Atmel releases Xplain evaluation kit for Xmega

With a suggested resale price of USD29 (GBP18), the kit gives users the ability to evaluate the features and system performance of Atmel's Xmega at a minimum hardware cost.

The kit is powered through a mini USB connector; end users can develop their own applications on Xmega using Xplain.

The 8-/16-bit Xmega microcontrollers, introduced in 2008, are optimised for ultra-low power and high system performance with a complete feature set suitable for a range of applications.

The company's ATXmega128A1 is the onboard Xmega device in the Xplain kit.

The device is a 100-pin, general-purpose microcontroller with 128Kb of in-system programmable Flash memory and an 8Kb boot section in Flash that can also be used as additional application memory.

The ATXmega128A1 contains all the features available in the Xmega range, including: a DMA controller; the Event System; 12-bit high-speed analogue peripherals; AES and DES crypto modules; an external bus interface; and all second-generation Picopower features.

For evaluation and development purposes, the Xplain kit contains a speaker with an audio amplifier, a potentiometer and a temperature sensor, which are all connected to the 12-bit DAC or ADC on the ATXmega128A1 device.

The external memories include an 8Mb SDRAM and an 8Mb serial data Flash.

Eight buttons and eight light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for basic user interface and application interaction are also available.

Spare digital and analogue pins on the ATXmega128A1 are available through pin headers for external analogue input and output, digital input and output, pulse-width modulation, input capture and USART-, SPI- and I2C-compatible TWI communication.

The Xplain kit is shipped with basic code programmed into the ATXmega128A1 to demonstrate the use of buttons, LEDs and the speaker on the kit.

Documentation includes a user guide, schematics and a full bill of materials.

Additional code examples, good design practices, recommendations and general hints and tips are available as application notes on the company's website.

Xplain supports other development tools from Atmel, including the JTAGICE Mk II debugger, the AVRISP Mk II programmer and the AVR Studio free AVR IDE software development tool.

By using these tools with Xplain, users have the ability to conduct on-chip debugging or in-system programming.