Atmel Introduces a Low Cost USB OTG Development Platform

Atmel Introduces a Low Cost USB OTG Development Platform

New $30 Board and Software Stacks Make USB Projects Easy With Atmel 8-bit AVR Microcontrollers

Nantes, France, July 19th, 2006. . . Atmel® Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the release of a complete USB solution for embedded systems consisting of the AT90USBKey demonstration board – available for only $30 and a new royalty-free USB software suite supporting Dual Role Device (DRD), USB Host or Function. This platform allows fast and easy development with the AT90USB AVR® microcontroller family.

Reduce complexity and cost. The USB’s bus is replacing the UART in an increasing number of embedded systems. Existing development tools are often based on 32-bit processors or embedded PCs, which require large system memories and an operating system (OS). By offering a complete development platform based on the market-leading AVR 8-bit RISC architecture, Atmel offers a standalone platform that does not require an OS to facilitate the quick development of new applications with USB. Atmel’s $30 platform is 10 to 1000 times less expensive than other solutions.

A low-cost and powerful kit. The AT90USBKey connects to a PC without the need of an external power supply for USB device developments. It can also be powered by an external battery for host/OTG developments. The on-board AT90USB1287 AVR Microcontroller features 128 Kbytes of Flash code memory that can be reprogrammed in-system and high-end debugging is allowed with a JTAG connection. The AT90USBKey gives access to all the AVR general-purpose IOs and peripherals: UART, SPI, TWI, Timers, PWM, ADC, etc.

The kit also provides 16 Mbytes of DataFlash® demonstrating mass storage applications and containing reference software and documentation. On-board joystick and LEDs allows interaction with the user. Cables and adapters are also included to connect to a variety of USB and OTG devices.

Complete set of royalty-free USB stacks. The following USB standard device classes are supported today in both device and host modes: Human Interface Device (HID), Mass Storage Device (MSD) and Device Firmware Upgrade (DFU). The Communication Device Class (CDC) and the Audio class are supported in device mode while their host mode support is in development. Printer and Hub classes will be supported in 2007. Composite devices with multiple interfaces are already supported in host mode and in device mode.

As an example, the total program code for a DFU, MSD and HID host and device with file management fits in only 24 Kbytes, leaving a large portion of the Flash memory available to support other application needs.

The USB software suite is written in C language with online documentation and HTML documents to accelerate customer development and help with code maintenance and quality. It allows direct compilation with the IAR® C compiler and with the WinAVR GCC-based compiler.

Atmel grants customers a license to use the source code for development on Atmel microcontrollers and to distribute the object code without royalties only for Atmel microcontrollers.

Pricing and Availability

The AT90USBKey is available now from Atmel distributors at $30 per unit. The software is free-of-charge and is available for customers qualifying with Atmel limited license agreement.

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