller Area Network (CAN), and motor control interfaces
  • 16-bit dsPIC digital signal controller for digital power management
  • 32-bit ARM microcontroller with memory protection mechanisms and 100 Mbit Ethernet connectivity
  • 200 Megasamples Per Second (Msps) standalone 16-bit ADC

While continuing to introduce innovations including those based on COTS technology, Microchip teams with system manufacturers and integrators on obsolescence management, supporting customers’ efforts to minimize redesign work and lengthen life cycles, thereby reducing overall system costs.

Availability

The VSC8540/41ET Gigabit Ethernet PHY RMII / RGMII transceiver in a plastic or ceramic package is now sampling.

GUI development toolkit runs on 32-bit Linux MPUs

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 Microchip Technology Inc. announced a new GUI development toolkit for its portfolio of 32-bit microprocessors (MPUs) running Linux, helping designers of industrial, medical, consumer and automotive graphical displays to reduce development cost and time-to-market.

Microchip’s new Ensemble Graphics Toolkit is a free and open-source C++ GUI suite for the company’s SAMA5 and SAM9 series of Arm Cortex-A5 and ARM926EJ-S processor-based MPUs including the system-in-package and system-on-module products. The Ensemble Graphics Toolkit is optimized for Microchip’s 32-bit MPUs running the Linux operating system. By taking advantage of underlying hardware acceleration, including graphics controllers and video decoders when available, the toolkit provides a high-performance user experience on low and mid-range graphical displays up to XGA (1024 × 768 pixels) resolution.

Optimized code allows a smaller memory footprint, saving BOM cost. The efficient performance relative to other graphics solutions that rely on higher-performance cores and 3D graphical acceleration allows rich GUIs to be created for Microchip’s power-efficient MPUs. In addition, Ensemble Graphics Toolkit and Linux can be optimized for fast cold boot – with boot times of under three seconds from cold reset that is required for applications such as automotive dashboard clusters.

Microchip’s Ensemble Graphics Toolkit suite is available without licensing or royalty fees to all developers of graphical interfaces. The Ensemble Graphics Toolkit is complementary to Microchip’s bare metal/RTOS-focused MPLABÒ Harmony Graphics Suite embedded software development framework that also provides a zero-cost, royalty-free graphical user experience.

The toolkit is fully integrated with Linux4SAM, Microchip’s mainline, Long Term Support (LTS) Linux offering. In addition to supporting Microchip’s MPU families Linux4SAM contains driver support for a broad range of its components including the maXTouchÒ family of touchscreen controllers, memory devices, power management and analog devices and wired and wireless networking components and modules. Linux4SAM is regularly updated and supports all Microchip MPUs throughout product life.

Pricing

Microchip’s Ensemble Graphics Toolkit is available at no cost and royalty free for all users and includes full support from Microchip. It is based on the permissive Apache 2.0 open-source license.

Dev kit helps develop AI apps on STM MCUs

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RUTDevKit-STM32L5The first development kit developed by Rutronik, the RUTDevKit-STM32L5, is a complete solution for AI-based applications running on an MCU platform.

The kit enables hardware and firmware developers to deliver proof-of-concepts within a short space of time. The focus here is firmly on security and data protection, short latency periods, low energy consumption and adequate storage resources.

Data generated by (I)IoT ((Industrial) Internet of Things) devices are increasingly evaluated on MCU platforms within the application or close to the MCU-based embedded system. This is particularly the case in industrial environments, whether for security reasons or because of the required latency periods. When it comes to implementing this Edge AI or Edge Intelligence (EI), Rutronik now offers a unique development kit that contains all the necessary components. Every single module is from the Rutronik product portfolio, while the complete BOM is available at www.rutronik.com/development-kit

The RUTDevKit-STM32L5 is based on the ultra-low-power high-performance microcontroller STM32L562ZET6Q, which operates at 110MHz. Its 32bit RISC-Core Arm Cortex-M33 with Arm TrustZone offers hardware based security features that ensure data security of the EI application during the inference phase. Thanks to Arm TrustZone, one core provides two independent processing environments: A protected one for cyber protection and sensitive code, and an unprotected one for the execution of untrusted code. Further, Arm TrustZone also supports Secure Boot, thereby enabling secure read and write protection for the integrated memory (64Mbit PSRAM and 128Mbit NOR flash) and cryptography acceleration. Arm TrustZone can also include I/O ports, a peripheral function and flash or SRAM regions. The Octo SPI interface to PSRAM and the Quad SPI interface to the NOR flash memory along with the fast A/D converter of the microcontroller support short latency periods.

