Sitara AM2x MCU family, flash-based
Provides more than 10 times the computing performance compared to an MCU
'800MHz × 4' performance with less than 1W of power consumption


As requirements for industrial automation, next-generation automobiles, intelligent analytics, and connectivity become increasingly strong, there is a growing demand for fast and accurate MCUs at the edge.

Texas Instruments (TI) announced on the 15th the launch of a family of high-performance MCUs that enhances the performance of real-time control, networking, and analytics applications at the edge. With the 'Sitara AM2x' MCU family, which narrows the gap with increasingly high-performance processors, engineers can achieve 10 times the computing performance compared to existing flash-based MCUs.

Based on high-performance Arm® MCU cores, the Sitara AM2x MCU family consists of single-core and multi-core products running at speeds up to 1 GHz and integrates with specialized peripherals and accelerators. This facilitates the implementation of high-performance processing. It supports various tools and software to streamline evaluation tasks and reduce design complexity.

Mike Pienovi, General Manager of TI Sitara MCU Business Unit, said at an online conference held on the 15th, “Many designers want higher performance for precise control, fast communication, and complex analysis, while also wanting to lower system costs.”

He stated, “The TI Sitara AM2x MCU family combines high-performance processing, real-time control, and enhanced networking to help overcome performance limitations in industrial applications.”

◇ AM243x, 800MHz × 4 performance with less than 1W power consumption

The AM243x MCU products, the first to be released in Sitara’s AM2x portfolio, feature up to four Arm Cortex®-R5F cores. Each core runs at up to 800 MHz for factory automation equipment such as robots. The MCU’s fast execution speed and internal memory increase the precision and speed of robot operations, leading to improved productivity.

By leveraging processing power to add analytical capabilities for purposes such as preemptive maintenance, factory downtime can also be reduced. Since this can be achieved with an effective power consumption of less than 1W in typical applications, factory operators can scale power resources, reduce power and operating costs for factory operations, and lower carbon emissions.

◇ Implementation of real-time control and networking at the edge

The Sitara AM243x MCU integrates peripheral functions for sensing and actuators, enabling low-latency real-time processing and control for factory automation. It also simplifies industrial networking through a communication accelerator. It supports multiple Gigabit Industrial Ethernet protocols as well as Time Sensitive Network (TSN), enabling next-generation factory networks.

By utilizing certified protocol stacks available directly from TI with the AM243x, engineers can support EtherNet/IP™, EtherCAT®, PROFINET®, IO-Link Master, and others, and meet evolving industrial communication standards.

It supports the latest encryption with on-chip security features and includes functional safety mechanisms and diagnostic functions. Customers can easily obtain certification up to Safety Integrity Level (SIL) 3 of the IEC 61508 standard with their industrial designs.

TI provides the Sitara AM243x LaunchPad™ development kit to assist engineers with their design and development work. Using this kit and the Sitara MCU+ software framework, precise real-time control and networking functions can be executed immediately with the AM243x MCU. In addition, TI supports numerous application-specific reference designs, various tools and software from partners, and the MCU+ Academy training portal.

We are currently supplying pre-production versions of the AM2431, AM2432, and AM2434 products in 17×17mm or 11×11mm packages. Prices start at $6.05 per unit in 1,000-unit quantities. The AM243x Launchpad development kit is available for purchase at $89.