Ambiq Micro Releases Apollo3 Blue with TurboSPOT™

Ambiq Micro extends its ultra-low power SPOT™ platform to battery-powered edge devices

News provided by

Ambiq Micro

Oct 22, 2018, 09:00 ET

AUSTIN, Oct. 22, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Ambiq Micro, the leader in ultra-low power solutions, today released the Apollo3 Blue Wireless SoC with integrated Bluetooth low energy (BLE5), updated peripherals, additional memory, an advanced DMA engine & TurboSPOT™. This new product extends the capabilities of Ambiq Micro's Apollo Blue family and is available now for battery and energy harvesting powered IoT, hearable, wearable & voice-activated edge devices.

The Apollo3 Blue's TurboSPOTTM brings groundbreaking levels of energy efficiency to mobile, battery powered devices by increasing the computational capabilities of the ARM Cortex M4F core to 96MHz while lowering the active power consumption to <6uA/MHz. An integrated DMA engine combined with the extra computing bandwidth gives designers the flexibility to add more complex sensor processing algorithms to their energy-sensitive products without sacrificing quality or battery life.

The Apollo3 Blue also provides a dedicated second core for the ultra-low power BLE5 connectivity platform providing superior RF throughput and leaving plenty of resources available for user applications. The radio performance and interoperability has already been proven to be reliable and robust in real-world consumer products which are currently shipping in massive volume. 

"Ambiq Micro's Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOTTM) platform continues to bring unprecedented levels of energy efficiency to algorithm providers, ODMs and OEMs," said Aaron Grassian, Ambiq Micro's Vice President of Marketing. "The Apollo family is already being used to bring neural networks to battery-powered hearables and remote controls with always-on voice assistant integration and commands. The Apollo3 Blue further solidifies Ambiq Micro's capabilities to add AI inference engines like voice and predictive sensory processing to ultra-low power edge devices."

For more information about Apollo3 Blue availability, evaluation boards, and the software development kit, please contact your local Ambiq Micro sales representative. 

Ambiq Micro Apollo3 Blue Specification Brief

Computing Engine

ARM Cortex M4F with FPU
DMA Engine

Effective active current

<6µA/MHz

MCU Clock

48 MHz nominal clock frequency, with 96 MHz TurboSPOT™ 

Flash / SRAM / Cache size

1MB / 384kB / 16kB

BLE Tx power

+4dBm

BLE Rx Sensitivity

-93dBm

Tx Current @ 0dBm

3mA @ 3.3Vdc

Rx Current @ -93dBm

3mA @ 3.3Vdc

Peripherals

I2C, dual QSPI, 14-bit ADC, PDM, I2S, Comparator,
temperature sensor

Operating Range

1.755-3.63 V, –40 to 85°C

Package Options

81-pin, 5 x 5mm BGA with 50 GPIO

66-pin, 3.37 x 3.25mm CSP with 37 GPIO

About Ambiq Micro 
Ambiq Micro was founded in 2010 on the simple yet powerful notion that extremely low power semiconductors are the key to the future of electronics. Through the use of its pioneering and patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT™) platform, innovative companies around the world are developing differentiated solutions that reduce or eliminate the need for batteries, lower overall system power, and maximize industrial design flexibility.

Contact :
Aaron Grassian
Ambiq Micro Vice President of Marketing
Email: [email protected] 
Tel: +1-512-917-4841

SOURCE Ambiq Micro