SparkFun’s MicroMod series has developed an STM32 Processor Board. “MicroMod is a modular interface ecosystem that connects a microcontroller “processor board” to various “carrier board” peripherals utilizing the M.2 standard.” The STM32 Processor board has dimensions of about 20mm x 22mm. In addition, the STM32 Processor board provides an economical platform where more power with minimal working space is needed. It works on low power operation and has three modes for the same. They are sleep, stop and stand by modes.
Moreover, the STM32 Processor Board utilizes a DFU (Device Firmware Update) bootloader for uploading code and incorporating an extensive range of enhanced I/Os and peripherals. The board has a 128Mb (16MB) serial flash memory chip. Besides, using M.2 MicroMod connector, the STM32 processor can be interfaced with any of the carrier boards. This can be done by matching the key on the processors bevelled edge connector with the one on M.2 connector.
STM32 Processor Board’s Peripherals
MicroMod’s STM32 Processor Board is based on ARM 32-bit Cortex-M4 CPU. It works on a frequency up to 168MHz. Further, the STM32 Processor Board features UART and two I2C Buses. Also, there is an SPI bus and PDM Audio processing. The Pulse Density Modulation (PDM) audio processing uses only one bit to convey audio making the execution easier with low noise at low cost.
The MicroMod’s STM32 Processor Board has two dedicated Analog and two dedicated Digital input pins. Besides, there are 15 total Analog input capable inputs. The board includes nine general-purpose I/O pins. Moreover, there are two PWM pins and 24 total PWM capable pins on board.
Features of STM32
STM32 Processor features ARM Cortex-M4 32-bit RISC core. This core highlights a floating-point unit (FPU) single precision. The FPU further supports all ARM single-precision data-processing instructions and data types. The processor implements a full set of DSP instructions. In addition, the processor has a Memory Protection Unit (MPU) that enhances application security. The ARM core is characterized by an Adaptive real-time accelerator (ART accelerator). ART accelerator allows zero wait state execution from flash memory. “The ART accelerator is built around a 2D DMA engine for fast data copy with specific functions to support pixel format conversion as well as blending operations between two planes. It also provides specific modes for managing anti-aliased fonts.”
The STM32 Processor holds 1Mbyte of Flash memory and 192Kbytes of SRAM. The SRAM includes 64Kbytes of Core Coupled Memory (CCM) data RAM. Also, the processor features a flexible static memory controller supporting Compact Flash, PSRAM, NOR, SRAM and NAND memories. The STM32 Processor works on 1.8V to 3.6 V application supply and has a 32KHz oscillator for RTC. It has a USB 2.0 device/ OTG controller with dedicated DMA and on-chip PHY. Besides, there is also a 10/100 Ethernet MAC with dedicated DMA that supports IEEE 1588v2 hardware and MII/RMII.
Carrier Boards Available
There is a total of eight options available for carrier boards. They include ATP, Input and Display, Machine learning, Weather, Asset Tracker, Data logging and two Qwicc carrier boards. One can select a carrier board looking at the key features and as per the requirement.
The SparkFun MicroMod’s STM32 Processor Board cost around $14.95 and was announced on 13th May 2021. One can buy the product from SparkFun MicroMod STM32 Processor Board official site. Besides, more information regarding the board and carrier boards can be found on the official product site. Sources for all pictures and technical specifications is the product page.
Sanskriti Sawant is a student of Electronics and Telecommunication engineering. She is passionate about Computer architecture, VLSI and plans to major in them. She is working on HDL languages and FPGA’s.
