Energy-friendly MCUs for smart devices

The GG12 microcontrollers are suitable for a broad range of applications requiring advanced processing during deep sleep, including Internet of Things (IoT) devices, sensors, smart meters, industrial automation, home security, and health and fitness wearables.

The Giant Gecko 12 family offers many of the features of the Giant Gecko 11 microcontrollers in a smaller package, and adds a pulse density modulation (PDM) sensor interface to support PDM microphones and delta-sigma sensors. The microcontrollers boast a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 processor running at 72 MHz with up to 1 Mbyte of on-chip flash and 192 Kbytes of RAM. Combining this power with rich analog features, the devices deliver an advanced user experience previously attainable only on high-power-consumption microcontrollers.

The devices’ low-energy peripherals include two 12-bit analogue-to-digital converters (ADCs), a digital-to-analog converter (DAC), capacitive touch, and up to 83 general-purpose inputs/outputs (GPIO). Additionally, the low-energy sensor interface enables fully autonomous processing capabilities during sleep mode. The microcontrollers include robust security features, including a unique cryptographic hardware engine that supports AES, ECC, SHA, and True Random Number Generator (TRNG).

The EFM32 Giant Gecko 12 family is supported by the Thunderboard GG12 kit for prototyping and evaluation. The Thunderboard GG12 kit includes an integrated Segger J-Link debugger, two PDM microphones, tri-color LEDs, and breakout ports, and push buttons. The board also includes an out-of-box demo for the microcontroller’s PDM sensor interface, making it an ideal choice for the development of high-quality, low-power audio input applications.