STMicroelectronics has unveiled two new entries in its STM32 range of microcontrollers: the STM32WBA6, which can add short-range wireless connectivity to smart home and industrial control systems, and the ultra-low-power STM32U3 that targets extended maintenance-free operation.
“Robust and standardized wireless connectivity is central to the IoT’s [Internet of Things’] success,” claims STMicro’s Patric Aidoune in support of the company’s latest launches. “Our new STM32WBA6 MCUs bring richer features and larger memory to address high-end applications in smart home, health, factory, and agriculture. Our customers can now increase the pace of development to meet demands from consumer and industrial markets for new products that deliver more features and increased capabilities within reduced size and power constraints.”
STMIcro has announced two new families in its STM32 range: the STM32WBA6 and the STM32U3 (pictured), available now. (📷: STMicroelectronics)
The STM32WBA6 microcontroller range comes with an Arm Cortex-M33F core with digital signal processing (DSP) instructions, running at up to 100MHz, up to 512kB of static RAM (SRAM), and up to 2MB of flash storage on-chip. The radio side of the design supports Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) plus IEEE 802.15.4 standards including Zigbee, Thread, and the cross-vendor Matter — though single-protocol variants with only BLE support are available at a lower cost, STMicro has confirmed. Peripherals include three SPI ports, four I2C ports, three USARTs, and one LPUART — plus the usual general-purpose input/output (GPIO) connectivity.
The STM32U3, meanwhile, is designed for ultra-low-power applications, where it can be left running for long periods of time without intervention. “The STM32U3 series builds on the heritage of ST-established ultra-low-power general-purpose microcontroller class as it is known today, which opened the door to widespread diffusion of smart technology in diverse environments,” Aidoune claims. “Leveraging innovative techniques such as recent advancements in near-threshold design, the new devices cut dynamic power consumption to the bone, boosting efficiency by a factor of two compared to our previous generation, hence contributing to companies’ sustainability goals.”
The STM32WBA6 family includes multi-protocol and BLE-only models, with the promise of module variants to follow later this year. (📷: STMicroelectronics)
The STM32U3 family features a single Arm Cortex-M33 core running at up to 96MHz and delivering a claimed Coremark-per-milliwatt score of 117 — double that of the STM32U5, and five times the efficiency of the STM32L4. There’s up to 256kB of SRAM and up to 1MB of flash memory available, model-dependent, and the chips include the same security features as the earlier STM32U5 but with first-of-its-kind support for STMicro-loaded key storage protected by a coupling and chaining bridge (CCB). A cryptographic accelerator is also included in the design, but as with the multi-protocol radio in the STM32WBA6 parts are also available without it for cost- and power-reduction reasons.
Both the STM32WBA6 family and the STM32U3 family are now in volume production, STMicro has confirmed, with pricing starting at $2.50 and $1.93 respectively in 10,000-unit quantities.