Atmel (now Microchip) Manufacturer Skill
MPN Structure
Atmel MPNs follow this general structure:
[FAMILY][SERIES][VARIANT]-[PACKAGE][TEMP]
│ │ │ │ │
│ │ │ │ └── Optional temperature grade
│ │ │ └── Package code (after hyphen)
│ │ └── Feature variant (P=picopower, A=automotive, etc.)
│ └── Series number (flash size, pin count encoded)
└── Product family (ATMEGA, ATTINY, ATSAM, etc.)
Example Decoding
ATMEGA328P-PU
│ │ │ ││
│ │ │ │└── (no temp suffix = commercial)
│ │ │ └── U in PU = standard grade
│ │ └── P = picoPower technology
│ └── 328 = 32KB flash, 8-bit
└── ATMEGA = AVR 8-bit megaAVR family
ATSAM3X8E-AU
│ │ ││ ││
│ │ ││ │└── U = standard grade
│ │ ││ └── A = TQFP package
│ │ │└── E = Ethernet variant
│ │ └── 8 = 512KB flash
│ └── 3X = Cortex-M3 SAM3X series
└── ATSAM = ARM-based SAM family
Package Codes (After Hyphen)
| Code | Package | Description | |------|---------|-------------| | PU | PDIP | Plastic Dual In-line Package (through-hole) | | AU | TQFP | Thin Quad Flat Pack (surface mount) | | MU | QFN/MLF | Quad Flat No-leads / Micro Lead Frame | | SU | SOIC | Small Outline IC | | XU | TSSOP | Thin Shrink Small Outline Package | | TU | QFP | Quad Flat Pack (larger than TQFP) | | CU | WLCSP/UCSP | Wafer Level / Ultra Chip Scale Package | | SS | SSOP | Shrink Small Outline Package |
Package Code Pattern
[PACKAGE_TYPE][GRADE]
│ │
│ └── U = Standard, C = Commercial, I = Industrial
└── P=PDIP, A=TQFP, M=QFN, S=SOIC, X=TSSOP, T=QFP, C=WLCSP
Product Families
8-bit AVR Microcontrollers
| Family | Description | Example | |--------|-------------|---------| | ATmega | Feature-rich 8-bit | ATMEGA328P, ATMEGA2560 | | ATtiny | Small footprint 8-bit | ATTINY85, ATTINY13A | | AT90 | USB/CAN enabled | AT90USB162, AT90CAN128 | | ATxmega | Extended 8/16-bit | ATXMEGA128A1U |
32-bit ARM Microcontrollers
| Family | Core | Example | |--------|------|---------| | ATSAM3 | Cortex-M3 | ATSAM3X8E (Arduino Due) | | ATSAM4 | Cortex-M4 | ATSAM4S16B | | ATSAMD | Cortex-M0+ | ATSAMD21G18A | | ATSAME | Cortex-M7 | ATSAME70Q21 |
Memory Products
| Family | Type | Example | |--------|------|---------| | AT24C | I2C EEPROM | AT24C256-PU (256Kbit) | | AT25 | SPI EEPROM/Flash | AT25SF041 (4Mbit Flash) | | AT45DB | DataFlash | AT45DB321E |
Security/Touch Products
| Family | Type | Example | |--------|------|---------| | ATECC | Crypto Authentication | ATECC608A | | ATSHA | SHA Authentication | ATSHA204A | | AT42QT | QTouch Controller | AT42QT1010 | | ATMXT | maXTouch Controller | ATMXT336S |
Series Number Encoding
ATmega Series Numbers
The number encodes flash size and sometimes pin count:
| Series | Flash | SRAM | EEPROM | Notes | |--------|-------|------|--------|-------| | ATMEGA8 | 8KB | 1KB | 512B | Original | | ATMEGA88 | 8KB | 1KB | 512B | Improved | | ATMEGA168 | 16KB | 1KB | 512B | Pin-compatible with 88 | | ATMEGA328 | 32KB | 2KB | 1KB | Arduino Uno | | ATMEGA1284 | 128KB | 16KB | 4KB | High memory | | ATMEGA2560 | 256KB | 8KB | 4KB | Arduino Mega |
ATtiny Series Numbers
| Series | Flash | Pins | Notes | |--------|-------|------|-------| | ATTINY13 | 1KB | 8 | Smallest | | ATTINY25 | 2KB | 8 | | | ATTINY45 | 4KB | 8 | | | ATTINY85 | 8KB | 8 | Popular small MCU | | ATTINY84 | 8KB | 14 | More I/O | | ATTINY2313 | 2KB | 20 | UART included |
Variant Suffixes (Before Hyphen)
| Suffix | Meaning | |--------|---------| | P | picoPower - Ultra low power modes | | A | Revision A / Automotive grade | | V | Low voltage operation (1.8V-5.5V) | | PA | picoPower + Automotive | | PB | picoPower revision B | | U | USB capable | | L | Low voltage (1.8V-3.6V only) |
Example Variants
ATMEGA328 → Original
