Dear Bruce and all: I havent seen anyone post this Press Release, but it seems very SIGNIFICANT to me and may account for the upgrade and price increase. JDN
Atmel Launches the AT90SC3232 AVR Flash Based Secure Microcontroller for Smart Card and Security Applications
Business Editors/High Tech Writers
SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 11, 1999--Atmel Corporation (Nasdaq: ATML) announced today the introduction of the AT90SC3232, the latest member of its AT90SC AVR(R) Flash secure microcontroller product line. Featuring 32K bytes of on-chip Flash program memory, 32K bytes of EEPROM data memory and 1.5K bytes of RAM workspace, it is built around Atmel's proprietary 8-bit AVR(R) microcontroller.
The AT90SC3232 is intended for Smart Card applications such as GSM, PCS, or PEN mobile telephone SIM cards, as well as access control, identification and authentication applications. It is ideal for supporting multiple applications with the same device. It can handle complex encryption algorithms using its embedded AVR MCU. If more sophisticated security algorithms or faster processing are required, Atmel provides another device in the same family, the AT90SC3232C with a proprietary on-chip crypto-accelerator.
The size of the GSM SIM card market gives an idea of the potential for the AT90SC3232: leading SIM card maker Gemplus estimates it at 65 million units in 1997, rising to 760 million units in 2003. Frost & Sulivan notes that GSM has the greatest market share in terms of worldwide mobile telephone revenue.
Like all members of the AT90SC family, the AT90SC3232 uses Flash program memory, instead of ROM. This gives outstanding advantages to the application developer. By eliminating the ROM mask cycle, and allowing software development on the production device, it reduces time-to-market for a new product. It also allows one product to cope with several applications, which means reduced inventory and lower costs.
The AVR's RISC architecture and 32 general-purpose registers enable it to run at close to one instruction per clock cycle. This makes it up to 10 times faster than conventional 8-bit MCUs. Its low power consumption makes it ideal for battery-powered and hand-held applications. Its optimized code density from C code source facilitates software development.
Among the many security features of the AT90SC series are a memory supervisor which provides firewalls to ensure the integrity of code and data for multiple applications on the same device. In addition there are voltage and frequency checks, bus scrambling, secure physical layout.
To facilitate software development, the AT90SC series is supplied with a software development kit (SDK) based on the IAR(TM) chain. Including a hardware emulator, this kit allows application developers to perform in-depth verification and debugging. The SDK includes a development chip, functionally identical to the production version, but with direct access to internal buses. During final validation and production rampup, production cards can be programmed immediately using the built-in in-system programming facility. This is possible thanks to the Flash program memory.
The AT90SC3232 is available now, as wafers or in module form. Prices start at $4.20 for 100K units.
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