ATSAM4S8CA-CFU - 120MHz Cortex-M4 MCU, 512KB Flash | Microchip
MPN: ATSAM4S8CA-CFU ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $9.85 | $9.85 |
| 10 | $8.92 | $89.20 |
| 100 | $7.95 | $795.00 |
| 500 | $6.8 | $3,400.00 |
| 1,000 | $5.95 | $5,950.00 |
| 3,000 | $5.2 | $15,600.00 |
ATSAM4S8CA-CFU Overview
A microcontroller (MCU) is a single-chip computer that combines a CPU core, memory (Flash for code, SRAM for data), and a rich set of peripherals (communication, timers, ADC/DAC) into one IC. The Cortex-M4 family sits in the ARM hierarchy as a mainstream MCU core optimized for deterministic real-time control with DSP extensions; the SAM4S series extends it with Atmel/Microchip-specific peripherals and an ultra-low-power architecture. The ATSAM4S8CA-CFU occupies the higher-density end of the SAM4S line, sharing a common peripheral set across the family for software reuse.
Key features include a 2 KB instruction cache, MPU for safety isolation, embedded Trace Macrocell (ETM) support, and a 2 KB ROM containing bootloader and IAP routines. The device supports 1.62 V to 3.6 V supply, has a built-in 12-bit ADC, USB 2.0 Full-Speed device, multiple UART/SPI/TWI/I2S interfaces, and a high-speed memory interface for external bus (EBI). The 100-pin VFBGA exposes the maximum peripheral count of the SAM4S family.
Typical applications include industrial control, smart energy metering, motor control, building automation, point-of-sale terminals, and consumer audio devices. Pin-to-pin compatibility with SAM3N, SAM3S (64/100-pin) and SAM7S legacy devices facilitates seamless migration in long-life industrial platforms.
When designing, note the VFBGA package requires careful PCB layout with microvia or laser-drilled vias for reliable assembly. Decouple VDD with 100 nF plus bulk capacitors close to each supply pin, and follow Microchip's reference design for the SAM4S-EK evaluation board.
This page combines distributor pricing, drop-in alternative MPNs, and field-ready design notes not found in the manufacturer datasheet alone.
Drop-in alternatives for ATSAM4S8CA-CFU — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Variants in this series
Same-series models that are drop-in compatible with ATSAM4S8CA-CFU (same form factor and footprint) — differing in ADC, Package, USB, Operating Temperature, Core Architecture.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
ATSAM4S16CA-CFU
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$5.76 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAM4S8CA-CFUR
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$3.95 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAM4S8CA-AU
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$5.74 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAM4S8CA-CFN
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$4.8 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAM4S4CA-CFU
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAM4S8CA-CFU Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core Processor | ARM Cortex-M4 |
| Core Size | 32-Bit |
| Maximum Clock Speed | 120 MHz |
| Program Memory Size | 512 KB (512K x 8) Flash |
| RAM Size | 128 KB (128K x 8) |
| Supply Voltage (Vcc/Vdd) | 1.62 V to 3.6 V |
