STMicroelectronics has come up with the new 8-bit microcontrollers (MCUs) with the new STM8L050 for boosting feature integration in low-cost. As the latest in the ultra-energy conscious STM8L series, it embeds rich analogue peripherals, a DMA controller and separated data EEPROM, all in an inexpensive SO-8 package with up to six user I/Os. Leveraging ST’s STM8 core running at up to 16 MHz, the STM8L050 delivers economy and performance for resource-constrained products like industrial sensors, toys, access cards, e-bike controllers, home-automation or lighting products, smart printer cartridges or battery chargers.

 

The integrated DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller speeds application performance by streamlining data transfers between peripherals and memory, or from memory to memory, ultimately saving power consumption. The 256 bytes of separated EEPROM allows applications to store important programme data when the MCU is powered down, while allowing maximum utilisation of Flash for code storage.

 

Alongside two comparators, the STM8L050 has a 4-channel 12-bit analogue-digital converter (ADC) and a low-power real-time clock (RTC) with programmable alarm and periodic wakeups, allowing designers to minimise external analogue components. In addition, support for either an external or internal clock at up to 16MHz further enhances flexibility to balance performance with bill-of-materials (BOM) savings. Other features include 8Kbytes of on-chip Flash memory, 1Kbyte of RAM, two 16-bit timers, one 8-bit timer, and popular connectivity and debug interfaces including SPI, I2C, UART and SWIM.

 

As an STM8L device leveraging ST’s ultra-low-power technologies, the STM8L050 provides power-saving modes that cut current to as little as 350nA, and operates over a wide voltage range from 3.6V down to 1.8V. The MCUs are fully specified from -40°C to 125°C, ensuring robustness and reliability in demanding applications such as industrial controls or lighting products.