Having chosen a suitable microcontroller, the next step is to actually understand its internal architecture so as to be able to successfully set it up for the intended application. So, choosing one can be quite an undertaking in itself. In total, there are a few hundred microcontrollers in the STM32 family. Within each one of these main microcontroller branches, there are many variants. Figure 2 shows a high-level classification of the STM32 microcontroller line-up and their suggested application areas. In the case of the STM32, these can be Cortex M0/M0+, M3, M33, M4 or M7, either in single, or multiple, core configurations.īeing a very large family means that there are many variants to suit just about any embedded application.
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The STM32 series of microcontrollers from ST Microelectronics is a popular, and very large, family of ARM-based 32-bit microcontrollers.īeing ARM-based means that the core of the microcontroller is one of the various ARM cores licensed from Advanced RISC Machines. Table 1 – Major features of the ATmega328 STM32 Microcontrollers So, unless there is a good reason to stick to the older ATmega microcontrollers, the newer 0-series should be considered.įigure 1 – Block diagram of an ATmega328 microcontroller The architecture is somewhat different, but still quite close to, the older ATmega microcontrollers. However, Microchip seems to have realized this, and the latest ATmega 0-series is, in almost all areas, superior to the older ATmega microcontrollers, and are also cheaper.įor example, their ATmega3208 costs $1.03 in quantity of one. For example, as of this time, it lists for $2.08 at Digikey for a quantity of one. One additional area that needs to be mentioned is that the ATmega328, and other members of this family, is not cheap on a cost to performance basis.
However, as the range of Arduino-based projects out there amply demonstrates, there is a lot that can be accomplished by having this type of microcontroller as the main controller. This is what makes it great for some classes of applications, for example controllers dedicated to doing certain control tasks. In general, the main advantage of the ATmega family is they are quite easy to configure, without having to go through several layers of hardware abstraction. You can see that it is a relatively limited microcontroller and is not suitable for developing large, data intensive, applications. Table 1 summarizes the main specs of the ATmega328.
The separate instruction and data paths to the flash and SRAM of the Harvard architecture can clearly be seen in this block diagram.Īlso evident in this block diagram is the regular, no fuss architecture. The ATmega is a relatively simple 8-bit Reduced Instruction Set Computer, or RISC, microcontroller with a Harvard architecture.įigure 1 shows the internal block diagram of an ATmega328 as is found in the Arduino Uno. Microchip is the manufacturer of the PIC series of microcontrollers, which, in many ways is much closer to the AVR series than the STM32. The ATmega series of microcontrollers was originally made by Atmel which was then acquired by Microchip in early 2016. It is important to consider the availability of tools, both hardware and software, and the ease of writing and debugging the application firmware. On the other hand, choosing an expensive microcontroller, with lots of extra peripherals that won’t be used, simply because it has one that is actually needed is not a wise choice.Īnother thing to consider is the upward migration path of a given microcontroller family. Several, somewhat conflicting areas need to be considered when choosing a given microcontroller for an application.Īmong them are overall cost, not just of the microcontroller itself, but the total system cost.įor example, if a microcontroller already has a built-in peripheral that removes the need for an external one, then that’s a much better way of approaching a design. This article will help you make the best choice for your particular tech product. However, there are cases where it makes more sense to choose one over the other. To take things a bit further, there are many variants of both.Ī direct comparison of the Atmega and STM32 would not make much sense. At a very general level, they are both fruits, in this case they are both microcontrollers. Comparing ATmega and STM32 microcontrollers is a bit like comparing apples and oranges.
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