San Jose, California-based Atmel Corp has launched a high-speed 8-bit microcontroller compatible with the Intel Corp 8051, which has 8Kb of on-board Flash memory. The AT89C52 is an enhanced version of the original Atmel microcontroller, the AT89C51. Both devices are pin-compatible with, and contain the same internal core circuitry as the industry-standard – oh, all right, Intel-proprietary – 80C51 device. The AT89C52 can be clocked at up to 24MHz according to Atmel, which it says is important for faster control systems such as bar code readers and industrial machine tools. The AT89C52 contains 8Kb of program memory and 256 bytes of RAM, twice that of the 80C51. The memory of both Atmel microcontrollers is based on the company’s own Flash ROM technology, which does not require an ultraviolet erase step, but then we thought that was one of the points about Flash. The instruction set of the AT89C52 is compatible with the Intel 80C51 even though the Atmel device uses static rather than dynamic internal logic. This static logic design enables the AT89C52 to operate at slow clock speeds and even enables the clock to be stopped to save power without any loss of data, says Atmel. Slower and zero clock speeds reduce system power requirements. In addition to all of the circuitry required for on-chip programming, the AT89C52 has 32 input-output lines, three 16-bit timer-counters, a six-source, two-level interrupt architecture, a full duplex serial port and on-chip oscillator and clock circuitry. This Atmel microcontroller uses the same off-the-shelf tools for development, debugging and testing that other popular microcontrollers use. The AT89C52 is available in 40-lead plastic dual-in-line packages, 44-pin plastic leadless chip carriers and quad flat packages. Pricing for the AT89C52 in 1,000-unit quantities for plastic dual-in-line packages starts at $14 each.