In addition to the microcontroller memory, the RUTDevKit-STM32L5 facilitates use of an SD card with several GB as well as a protected area to securely store both raw data and inference data of the AI model.

Equipped with CAN FD and RS485 interface, the kit enables fast transmission of large amounts of data.

The USB-C power supply features Protection IC, and low power functions can be tested with a battery. Additionally, there is the on-board ST-LINK V2 debugger/programmer as well as Arduino interfaces for supplementary boards, such as an Anybus communication module that enables products to communicate via all common field buses and on Industrial Ethernet networks, e.g. EtherCat.

The kit also includes software and sample firmware, including a TrustZone demo, a test mode demo for CAN FD, an RS485 Modbus demo, a USB power supply, and tamper detection demo, and a dual bank flash bootloader demo.

Power-efficient 32-bit MCU with Arm Cortex-M0+ processor integrates liquid crystal driver

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Seiko Epson Corporation has developed a new power-efficient flash microcontroller unit (MCU) with an ARM Corte -M0+ processor. The S1C31W65 is the latest addition to the popular S1C31W series of single-chip MCUs with an integrated liquid crystal driver. It is the first multipurpose microcontroller to support a segment liquid crystal display driver.

Industrial equipment and consumer electronics are increasingly IoT-enabled systems hosting a multitude of functions. They require high-performance processing while still maintaining low current consumption. To meet these market requirements, Epson has leveraged its low-leakage and low-current consumption technologies and used Arm Cortex-M0+ processors to expand and upgrade the S1C31 family of MCUs, which offer high performance yet consume minimal current.

The S1C31W65, operating at up to 33 MHz, delivers the highest performance in the S1C31 family. It consumes just 0.3 µA in sleep mode and operates at 130 µA/MHz. In addition, Epson leveraged its signature display driving technology to provide an LCD driver that can drive up to 416 segments. The bias power supply necessary for driving a liquid crystal panel can be generated by the internal power supply circuit, so display quality is not affected by the remaining battery power. In addition, drive voltage is software adjusted. The MCU supports LCD contrast adjustment and liquid crystal panels with different voltages.

The S1C31W65 has a host of peripheral circuits, including various timers, a real-time clock (RTC), R/F converter4, A/D converter, and a temperature sensor. It supports operating temperatures up to 105℃ and operating voltages ranging between 1.8 V and 5.5 V, making it ideal for industrial equipment and for consumer electronics that require sensing.

Key features

  1. A large number of built-in circuits that simultaneously help customers add more functions to their products while reducing the number of parts
    • Self-programmable flash memory
    • Liquid crystal driver with integrated power supply circuit
    • Real-time clock
    • Supply voltage detector (SVD) circuit that does not require an external power supply supervisor
    • R/F converter, A/D converter, temperature sensor/reference voltage generator circuit
    • Universal port multiplexer (UPMUX): I/O pin assignments changed with software
  2. Usable under a wide range of environmental conditions
    • Operating voltage range: 1.8 V to 5.5 V
    • Operating temperature range: -40℃ to 105℃
    • High-speed operation up to 33 MHz
    • Boot clock startup as fast as 2 µs5
    • Low-power 32.768 kHz crystal oscillator / 32 kHz built-in oscillation circuit

ARM-Cortex-M software modules cover security, voice-user interface, graphics

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Renesas Electronics Corporation (TSE:6723), a supplier of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced the second phase of new ready to use partner solutions supporting the Renesas RA Family of 32-bit Arm Cortex-M microcontrollers (MCUs).

Building off the first group of partners introduced in November 2019, the expanded RA partner ecosystem now features more than 50 partners and more than 30 out-of-the-box solutions representing a wide range of enabling technologies, including options for security, voice user interface, graphics, machine learning, and cloud. Each new partner building block solution is labelled with an RA READY badge indicating it is designed to solve real-world customer problems. Renesas will continue to strengthen the RA partner ecosystem with new partners and new out-of-the-box solutions.

“As designers juggle rapidly changing IoT design requirements with shrinking project timelines and budgets, the flexible platform design approach is key as it offers out-of-the-box building block options that allow designers to move forward quickly and with confidence,” said Kaushal Vora, director of Strategic Partnerships & Global Ecosystem at Renesas. “We are excited with the collaboration started with our ecosystem partners last November, and we continue to invest in the ecosystem, offering our customers additional options to develop and bring their innovative IoT solutions to market quickly and reliably.”

