Atmel (now Microchip) Manufacturer Skill

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

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Package Codes (After Hyphen)

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

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Product Families

8-bit AVR Microcontrollers

32-bit ARM Microcontrollers

Memory Products

Security/​Touch Products

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Series Number Encoding

ATmega Series Numbers

The number encodes flash size and sometimes pin count:

ATtiny Series Numbers

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Variant Suffixes (Before Hyphen)

Example Variants

ATMEGA328    → Original
ATMEGA328P   → picoPower (lower sleep current)
ATMEGA328PB  → picoPower revision B (more features)
ATMEGA328PA  → Automotive grade picoPower

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Temperature Grades

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Common Arduino Mappings

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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})?$"

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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

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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)

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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 HashSet with Set.of() in getSupportedTypes()
• 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() without toUpperCase()

Test Notes

When creating AtmelHandlerTest:

• Put in no.cantara.electronic.component.lib.handlers package (NOT manufacturers)
• Use @BeforeAll with MPNUtils.getManufacturerHandler("ATMEGA328P")
• Test categories: ATmega, ATtiny, AT90, XMEGA, SAM, Memory (AT24C, AT25), Touch (AT42QT), Crypto (ATECC, ATSHA)

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