Ambiq, a technology leader recognized for ultra-low-power microcontrollers (MCU), System-on-Chips (SoC), and Real-time Clocks (RTC), has introduced the new Ambiq Apollo4 SoC family. The Apollo4 SoC family is the fourth generation system processor solution built upon Ambiq's proprietary Subthreshold Power-Optimized Technology (SPOT) platform. The Apollo4's complete hardware and software solution enables the battery-powered endpoint devices of tomorrow to achieve a higher level of intelligence without sacrificing battery life. The Apollo4 enables manufacturers to create leading-edge endpoint devices leveraging the unique SPOT platform with Ambiq's easy-to-use, rich peripheral set. The Apollo4 is available now with CSP and BGA offerings, as well as an Apollo4 Blue with Bluetooth LE.
The Apollo4 is purpose-built to serve as both an application processor and a coprocessor for battery-powered endpoint devices, including smartwatches, children's watches, fitness bands, animal trackers, far-field voice remotes, predictive health and maintenance devices, smart security devices, and smart home devices.
Key Features of Apollo4:
- The Apollo4 SoC family is implemented on the TSMC 22nm ULL process and based on a 32-bit Arm Cortex-M4 processor with FPU and Arm Artisan physical IP.
- Achieving an unmatched 3 μA/MHz from MRAM with low deep sleep current modes
- Up to 192 MHz clock frequency using TurboSPOT.
- 2D/2.5D graphics accelerator and MIPI DSI 1.2 with up to two lanes at 500Mbps per lane delivering a feature-rich user interface.
- Apollo4 Blue integrates a Bluetooth Low Energy 5 radio including 2Mbps support as well as direction-finding Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Angle of Departure (AOD) for always-on applications.
- Proprietary audio interfaces and ultra-low power analog microphone for truly always-on voice processing.
- 8 PDM channels, 2 stereo I2S channels with ASRC, and an ultra-low power ADC for analog microphones.
With up to 2MB of MRAM and 1.8MB of SRAM, the Apollo4 has enough computed and storage to handle complex algorithms and neural networks while displaying vibrant, crystal-clear, and smooth graphics. If additional memory is required, external memory is supported through Ambiq's multi-bit SPI and e.MMC interfaces. A world of trillion intelligent devices, many of which are battery-powered, emphasizes the need for power-efficient processing. The use of the Arm Cortex-M4 processor and Arm Artisan physical IP enables Ambiq to deliver always-on user experience, including rich graphics and voice processing, for endpoint devices where ultra-low power consumption is critical.
The chipset is based on TSMC's innovative 22nm embedded MRAM technology, which was adopted in Apollo4, is essential to support on-chip code storage for MCU functions to achieve industry-leading power performance. TSMC is delighted to have another successful collaboration with Ambiq building on what they achieved together starting from the 40nm generation to make smart IoT devices even smarter with extended battery life. The 22ULL technology complements Ambiq's design expertise with the most competitive ultra-low-power planar technology to enable low leakage with enhanced computing power to support value-added IoT features.
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