ATMEGA328P → picoPower (lower sleep current)
ATMEGA328PB → picoPower revision B (more features)
ATMEGA328PA → Automotive grade picoPower
Temperature Grades
| Grade | Range | Suffix Position | |-------|-------|-----------------| | Commercial | 0°C to +70°C | (no suffix) | | Industrial | -40°C to +85°C | Often implicit | | Automotive | -40°C to +125°C | A in variant or separate |
Common Arduino Mappings
| Arduino Board | MCU | Full MPN | |---------------|-----|----------| | Uno | ATmega328P | ATMEGA328P-PU | | Nano | ATmega328P | ATMEGA328P-AU | | Mega 2560 | ATmega2560 | ATMEGA2560-16AU | | Leonardo | ATmega32U4 | ATMEGA32U4-AU | | Due | ATSAM3X8E | ATSAM3X8E-AU | | Zero | ATSAMD21G18A | ATSAMD21G18A-AU |
Handler Implementation Notes
Package Code Extraction
// Atmel package codes are AFTER the hyphen
// ATMEGA328P-PU → package = "PU"
String[] parts = mpn.split("-");
if (parts.length > 1) {
String suffix = parts[parts.length - 1];
return switch (suffix) {
case "PU" -> "PDIP";
case "AU" -> "TQFP";
case "MU" -> "QFN/MLF";
case "SU" -> "SOIC";
case "XU" -> "TSSOP";
case "TU" -> "QFP";
case "CU" -> "WLCSP";
default -> suffix;
};
}
Series Extraction
// Extract family + number, stop at variant letter or hyphen
// ATMEGA328P-PU → series = "ATMEGA328"
// ATTINY85-20PU → series = "ATTINY85"
if (mpn.startsWith("ATMEGA")) {
// Find end of digits after "ATMEGA"
int end = "ATMEGA".length();
while (end < mpn.length() && Character.isDigit(mpn.charAt(end))) {
end++;
}
return mpn.substring(0, end);
}
Pattern Matching
// ATmega: ATMEGA + digits + optional letter variant + optional -package
"^ATMEGA[0-9]+[A-Z]?(?:-[A-Z]{2,4})?$"
// ATtiny: ATTINY + digits + optional variant + optional -package
"^ATTINY[0-9]+[A-Z]?(?:-[A-Z]{2,4})?$"
// SAM: ATSAM + series + variant + -package
"^ATSAM[A-Z0-9]+(?:-[A-Z]{2,4})?$"
Pin Compatibility Groups
28-pin PDIP/TQFP Compatible
- ATMEGA8 / ATMEGA88 / ATMEGA168 / ATMEGA328
- Direct drop-in replacements (different flash sizes)
8-pin DIP/SOIC Compatible
- ATTINY13 / ATTINY25 / ATTINY45 / ATTINY85
- Increasing flash sizes, same pinout
44-pin TQFP Compatible
- ATMEGA16 / ATMEGA32 / ATMEGA644 / ATMEGA1284
Related Files
- Handler:
manufacturers/AtmelHandler.java - Component types:
MICROCONTROLLER_ATMEL,MCU_ATMEL,MEMORY_ATMEL,TOUCH_ATMEL,CRYPTO_ATMEL - Package registry:
PackageCodeRegistry.java(Atmel-specific codes: PU, AU, MU, SU, XU, CU)
Learnings & Edge Cases
- Microchip acquisition: Atmel was acquired by Microchip in 2016. New parts may have Microchip branding but same MPN structure
- Speed grades: Some parts have speed suffix before package (e.g., ATMEGA328P-20AU = 20MHz max)
- PU vs AU: Same chip, different package. PU=DIP for prototyping, AU=TQFP for production
- P suffix importance: ATMEGA328 and ATMEGA328P are different! The P version has lower power consumption
- Memory in name: ATmega328 has 32KB flash (32), ATtiny85 has 8KB (8), but encoding isn't always consistent
Handler Cleanup Notes (TODO)
AtmelHandler needs the same cleanup as TIHandler (PR #77):
- [ ] Replace
HashSetwithSet.of()ingetSupportedTypes() - [ ] Handler doesn't use
PackageCodeRegistry- has local switch statement - [ ] Pattern may not handle speed grades like
-20AU(20MHz before package) - [ ] Case sensitivity - some methods use
mpn.startsWith()withouttoUpperCase()
Test Notes
When creating AtmelHandlerTest:
- Put in
no.cantara.electronic.component.lib.handlerspackage (NOTmanufacturers) - Use
@BeforeAllwithMPNUtils.getManufacturerHandler("ATMEGA328P") - Test categories: ATmega, ATtiny, AT90, XMEGA, SAM, Memory (AT24C, AT25), Touch (AT42QT), Crypto (ATECC, ATSHA)
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