Lineup of Latest Ready to Use RA Partner Solutions Immediately Available:

  • Arm Pelion IoT Platform is a flexible, secure and efficient foundation for connectivity, device and data management. It accelerates time to value for IoT deployments, enabling organizations to easily connect trusted IoT devices on global networks, seamlessly manage them and extract real-time data to drive competitive advantage.
  • The Renesas RA Ali Cloud solution for Alibaba Cloud uses the RA6M3 MCU and connects via Wi-Fi/Ethernet to Ali Cloud Web Services. It provides an ideal evaluation environment for developers and serves as a strong foundation for IoT device development.
  • AltoBeam provides Wi-Fi chips or modules featuring integrated 802.11b/g/n WLAN SoC with SDIO interface (SDIO2.0 compliant) to enable easy cloud connectivity for IoT edge devices. The module works out-of-box with RA MCUs.
  • Clarinox licenses Bluetooth, Bluetooth Low Energy and Wi-Fi protocol stacks for the Renesas RA6 MCUs. The award-winning design of ClarinoxBlue and ClarinoxWiFi, coupled with the innovative ClariFi debugger and reference applications, simplifies product development and ongoing product maintenance.
  • CS Lab provides a proven, certified BACnet stack for RA MCUs targeted for building automation applications.
  • DSP Concepts’ TalkTo audio front end and Sensory’s Truly Handsfree Speech Recognition solution set is the perfect combination for local voice activation and control. It is optimized for the RA6M3 MCU to ensure low MIPS and memory consumption and enable best-in-class voice-activated products.
  • EPS Global is one of the world’s largest programming and secure provisioning service providers now supporting the RA Family of MCUs. Customers can seamlessly access an EPS Global network of secure programming centers in the Americas, EMEA, Asia and India to service low-volume prototype quantities up to high-volume IC programming at competitive price points.
  • Hex-Five’s MultiZone Security provides quick and safe way to add security and separation to Renesas Cortex-M-based MCUs. The MultiZone Trusted Execution Environment can retrofit existing applications without the need for any hardware or software redesign.
  • IAR Embedded Workbench from IAR Systems is a complete development toolchain providing powerful code optimizations and comprehensive debugging features in an easy-to-use integrated development environment. The C-Trust security development tool adds IP protection and production control.
  • Pachira Voice Recognition solution delivers an offline wake-up command trigger with fast response time and voice playback support. Integrated DSP (Fortemedia) features beamforming, noise immunity, and echo cancelation with the RA MCUs.
  • Percepio’s world-class visual trace diagnostics tools for embedded systems and IoT devices now support the RA Family of MCUs and is suitable both for development labs and for monitoring devices in the field.
  • Qeexo AutoML is a fully automated, end-to-end platform that empowers users to collect, clean, and visualize data to build machine learning models for comparison. Solutions built with Queexo AutoML are optimized to have ultra-low latency, ultra-low power consumption, and an incredibly small memory footprint. A selected model can be deployed to target embedded hardware with just one click.
  • Qt from The Qt Company is the world’s leading independent graphics toolkit and application framework for building GUI applications on embedded devices. Qt helps customers deliver smartphone-like UI/UX with its designer and developer tools, which support collaborative product development.
  • The Security from Inception Suite by Secure Thingz provides companies with a straightforward way of building the right level of security for their application needs throughout the development, manufacturing, and product management process.
  • SmartAxiom software manages and secures IoT devices through a patented, lite blockchain technology running among devices at the edge of the Internet and enabling them to defend themselves. Now deployed on Renesas MCUs and microprocessors, SmartAxiom has uniquely created the first true endpoint-to-cloud blockchain solution.
  • GUILIANI from TES Electronic Solutions is a powerful, yet easy-to-use modern object-orientated and customizable software to create stylish GUIs quickly, with support from quality design services.
  • Toshiba Digital Solutions provides the RECAIUS voice recognition software solution for user pre-defined trigger word detection suitable for constrained edge devices.
  • wolfSSL’s embedded SSL/TLS library is designed to offer optimal embedded performance and rapid integration into the RA Family of MCUs. The integration allows users to leverage hardware crypto solutions, while supporting the most current standards.

Availability

Renesas’ latest RA MCU partner solution packs are available now. Each solution pack typically includes a 2-page partner brief, short introductory solution video, and technical documentation.

For more information on the Renesas RA partner ecosystem and the newest available RA MCU partner solutions, please visit renesas.com/ra-partners.

