Apollo4 Blue 01

Ambiq, the leader in low-power System-on-Chip (SoC) design, has once again raised the bar with the Apollo4 Blue SoC. With the lowest dynamic and sleep mode power on the market, the Apollo4 Blue SoC allows designers of next generation wearables and smart devices to take their innovative products to the next level.

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Block Diagram for the Ultra-Low Power Apollo4 Blue SoC

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The Apollo4 Blue SoC family is the 4^th 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 Blue with its 32-bit Arm^® Cortex^®-M4 core with Floating Point Unit (FPU) is implemented on the TSMC^® 22nm ULL process. The Apollo4 Blue is available now with BGA packaging, as well as Bluetooth^® LE.

With up to 2MB of MRAM and 1.8MB of SRAM, the Apollo4 Blue has more than enough compute and storage to handle complex algorithms and neural networks while displaying vibrant, crystal-clear, and smooth graphics. If additional memory is required, an external memory is supported through Ambiq’s multi-bit SPI and eMMC interfaces.

The Apollo4 Blue 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, and the smart home.

Features Highlights 02

Low Power Sleep Mode with RTC

Achieving an unmatched 3 μA/MHz executing from SRAM or MRAM with cache, and 1.5 μA sleep mode with RTC¹.

¹_{Assumes ideal DC-DC stepdown from 3.3V to 1.8V.}

TurboSPOT

Up to 192 MHz clock frequency with TurboSPOT^TM.

2D/2.5D Graphics Accelerator

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.

Bluetooth Low Energy 5

Apollo4 Blue MCU is embedded with Bluetooth Low Energy 5 radio including Angle of Arrival (AOA) and Angle of Departure (AOD) for always-on applications.

Proprietary Audio Interface

Proprietary audio interfaces and ultra-low power analog microphone for truly always on voice processing.

Integrated Audio Subsystem

Serves as an applications processor with a fully integrated audio subsystem and interface to BT/BLE 5/WiFi radios.

Digital and Analog Peripheral Interfaces

Includes an extensive set of digital and analog peripheral interfaces with integrated ADCs and digital sensor processing using the integrated serial master ports.

Ultra-Low Power ADC

8 PDM channels, 2 stereo I²S channels with ASRC, and an ultra-low power ADC for analog mics.

TSMC 22nm ULL Process

Microcontroller implemented with TSMC 22nm ULL process and Arm Artisan Physical IP.

Specifications 03

Ultra-Low Supply Current
3 μA/MHz executing from MRAM (with cache)
3 μA/MHz executing from SRAM
Low power sleep mode with RTC and 8KB SRAM retention

High-Performance Arm Cortex-M4 Processor with FPU
Up to 192 MHz clock frequency
Floating Point Unit (FPU)
Memory Protection Unit (MPU)
Secure Boot

AMA4B2KK-KBR

Bluetooth Low Energy 5
2 Mbps, extended advertising packets
AOA/AOD
Tx: 4 mA @ 0 dBm, Rx 4 mA
Tx: -20 dBm to +10 dBm output power
Rx Sensitivity: -97 dBm at 1 Mbps, -94 dBm at 2 Mbps

Ultra-Low Power Memory
Up to 2MB of non-volatile MRAM for code/data
Up to 1.8MB of low power SRAM for code/data

Ultra-Low Power Interface for On- and Off-Chip Sensors
12-bit ADC, 11 selectable input channels
Up to 2.8 MS/s sampling rate
Temperature sensor with +/-3°C accuracy

Ultra-Low Power Flexible Serial Peripherals
3x 2/4/8-bit SPI master interfaces
7x I²C/SPI masters for peripheral communication
1x SPI slave for host communications
4x UART modules with flow control
1x USB 2.0 HS/FS device controller
1x SDIO (SD3.0)/1x eMMC (v4.51)

Display
MIPI DSI 1.2 with 2 data lanes up to 500 Mbps
Up to 640 x 480 resolution
4 layers with alpha blending
Frame Buffer Decompression

Graphics
2D/2.5D graphics accelerator
Full Alpha Blending
Texture and Frame Buffer Compression

Audio Processing
1x stereo Low Power Analog microphones
4x stereo Digital microphones
2x full-duplex I²S ports with ASRC

Rich Set of Clock Sources
16-52 MHz and 32.768 kHz Crystal (XTAL) oscillators
1 kHz Low Frequency RC (LFRC) oscillator
2x High Frequency RC (HFRC) oscillator – 192/384 MHz

Power Management
Operating range: 1.71-2.2 V, –40°C to 85°C
SIMO buck
Multiple I/O voltages supported

Applications
Smart watches/bands
Wireless sensors and IoT
Activity and fitness monitors
Children's watches
Animal trackers
Motion and tracking devices
Alarms and security system
Far-field voice remotes
Consumer medical devices
Predictive maintenance
Smart home