Atmel Corporation, a leader in microcontroller and touch technology solutions, today announced availability of an AVR microcontroller (MCU) with an RFID reader block and 16kBytes of in-system self-programmable Flash. Available in a 5 mm x 7 mm QFN package and operating in the low-frequency (LF) range at 100-150kHz, the Atmel ATA5505 is suitable for all kinds of LF Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK) RFID readers and programmers for access control, industrial automation and animal identification applications.

The ATA5505 makes building a complete reader an easy process requiring just a few external components and an antenna coil. Using the new device eliminates the need for expensive discrete components such as crystals, which are currently required with competitors' 2-chip RFID solutions.

Since the ATA5505 is the industry's only MCU that features full LF RFID reader functionality within a single package, the required printed circuit board (PCB) footprint is smaller than with competing solutions where the MCU and RFID reader are located in two different packages. In addition to entire readers, customers can also develop and manufacture very small, low-cost reference PCBs for various reader types.

The Atmel AVR MCU provides 512Byte SRAM, 512Byte EEPROM, 16 general-purpose I/O lines, 32 general-purpose working registers, one 8-bit timer/counter with compare modes, one 8-bit high-speed timer/counter, a universal serial interface (USI), a LIN controller, internal and external interrupts, a 11-channel 10-bit A/D converter, programmable watchdog timer with internal oscillator and three software-selectable power-saving modes. By executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, the device achieves throughputs approaching 1MIPS per MHz, balancing power consumption and processing speed.

Availability and Pricing

Samples are available now. Pricing for the ATA5505 in 10,000-piece quantities starts at US $2.61. A demo kit (ATA5505-EK1) in a USB form factor is also available to demonstrate the device with additional components. Gerber layout data is available on request. Customers can also develop their own code using standard tools such as AVR Studio available at http://www.atmel.com/avrstudio. By adding a WinAVR plug-in, designers can create a complete design environment including compiler, programmer and debugger software. The ATA5505-EK1 kit is available for USD $79.