STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM), a global semiconductor leader serving customers across the spectrum of electronics applications, is expanding its STM32 ecosystem to support rapid development of its STM32U5 ultra-low-power microcontrollers.

STMicroelectronics (NYSE: STM) today announced the launch of an evaluation board along with new STM32Cube software packs and tools to accelerate development based on its latest STM32U5 microcontrollers (MCUs).

The STM32U5 is available now from authorized distributors and is ready for mass-market applications.

The STM32U575 and STM32U585 MCUs combine the enhanced performance and energy efficiency of the latest Arm® Cortex®-M33 core with innovative security and power-saving features. With up to 2MB of Flash memory on-chip, they are ideal for general applications such as activity trackers and smartwatches, as well as smart home equipment, utility meters, industrial sensing and signaling equipment, mobile point-of-sale (POS) terminals, insulin pumps, and smart connected consumer products such as glucose meters.

The STM32U5 series is the first STM32 MCU to leverage advanced 40nm process technology, delivering superior feature integration, memory density, dynamic power consumption, and standby power compared to competing devices. It also includes new power-saving features such as Low Power Background Autonomous Mode (LPBAM), which enables Direct Memory Access (DMA) and key peripheral operations without CPU intervention. The combination of an updated ST ART Accelerator™ and an optional DC/DC converter and low-dropout (LDO) regulator, along with the ability to turn off unused MCU memory, results in dynamic power consumption of less than 19μA/MHz.

The STM32CubeU5 support ecosystem for the STM32U5, available on ST.com and GitHub, provides software with over 200 project examples and helps exercise MCU features such as LPBAM, Wi-Fi®, and Bluetooth® Low-Energy (BLE). Support for OpenBootloader simplifies implementation of custom bootloader code. Azure RTOS, including ThreadX RTOS, as well as FreeRTOS and CMSIS OS wrappers ensure high performance and facilitate industrial certification. In addition, the X-CUBE-STL self-test library and functional safety documentation assist development of safety-critical applications and accelerate the path to IEC61508 SIL certification for STM32U5-based products.

A software package is also provided to simplify cybersecurity and help ensure compliance with industry best practices. It includes reference code for Secure Boot and Secure Firmware Update (SBSFU), as well as a Trusted Firmware (TF-M) example that leverages Arm's TrustZone® isolation capabilities within the core to implement security services for PSA Level 3 and SESIP Level 3 authentication. ST's industry-certified X-CUBE-CRYPTOLIB cryptographic library has been updated with a simplified API and additional cryptographic algorithms, and Secure Firmware Install (SFI) support protects customer firmware downloads. The software package works with the STM32U5's enhanced hardware-security features, which include enhanced protection against side-channel attacks, as well as internal monitoring for secret data deletion to meet Payment-Card Industry (PCI) requirements for POS applications.

Hardware kits for this new MCU are also available from www.st.com and distributors. These include the $65 Discovery Kit for IoT Node (B-U585I-IOT02A), which features MEMS context sensing and BLE and Wi-Fi modules. This board can connect directly to cloud services and has been adopted as a reference platform by Microsoft and Amazon.

The $23 NUCLEO-U575ZI-Q Nucleo 144 board provides a flexible launchpad for prototyping and allows unlimited expansion. A fully featured STM32U575I-EV emulation kit is available for $348.

STM32U5 MCUs start at $3.60 and are available in a variety of packages including 4.2mm x 3.95mm WLCSP, 7mm x 7mm UQFN48, and UFBGA169.