Energy Micro, the energy friendly microcontroller and radio company, has announced the availability of a development kit supporting their ARM® Cortex™-M3-based EFM32 Giant Gecko microcontrollers. Referenced EFM32GG-DK3750 and priced at $349, the kit provides users with full J-Trace and J-Link support plus access to the Giant Gecko´s low energy features including a backup power domain, optional USB connectivity and TFT display drivers, and a 400nA energy mode.

The development kit features a 10x10 BGA112 packaged Giant Gecko microcontroller, and includes a 320x240 resistive touch color TFT display, 16MB NOR-Flash and 4MB PSRAM, MicroSD card support, audio I/O, I2S DAC, a USB port, connectors for an integrated Low Energy UART and a 10/100 Mbit/s SPI based MAC/PHY. A host of user switches, LEDs, 5-axis joystick, and debug and trace plugs are provided, with SEGGER J-Trace and J-Link available via the USB interface which also powers the kit.

40 different EFM32 Giant Gecko configurations are now available in 9 different package options, including a new small form factor 7x7mm BGA120. The MCU family supports speeds up to 48MHz and offers up to 1024KB Flash and 128KB RAM memory. Pin and code compatible with the EFM32 Gecko and Tiny Gecko microcontrollers families, Giant Gecko can demonstrate an energy usage a quarter of that of alternative 8-, 16-, or 32-bit microcontrollers.

The development kit’s display is driven by Giant Gecko´s built-in TFT driver which handles updates without CPU intervention. Its USB driver supports fourteen 2KB buffered end points and OTG protocol. A separate backup power domain prevents data loss in battery operated applications. Additional low energy peripherals include LESENSE for autonomous control of up to 16 sensors, three on-chip op amps, and a 400nA sleep mode with RTC and USB wake-up support.

"The kit is ideal for the development of applications for portable health and fitness equipment and smart accessories," said Andreas Koller, VP of World-Wide Sales and Marketing at Energy Micro. "EFM32 Giant Gecko users can very quickly design state-of-the-art, energy efficient Cortex-M3 applications without the need for additional debuggers or tools. With the built in J-Trace functionality the kit represents real value for money."

Equipped with Gecko technology, EFM32 microcontrollers are capable of an active current consumption of only 160uA/MHz, Deep Sleep Modes with RTC running at only 400nA and a 20nA shut off mode with GPIO wake-up, with a wake-up time from sleep modes of only 2us.