Atmel RF transceivers target keyless entry, remote start
10/9/2012 5:01 PM EDT
SAN JOSE, Calif.–On the eve of major automotive shows in Germany and Detroit, Atmel Corp. has introduced a family of microcontroller-based RF transceivers for applications including keyless entry and remote start.
The three new devices (ATA5831, ATA5832 and ATA5833) mix RF functionality with an Atmel 8-bit AVR microcontroller core and claim low power consumption. The devices use blocking techniques to eliminate disturbances, which allows the ICs to be awakened only when necessary. 
Current consumption can be as low as 9.8mA typ. in receive mode (low-band, 310-318MHz, 418-477MHz, 1.2mA, 21ms cycle, 3-channel polling) and 9.4mA/13.8mA typ. in transmit mode (low-band, Pout = 6dBm/10dBm), Atmel said.
With the industry’s lowest power consumption, high sensitivity and high output power, the three new devices (ATA5831, ATA5832 and ATA5833) are ideal for automotive applications including remote keyless entry (RKE), passive entry go (PEG), remote start (RS) and tire pressure monitoring (TPMS) systems.
This new RF family is also ideal for various smart RF applications including remote control systems such as garage door openers or telemetering applications.
Features
The new RF transceiver family also provides sensitivity at -123dBm typ. (0.75Kbit/s, FSK, Manchester code, at 433.92MHz) and -109dBm typ. (at 20Kbit/s, ASK, Manchester code, at 433.92MHz), respectively. Combined with the high output power of up to 14.5dBm typ., the devices can function over long distances, Atmel said.
The new RF transceiver family includes the following:
• ATA5833: Ready-to-use RF transceiver integrated circuit (IC) with integrated firmware.
• ATA5831: Firmware is included in read-only memory (ROM). Additional Flash option for application-specific software needs.
• ATA5832: Cost-optimized version of ATA5831, where customer software is ROM masked.
Pricing, availability
Samples of Atmel’s ATA5831, ATA5832 and ATA5833 in 5mm x 5mm small QFN32 packages are available now starting at $2.90 in 50,000-piece quantities. Car access kits (ATAK51002-V2) to support design-in and shorten time-to-market will be available in November 2012.
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