Atmel expands its QTouch product offering with a Touch-Library for AVR microcontrollers

SAN JOSE, Calif., Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Atmel(R) Corporation (NASDAQ: ATML) -- an industry leader in capacitive touch sensing products, announced today the availability of its advanced Touch-library that resides on the microcontroller instead of a separate chip resulting in a highly cost effective solution, which will be provided at no additional cost. The library consists of precompiled and verified binary files that can be configured individually as discrete keys or can be combined at will, as groups, to form wheels and sliders.

Atmel offers a complete development environment that now makes it easy for a user to develop a touch system based on their AVR(R) microcontroller. The AVR core combined with Atmel's QTouch(TM) technology provides the industry's most robust touch solution, particularly in demanding applications. This has multiple advantages for the designer, for example a high signal to noise ratio that improves the systems design margin, increases EMC performance and provides high ESD tolerance. In addition, designers can address applications where reliability is required, such as stovetops, wall ovens, automotive applications and where high moisture levels are present.

"Atmel has supplied fixed function and custom capacitive multitouch screen solutions to mobile handsets and other high profile, high volume applications. Through the extension of this technology to a user-driven Touch-library we are making superior touch technology available for all customers and applications," said Ingar Fredriksen, Atmel's AVR Product Marketing Director. "Requests for AVR microcontrollers with integrated touch are an increasingly important part of the UI related microcontroller business. The Touch-library targets this market, and further strengthens Atmel's position as the technology leader in touch sensor solutions," he continued.

Atmel has a broad range of AVR based microcontrollers which allows the designer to develop a combined Touch sensor / user application at the most appropriate price point very rapidly, ensuring that the best price / performance is achievable today. Atmel's 15 years of experience of design and developing touch sensor technology combined with the industry leading AVR technology allow users access to the best possible design options at the lowest overall cost of ownership.

Availability and Pricing

The Touch-library is available now for download at the product web page together with AVR QTouch Studio, royalty free front end software supporting the two available demonstration boards TS2080A and TS2080B, supporting ATmega88, ATtiny88, ATmega88PA, ATmega168P and ATmega328P, respectively.

About Atmel

Atmel is a worldwide leader in the design and manufacture of microcontrollers, advanced logic, mixed-signal, nonvolatile memory and radio frequency (RF) components. Leveraging one of the industry's broadest intellectual property (IP) technology portfolios, Atmel is able to provide the electronics industry with complete system solutions focused on consumer, industrial, security, communications, computing and automotive markets.

(C) 2009 Atmel Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Atmel(R), Atmel logo and combinations thereof, and AVR(R) and others are registered trademarks, QTouch(TM) and others are trademarks of Atmel Corporation or its subsidiaries. Other terms and product names may be trademarks of others.

Information:

Atmel's Touch-library product information may be retrieved at http://www.atmel.com/touchswlib

Video podcasts introducing Atmel Touch-library are available on the AVR TV website at http://www.avrtv.com.

Press Contact:

Helen Perlegos, Public Relations

Tel: +1 (408) 487-2963, Email: Email Contact

Web site: http://www.atmel.com/