Atmel Corp, based in San Jose, California, claims it is now shipping the first 8-bit RISC microcontroller with Flash and EEPROM memory on-chip. The AT90S1200, says Atmel, is ten times faster and ten times more efficient in terms of power consumption than conventional eight-bit architectures, operating at around 1 million instructions per second per megaherz, and from 2.7 volts to 6 volts. The 20-pin package has 32 eight-bit registers, connected internally to the arithmetic logic unit, enabling single clock cycle instructions. Prices start at $1.80 in quantities of 1,000. The eight-bit microcontroller market is expected to be worth $6.5bn worldwide this year.
