STMicroelectronics Announces Volume Production of STM8L Ultra-Low-Power Microcontrollers Enabling Smarter Energy-Saving Designs

GENEVA, May 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a world leader in microcontrollers, has announced full production of the STM8L ultra low-power microcontroller family. Unveiled in late 2009, the new family features EnergyLite™ technology to minimize power consumption in all operating modes.

Ultra-low-power microcontrollers meet the fast growing demand for energy efficiency, helping designers to extend the lifetime of battery-operated products and to reduce energy consumption in applications such as smart meters and domestic appliances. Common power-saving techniques include sleep modes and shutting off unused parts of the chip, but ST's EnergyLite technology also saves power when the device is active. This helps designers meet energy efficiency targets such as ENERGY STAR 80 Plus, the international program that promotes more energy-efficient power supplies, as well as standby-power limits such as the IEA's 1-Watt Plan.

The STM8L EnergyLite microcontrollers now available comprise three product lines featuring ST's advanced 8-bit processor core, which has an advanced architecture delivering high performance and efficiency. The STM8L101 line defines the entry point for the STM8L family, providing up to 8Kbyte of integrated non-volatile Flash memory and offering a choice of 20-pin, 28-pin and 32-pin low-cost, low-footprint packages.

The STM8L151 and STM8L152 lines add extra features including up to 32Kbytes Flash density and up to 2Kbytes SRAM, external crystal/clock capability, enhanced reset features, and support for Direct Memory Access (DMA). Available peripherals include a motor-control timer, analog functions, real-time clock, and high-speed ADC and DAC modules. In addition, on-chip EEPROM with true Read While Write (RWW) capability saves complex and expensive emulation in Flash. The STM8L152 adds to these features by also integrating an LCD controller.

Family pricing starts with the STM8L101 4-Kbyte Flash version in QFN20 3x3mm low-profile packages at $0.61 in quantities of 10,000. Further pricing options are available for larger quantities.

About EnergyLite technology:

ST's ultra-low-power EnergyLite technology is based on a dedicated, proprietary 130nm process, which is optimized for ultra-low leakage current. This significantly improves efficiency throughout static and dynamic modes, providing a low-power foundation for other energy-saving innovations. In addition, low-power embedded non-volatile (Flash) memory also helps reduce the energy consumed whenever the microcontroller is powered up. The Flash memory can also be turned off independently, to achieve a further significant reduction in microcontroller power consumption

An on-chip regulator ensures that power consumption is independent of the supply voltage, which allows designers to optimize the system power architecture without increasing the microcontroller's consumption. At the same time, EnergyLite technology permits the CPU to operate up to its maximum frequency throughout the entire supply voltage range from 1.65V to 3.6V. Integrated analog peripherals, also, are fully functional down to 1.8V, which can save the additional cost and power overhead to provide a separate analog supply.

Like other ultra low-power devices, EnergyLite microcontrollers also make full use of clock gating to prevent unused peripherals consuming power. There are also multiple power-management modes including a 5.1 microamp Low-Power Run mode, 3.0-microamp Low-Power Wait mode, 1.2-microamp Active Halt with full Real-Time Clock (0.9 microamp with Automatic Wake-Up (AWU) and 350-nanoamp Halt mode. The device can wake from Halt within 4 microseconds, enabling frequent use of the lowest-power mode. Low-power peripherals including the sub 1-microamp Real-Time Clock and Automatic Wake-Up (AWU) unlock further savings.

The combined effect of the EnergyLite innovations, covering chip fabrication, voltage/frequency regulation, and power management, allow the STM8L family to achieve dynamic current consumption as low as 150 microamps per MHz.

About STMicroelectronics

STMicroelectronics is a global leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications with innovative semiconductor solutions. ST aims to be the undisputed leader in multimedia convergence and power applications leveraging its vast array of technologies, design expertise and combination of intellectual property portfolio, strategic partnerships and manufacturing strength. In 2009, the Company's net revenues were $8.51 billion. Further information on ST can be found at www.st.com. 

EnergyLite is a trademark of STMicroelectronics.

SOURCE STMicroelectronics