[En-Nut-Discussion] ATMEGA256 migration

[Jean Pierre Gauthier]

Nobody is interested by a migration to ATMEGA2561 ( 256K flash, pin to pin
compatible with ATMEGA128)?
No planned migration of Ethernut 1.x & 2.x boards to this processor? 
Jean Pierre



http://www.atmel.com/dyn/products/product_card.asp?part_id=3631



Atmel's New AVRs Bring Low Power Consumption to the High-End 8-Bit Flash
Microcontroller Market

Wednesday, March 09, 2005 8:00:00 AM ET

SAN JOSE, California, March 9 -- Atmel(R) Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), a
global leader in the development
and fabrication of advanced semiconductor solutions, announced today the
availability of five new high performance, low power AVR(R) Flash
microcontrollers. These new devices target applications requiring a large
code space and extensive interfacing capability, such as single-board
computers.


The ATmega640, ATmega1280 and ATmega2560 come in a 100-pin housing, while
the ATmega1281 and ATmega2561 has 64 pins. The devices feature 64 to 256
Kbytes of Flash program memory, and 8 Kbytes of on-chip RAM. With their
linear address range, up to 8 Megabyte, the AVR devices handle this amount
of
memory with no paging.


The new device family significantly reduces complete system chip count
requirements. The integrated 8 MHz RC oscillator can be calibrated to an
accuracy of +/-2%, thus avoiding the need for an external crystal in many
applications. A watchdog timer running from an independent RC oscillator,
and
a brown-out detector with programmable detection level is also included,
ensuring safe operation at minimum cost.


"The 1.8-volt operation and variety of low power modes, such as the 100
nA power down mode, significantly increases battery life in applications
requiring large amounts of code memory," said Odd Jostein Svendsli, Atmel's
AVR Marketing Manager. "The high C-code density of the AVR microcontrollers
further increases battery life by reducing the number of instructions, hence
the time and energy needed to perform each control task of the MCU," he
added.


The 100-pin versions include 4 UART channels, 16 Analog-to-Digital
Converter channels and 16 Pulse Width Modulation channels, while the 64-pin
devices integrate 2 UART channels, 8 Analog-to-Digital Converter channels
and
10 PWM channels. The devices have a maximum performance of 16 MIPS at 16
MHz,
delivering to the application a large potential of processing power when
needed.



ATmega2561 and ATmega2560 samples are available now. Production will
start in 3Q05.


ATmega640, ATmega1280 and ATmega1281 will be sampled in 2Q05 with volume
production in 4Q05.


The ATmega640, ATmega1280 and ATmega2560 come in a 100-pin housing, while
the ATmega1281 and ATmega2561 are available in a 64-pin package.


Pricing for 10,000 units starts at US$4.75 for the ATmega640, US$6.00 for
the ATmega1281, US$6.40 for the ATmega1280, US$7.50 for the ATmega2561 and
US$7.80 for the ATmega2560.



A complete development package is also available to help designers
develop their new applications. It includes evaluation and debug tools.


Combined with the STK(R)500 starter kit, the STK501 provide all the
necessary hardware to evaluate program and test the capabilities of the
ATmega1281 and ATmega2561; while for the ATmega640, ATmega1280 and
ATmega2560, the STK500 is associated to the STK503.


The JTAGICE mkII emulator supports the integrated on-chip debugging
module of these devices through the JTAG interface.


Pricing of the development tools is US$79 for the STK500, US$99 for the
STK501, and US$119 for the STK503. JTAGICE mkII is priced at US$299. All
tools are available now.