February 5, 2014, Seoul – STMicroelectronics (ST), a global semiconductor company contributing to customers across a wide range of electronic applications, has added new products to expand its ARM® Cortex™-M0-based STM32 F0 microcontroller family. The newly added models support crystal-less USB designs, precise sensing, and smart power management in next-generation smart devices and connectivity products.

The new STM32F0x2 line supports a combination of features rarely seen in other ARM Cortex-M0 devices. For example, it features a self-calibrated clock system that supports CAN and full-speed USB 2.0 controllers, simplifying the design and reducing external circuitry. Another USB feature is Battery-Charger Detection, which optimizes charging times for battery-powered devices in a more flexible manner, while Link Power Management improves system control to save energy. Separate power domains for analog and digital I/O support low-voltage operation, while accurate sensing of analog peripherals is possible within the high-voltage operating range.

"We have expanded the highly efficient STM32 F0 and significantly enhanced its functionality, and since the STM32 F1 Cortex-M3 series supports the widely used 8-bit and 16-bit ranges, costs are reduced," said Michel Buffa, General Manager of ST Microcontrollers. "The unique features of the new STM32 F0 microcontroller can be utilized in communication gateways, smart energy devices, Internet of Things applications, and consumer electronics such as smartphones and game consoles, enabling higher energy efficiency, lower costs, and improved accessibility and functionality."

The STM32F0x2 line is available in 20 to 100 pin packages or dies in TSSOP, LQFP, UFQFPN, UFBGA, WLCSP, and provides 16 to 128 kilobytes of flash memory.

ST has released dedicated development hardware, including evaluation boards and affordable discovery kits, to enable a rapid start to designs using these new microcontrollers. Full-speed USB device libraries can also be utilized effectively for development. This new product line is supported by CooCox CoIDE Free and Open ARM Cortex MCU development tools.