User Manual

Apollo3 Blue Datasheet
Ultra-Low Power MCU Family
DS-A3-0p9p1 Page 2 of 912 2019 Ambiq Micro, Inc.
All rights reserved.
Ambiq Micro
Apollo3
MCU
Host
Processor
(optional)
SPI/I
2
C
Slave
Port
SPI/I
2
C Master,
UART
GPS / WiFi
Magnetometer
with Digital
Output
Gyroscope
with Digital
Output
Accelerometer
with Digital
Output
Typical Application Circuit for the Apollo3 MCU
External Flash
Multi-bit
SPI
Display
Features
Ultra-low supply current:
- 6 µA/MHz executing from flash at 3.3 V
- 6 µA/MHz executing from RAM at 3.3 V
- 1 µA deep sleep mode (BLE Off) with RTC at 3.3 V
High-performance ARM Cortex-M4 Processor
- 48 MHz nominal clock frequency, with 96 MHz high perfor-
mance “TurboSPOT” Burst Mode
- Floating point unit
- Memory protection unit
- Wake-up interrupt controller with 32 interrupts
Integrated Bluetooth
1
5 low-energy module
- RF sensitivity: -93 dBm (typical)
- TX: 3 mA @ 0 dBm, RX: 3 mA
- Tx peak output power: 4.0 dBm (max)
Ultra-low power memory:
- Up to 1 MB of flash memory for code/data
- Up to 384 KB of low leakage RAM for code/data
- 16 kB 2-way Associative/Direct-Mapped Cache
Ultra-low power interface for off-chip sensors:
- 14 bit ADC at up to 1.2 MS/s, 15 selectable input channels
available
- Voltage Comparator
- Temperature sensor with +/-3ºCaccuracy
ISO7816 Secure interface
Flexible serial peripherals:
- 1x 2/4/8-bit SPI master interface
-6x I
2
C/SPI masters for peripheral communication
-I
2
C/SPI slave for host communications
- 2x UART modules with 32-location Tx and Rx FIFOs
- PDM for mono and stereo audio microphone
-1x I
2
S slave for PDM audio pass-through
Rich set of clock sources:
- 32.768 kHz XTAL oscillator
- Low frequency RC oscillator – 1.024 kHz
- High frequency RC oscillator – 48/96 MHz
- RTC based on Ambiq’s AM08X5/18X5 families
Wide operating range: 1.755-3.63 V, –40 to 85°C
1. The Bluetooth® word mark and logos are registered trade-
marks owned by the Bluetooth SIG, Inc. and any use of such
marks is under license. Other trademarks and trade names
are those of their respective owners.
Compact package option:
- 3.37 x 3.25 mm(<0.35mm thk pkg) 66-pin CSP with 37 GPIO
- 5 x 5 mm (<0.5mm thk pkg) 81-pin BGA with 50 GPIO
Applications
Description
The Apollo3 MCU Family is an ultra-low power, highly integrated
microcontroller designed for battery-powered and portable, mobile
devices. At the heart of the Apollo3 Blue MCU is Ambiq Micro’s
patented Subthreshold Power Optimized Technology (SPOT™)
and a powerful ARM Cortex-M4 processor with Floating Point
Unit. This combination dramatically reduces energy consumption
while still enabling abundant application processing power to add
greater capability and extended life to battery-operated devices.
By combining ultra-low power sensor conversion electronics with
the powerful ARM Cortex-M4 processor with Floating Point Unit,
the Apollo3 Blue MCU enables complex sensor processing tasks
to be completed with unprecedented battery life. Weeks, months,
and years of battery life are achievable while doing complex
context detection, gesture recognition, and activity monitoring.
The Apollo3 Blue MCU builds upon the industry’s best power
management efficiency of the Apollo2 MCU Family to deliver a
totally integrated Bluetooth low energy connectivity solution. The
device offers Bluetooth 5 ready radio and integrates 1 MB of flash
memory and 384 KB of RAM to accommodate radio and sensor
overhead while leaving space for application code. This
microcontroller also includes several masters and one slave SPI
and I2C ports and two UART ports for communicating with sensors
including accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers.
▪ Always-listening keyword detect for voice assistants
▪ Always-listening local audio command recognition for smart
home, IoT, and industrial devices
▪ Hearable devices including bluetooth headsets, earbuds, and
truly wireless earbuds
▪ Hearing aids
▪ Remote and Gaming Controls
▪ Digital Health Monitoring and Sensing Devices
▪ Wearable electronics including smart watches and fitness/activity
trackers
▪ Home Automation, Security and Lighting control applications