 

 

Software function pack helps deploy intelligent edge devices for industrial condition monitoring

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STM32 software function packSTMicroelectronics has released a free STM32 software function pack that lets users quickly build, train, and deploy intelligent edge devices for industrial condition monitoring using a microcontroller Discovery kit.

Developed in conjunction with machine-learning expert and ST Authorized Partner Cartesiam, the FP-AI-NANOEDG1 software pack contains all the necessary drivers, middleware, documentation, and sample code to capture sensor data, integrate, and run Cartesiam’s NanoEdge libraries. Users without specialist AI skills can quickly create and export custom machine-learning libraries for their applications using Cartesiam’s NanoEdge™ AI Studio tool running on a Windows 10 or Ubuntu PC. The function pack simplifies complete prototyping and validation free of charge on STM32 development boards, before deploying on customer hardware where standard Cartesiam fees apply.

The straightforward methodology established with Cartesiam uses industrial-grade sensors on-board a Discovery kit such as the STM32L562E-DK to capture vibration data from the monitored equipment both in normal operating modes and under induced abnormal conditions. Software to configure and acquire sensor data is included in the function pack. NanoEdge AI Studio analyzes the benchmark data and selects pre-compiled algorithms from over 500 million possible combinations to create optimized libraries for training and inference. The function-pack software provides stubs for the libraries that can be easily replaced for simple embedding in the application. Once deployed, the device can learn the normal pattern of the operating mode locally during the initial installation phase as well as during the lifetime of the equipment, as the function pack permits switching between learning and monitoring modes.

Using the Discovery kit to acquire data, generate, train, and monitor the solution, leveraging free tools and software, and the support of the STM32 ecosystem, developers can quickly create a proof-of-concept model at low cost and easily port the application to other STM32 microcontrollers. As an intelligent edge device, unlike alternatives that rely on AI in the cloud, the solution allows equipment owners greater control over potentially sensitive information by processing machine data on the local device.

The FP-AI-NANOEDG1 function pack is available now at www.st.com, free of charge.
The STM32L562E-DK Discovery kit contains an STM32L562QEI6QU ultra-low-power microcontroller, an iNEMO™ 3D accelerometer and 3D gyroscope, as well as two MEMS microphones, a 240×240 color TFT-LCD module, and on-board STLINK-V3E debugger/programmer. The budgetary price for the Discovery kit is $76.00, and it is available from www.st.com or distributors.

New software development tools speed STM32 projects

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STM32Cube software-development toolSTMicroelectronics has released enhancements to the STM32Cube software-development ecosystem, letting users more easily filter and choose software examples, gather and apply development tools, and customize, use, and share STM32Cube Expansion Packages.

The updates introduce new features in the MCU configuration and project setup tool (STM32CubeMX version 6.0) and the STM32CubeIDE v1.4 multi-OS C/C++ development platform. Both tools now allow direct access to the latest STM32Cube MCU and Expansion Packages that contain software useful to run STM32® devices and peripherals, as well as external components such as sensors or connectivity. Also, users can now start their projects directly from any of the large number of software examples, which are easy to browse using the tools.

The STM32Cube MCU Packages dedicated to specific products and series contain peripheral drivers, middleware, application examples, and Board Support Packages (BSPs) that can help exercise device features and peripherals. STM32Cube Expansion Packages can be implemented by ST or third parties, allowing flexibility to include new features such as a BSP or middleware while maintaining the integrity of the STM32Cube ecosystem.

With a powerful new utility in STM32CubeMX 6.0 called STM32PackCreator, users can now create and share their own STM32Cube Expansion Packages. STM32PackCreator guides users through expansion-pack development and helps ensure all packages created are enhanced to be opened and configured in STM32CubeMX and STM32CubeIDE tools.

STM32CubeMX version 6.0 now also helps users find all development tools available in the STM32Cube ecosystem, as well as other ST design tools such as AlgoBuilder, the graphical algorithm-design tool for STM32 microcontrollers and MEMS sensors, and ST-MC-SUITE for motor control. In addition, users can launch STM32PackCreator and eDesignSuite, which helps design associated system functions including signal conditioning, power conversion, and RF circuitry, from within STM32CubeMX 6.0.

A series of short video tutorials available within STM32CubeMX version 6.0 helps users take full advantage of the tool and learn more about the new features.

All elements of the STM32Cube ecosystem including tools and embedded software components are available free of charge. For more information and to download the latest releases, please visit www.st.com/stm32cube.