STMicroelectronics STM32U3 microcontrollers

STMicroelectronics has introduced its STM32U3 microcontrollers (MCUs) with cutting-edge power-saving innovations to ease deployment of smart connected tech, especially in remote locations.

The MCUs are aimed at IoT devices, which must typically operate for extended periods without maintenance and with limited energy from a coin cell or ambient solar or thermoelectric source. Typical applications that depend on ultralow power consumption include utility meters, healthcare devices such as glucose meters and insulin pumps, animal care monitors, forest-fire sensors, and industrial sensors including thermostats and smoke detectors. The MCUs are also used in consumer products such as smart watches, wearables and hearables.

In addition to its energy efficiency, the series meets the needs of IoT devices by providing robust cyber protection using the latest hardware security techniques. The MCUs are designed to confine secret keys permanently in secure memory, eliminating vulnerable CPU fetches. In addition, attestation credentials for each device are provisioned by ST at manufacture before leaving the factory, which strengthens security and simplifies provisioning.

Leveraging advanced power-saving chip design, fine-tuned with AI-enhanced tools and the latest Arm Cortex-M33 core running at up to 96 MHz, the MCUs achieve a Coremark-per-milliwatt score of 117. This is almost twice the efficiency of ST’s preceding STM32U5 series, and five times that of the STM32L4 series. The MCUs are available in commercial (-40 to 85°C) and extended industrial (-40 to 105°C) temperature ranges.