Institute of Embedded Systems, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Personalizes CAP for UWB Applications

Rousset, France, September 5, 2008¡­Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML), and the Institute of Embedded Systems (InES), Zurich University of Applied Sciences, announced today the availability of an Ultra Wideband (UWB) transceiver that InES has implemented by personalizing Atmel¡¯s AT91CAP9S Customizable Microcontroller. The CAP implements the logic of the UWB Media Access Controller (MAC) in its metal programmable block, driven by software running on the embedded ARM926EJ-S processor.

Hans-Joachim Gelke, InES Microelectronics Project Leader, commented, ¡°The porting of an UWB MAC onto Atmel¡¯s CAP is an excellent example of the collaboration between our Institute and industrial partners in order to bring advanced applications of embedded systems to the marketplace. We are working with a lead partner in order to industrialize this system, and are now able to offer the IP to others who wish to use the CAP as a platform for an UWB application.¡±

Michel Le Lan, Atmel¡¯s ASIC Marketing Director, added, ¡°The CAP UWB implementation shows how our customizable microcontroller can be rapidly adapted to complex tasks like Ultra Wideband media access control. UWB is an emerging technology that is ideal for many applications, in particular in the medical field, where its resistance to interference and ability to penetrate obstacles, together with its high bandwidth, make it the medium of choice for the next generation of wireless medical imaging and similar equipment. The medium volumes of projects like these make CAP the best choice in terms of price/performance. CAP costs much less per unit and consumes far less energy than an equivalent MCU-plus-FPGA solution, but costs far less to develop than an equivalent ASIC.¡±

The IP that personalizes the CAP metal programmable block for the UWB Media Access Controller, together with the software drivers for the ARM926EJ-S processor, are available from InES. The UWB MAC logic does not occupy the entire CAP MP Block, leaving ample space for complementary application-specific logic, for example to implement a graphical user interface.