Zhaoyi Innovation releases GD32E5 series MCU with Cortex ®- 33 kernel enables high-performance computing with new mileage

On July 28, 2020, Beijing - Leading semiconductor supplier GigaDevice (stock code 603986) officially released a new Arm based product ®  Cortex ®- GD32E5 series high-performance microcontroller with M33 core. This series of MCUs is built using TSMC's low-power 40nm embedded flash technology, which has industry-leading processing capabilities, power efficiency, connection characteristics, and more economical development costs. It further promotes the expansion of embedded development into high-precision industrial control fields, and solves the integration and workload requirements of various functions such as digital power supplies, motor frequency conversion, measuring instruments, mixed signal processing, and high-end consumer applications. The GD32E5 productportfolio offers 3 universal series and 1 dedicated series, 4 packaging types and 23 model choices. Samples and development boards have already been provided and will be officially put into mass production next month.

GD32E5系列Cortex®-M33内核通用MCU产品组合

New kernel and hardware accelerator improve processing efficiency

GD32E5 series based on the latest Armv8-M architecture Cortex ®- The M33 core has a processor clock speed of up to 180MHz, built-in hardware multiplier/divider, and provides a complete DSP instruction set and single precision floating-point unit (FPU). It is also equipped with a new hardware trigonometric accelerator (TMU), which can support mathematical trigonometric operations such as vector, cosine, exponent, square root, and common logarithm to reduce CPU burden and improve processing efficiency, thereby promoting advanced computing applications centered on digital signal processing. The highest working performance can reach 244DMIPS, CoreMark ® The test score can reach 547 points. Compared to market Cortex, the code execution efficiency under the same clock frequency ®- M4 product has increased by 10% -20% compared to Cortex ®- The performance of M23 products has improved by over 40%.

The GD32E5 is equipped with 128KB to 512KB of Flash and 80KB to 128KB of SRAM. The dual bank embedded flash supports read-write synchronization operations and also has a built-in memory protection unit (MPU) for task isolation to improve system reliability. The chip adopts 1.7V-3.6V power supply, and the I/O port can withstand 5V level. The built-in power management unit is more optimized and provides 5 new power-saving modes. The maximum operating current of all peripherals in full speed mode is only 332 µ A/MHz, which is 32% lower than the GD32F4 product and achieves excellent energy efficiency. The minimum standby current when powered by batteries is only 0.7 µ A.

Excellent high-precision timer and mixed signal integration

GD32E5 is equipped with a brand new ultra-high precision timer (SHRTimer). It has 5 independent counters inside, which can generate 5 sets of 2-channel PWM control signals with dead zone complementary outputs. The highest frequency can reach 11.5GHz, and the fastest resolution is only 90ps. The rich linkage mechanism with other peripherals can also generate various high-frequency waveforms required for practical applications such as switching power supplies and motor control.

The simulation components of GD32E5 also adopt a highly integrated new design. To provide accurate analog measurements, the chip integrates three 12 bit 2.6M SPS sampling rate high-performance ADCs, supports fully differential input, is equipped with up to 21 reusable channels, and supports 16 bit hardware oversampling filtering function and configurable resolution. The actual effective bit count and linearity are also significantly improved compared to similar products in the market. In addition, 2 12 bit DACs and 3 ultra fast comparators with a propagation delay of 22ns are also provided.

Abundant peripheral interfaces fully support industrial Internet

GD32E5 introduces a brand new USB 2.0 OTG dual function controller, with built-in hardware PHY providing multiple operating rates for design flexibility, including 480Mbps High Speed (HS) mode and 12Mbps Full Speed (FS) mode. And it supports working modes such as Device, HOST, OTG, etc., combined with an independent 480MHz PLL that supports crystal less design to comprehensively reduce usage costs. Currently undergoing relevant certification and ensuring compliance with USB-IF design standards.

The newly added SQPI controller can be connected to memory peripherals with serial, two-wire, and four wire parallel interfaces, such as SQPI Flash and SQPI PSRAM. Thus, it is convenient to expand external storage resources, such as for mobile printers, displays, fingerprint recognition, OTA upgrades, and other occasions that require large RAM cache. The all-new GD32EPRT dedicated series also integrates 4MB PSRAM on-chip, meeting development needs in one step.

GD32E5 is equipped with richer standard peripheral resources for a wide range of industrial control and interconnection applications: up to 9 16 bit general-purpose timers, 2 16 bit advanced vector control timers, 1 32-bit general-purpose timer, 2 16 bit basic timers, and 2 multi-channel DMA controllers. The communication interface can have up to 6 UART, 3 SPI, 3 I2C, 2 I2S, and 1 SDIO. It also integrates three CAN-FD (flexible data rate) interfaces for CAN bus networks, with a maximum speed of up to 6Mbps. The 10/100M adaptive Fast Ethernet Controller (MAC) can assist in developing real-time applications with Ethernet connectivity capabilities.

The new MCU has 6KV electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection capability and adopts clock spreading technology to reduce electromagnetic interference (EMI) to high-speed digital systems, all of which meet industrial high reliability and temperature standards. The GD32E5 series MCU includes 4 product series and 23 model options, including GD32E503, GD32E505, GD32E507, and GD32EPRT. All series of software and pins are perfectly compatible, and excellent flexibility fully unleashes Cortex ®- The outstanding potential of M33 kernel.

GD32E5系列Cortex®-M33内核通用MCU全新特性

Zhaoyi Innovation adopts TSMC's 40nm low-power process to create an advanced microcontroller development platform, which has industry-leading energy consumption ratio and high integration. It can help upgrade the industry at a more economical cost and further consolidate the leading position of the GD32 MCU family in the local microcontroller market. Jin Guangyi, Marketing Director of Zhaoyi Innovation Products, said, "As the first Arm in China ®  Cortex ®- The GD32E5 series high-performance new product, jointly launched by TSMC and M33 core general-purpose MCU, provides a cost-effective solution for high-precision industrial control and consumer applications that are data intensive, algorithm intensive, and transmission intensive. And will be supported by the continuously expanding GD32 ecosystem, deeply cultivating market industry demand, and enhancing user development experience. ”

About GD32 MCU

Zhaoyi Innovation GD32 MCU is a leader in China's high-performance general-purpose microcontroller field and the largest Arm in China ®  MCU family, the first Arm launched in China ®  Cortex ®- M3、Cortex ®- M4、Cortex ®- M23 and Cortex ®- The M33 core general-purpose MCU product series has developed into the mainstream choice in the Chinese 32-bit general-purpose MCU market. And with a cumulative shipment volume of over 400 million pieces, a customer base of over 20000, and over 360 product selections across 27 series, it consistently ranks first in China in terms of wide application coverage. Zhaoyi Innovation GD32 MCU is also Arm ® The first batch of partners in China for the University Program (AUP) Arm ®  mbed ™  IoT platform ecosystem partner and the title sponsor of the "Zhaoyi Innovation Cup" China Graduate Electronic Design Competition. GD32 aims to create a blueprint for the development of an "MCU department store", providing users with the most comprehensive system level product and solution support, building an intelligent development platform and a complete product application ecosystem.

Source: GD32MCU