Atmel's 32bit Microcontroller/Processor

Atmel have introduced 32-bit microcontroller/DSP chips. These have a MMU, which means they can run full operating systems such as Linux. As part of the introduction Atmel are offering a the ATNGW100 Gateway kit, using a AT32AP7000 Processor for $69 (US). These processors have many peripherals on board the chip, allowing self-contained devices with a lower total chip count.

The peripherals used on the ATNGW100 include a high-speed USB 2.0, 2 x Ethernet, RS232, JTAG and SD memory card slot. Also included is an expansion header allowing access to all of the otherwise unused peripheral pins.

Other useful items such as 2048x2048 TFT LCD connectors, 16 bit audio, and several other serial interfaces including lend the AT32AP7000 device to complete embedded applications.

Atmel offer the GNU AVR32 Toolchain for programming, and this is a welcome change for cross platform development.

Likewise the AVR Studio release to suit these 32bit Microcontrollers is cross platform, and based on Eclipse.