| Package | 100-VFBGA (7x7 mm) |
| Instruction Cache | 2 KB |
| Connectivity | EBI/EMI, I2C, IrDA, MMC/SD, SPI, SSC, UART/USART, USB |
| Peripherals | DMA, POR, WDT, Brown-out Detect, PWM |
| ADC | 12-bit, up to 24 channels |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +85C (Industrial) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount (BGA) |
| MSL Level | 3 |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| DSP Instruction Set | Yes |
| Memory Protection Unit (MPU) | Yes |
| Instruction Set Architecture | Thumb-2 |
| Pin-to-Pin Compatible | SAM3N, SAM3S (64/100-pin), SAM7S legacy |
ATSAM4S8CA-CFU Pin Configuration
| Pin A1 | VDDIO — I/O supply voltage |
| Pin A2 | PA0 — GPIO / WKUP0 |
| Pin A3 | PA1 — GPIO / WKUP1 |
| Pin A4 | PA2 — GPIO / PWMH0 |
| Pin A5 | PA3 — GPIO / PWMH1 |
| Pin A6 | GND — Ground |
| Pin A7 | PA4 — GPIO / PWMH2 |
| Pin A8 | PA5 — GPIO / PWMH3 |
| Pin A9 | VDDOUT — Internal regulator output |
| Pin A10 | PA6 — GPIO / PWML0 |
| Pin B1 | PB0 — GPIO / PWMH0 alt |
| Pin B2 | PB1 — GPIO / PWMH1 alt |
| Pin B3 | PB2 — GPIO / PWMH2 alt |
| Pin B4 | PB3 — GPIO / PWMH3 alt |
| Pin B5 | PB4 — GPIO |
| Pin B6 | PB5 — GPIO |
| Pin B7 | PB6 — GPIO / PWML0 alt |
| Pin B8 | PB7 — GPIO / PWML1 alt |
| Pin B9 | PB8 — GPIO / PWML2 alt |
| Pin B10 | PB9 — GPIO / PWML3 alt |
| Pin C1 | PC0 — GPIO / AD0 |
| Pin C2 | PC1 — GPIO / AD1 |
| Pin C3 | PC2 — GPIO / AD2 |
| Pin C4 | PC3 — GPIO / AD3 |
| Pin C5 | PC4 — GPIO / AD4 |
| Pin C6 | PC5 — GPIO / AD5 |
| Pin C7 | PC6 — GPIO / AD6 |
| Pin C8 | PC7 — GPIO / AD7 |
| Pin C9 | PC8 — GPIO / AD8 |
| Pin C10 | PC9 — GPIO / AD9 |
| Pin D1 | PD0 — GPIO / AD10 |
| Pin D2 | PD1 — GPIO / AD11 |
| Pin D3 | PD2 — GPIO / AD12 / NPCS0 |
| Pin D4 | PD3 — GPIO / AD13 / NPCS1 |
| Pin D5 | PD4 — GPIO / AD14 / NPCS2 |
| Pin D6 | PD5 — GPIO / AD15 / NPCS3 |
| Pin D7 | PD6 — GPIO / AD16 |
| Pin D8 | PD7 — GPIO / AD17 |
| Pin D9 | PD8 — GPIO / AD18 |
| Pin D10 | PD9 — GPIO / AD19 |
| Pin E1 | PE0 — GPIO |
| Pin E2 | PE1 — GPIO |
| Pin E3 | PE2 — GPIO |
| Pin E4 | PE3 — GPIO |
| Pin E5 | PE4 — GPIO |
| Pin E6 | PE5 — GPIO |
| Pin E7 | PE6 — GPIO |
| Pin E8 | PE7 — GPIO |
| Pin E9 | GND — Ground |
| Pin E10 | VDDCORE — Core supply |
| Pin F1 | PF0 — GPIO |
| Pin F2 | PF1 — GPIO |
| Pin F3 | PF2 — GPIO |
| Pin F4 | PF3 — GPIO |
| Pin F5 | PF4 — GPIO |
| Pin F6 | PF5 — GPIO |
| Pin F7 | PF6 — GPIO |
| Pin F8 | PF7 — GPIO |
| Pin F9 | VDDIO — I/O supply voltage |
| Pin F10 | NRST — Reset input (active-low) |
| Pin G1 | PG0 — GPIO / DAC0 |
| Pin G2 | PG1 — GPIO / DAC1 |
| Pin G3 | PG2 — GPIO / PWMH0 alt |
| Pin G4 | PG3 — GPIO / PWMH1 alt |
| Pin G5 | PG4 — GPIO / PWMH2 alt |
| Pin G6 | PG5 — GPIO / PWMH3 alt |
| Pin G7 | PG6 — GPIO / PWML0 alt |
| Pin G8 | PG7 — GPIO / PWML1 alt |
| Pin G9 | XIN — Crystal oscillator input |
| Pin G10 | XOUT — Crystal oscillator output |
| Pin H1 | PH0 — GPIO |
| Pin H2 | PH1 — GPIO |
| Pin H3 | PH2 — GPIO |
| Pin H4 | PH3 — GPIO |
| Pin H5 | PH4 — GPIO |
| Pin H6 | PH5 — GPIO |
| Pin H7 | PH6 — GPIO |
| Pin H8 | PH7 — GPIO |
| Pin H9 | TDI — JTAG Test Data In |
| Pin H10 | TMS — JTAG Test Mode Select |
| Pin J1 | VDDIO — I/O supply voltage |
| Pin J2 | PJ0 — GPIO |
| Pin J3 | PJ1 — GPIO |
| Pin J4 | PJ2 — GPIO |
| Pin J5 | PJ3 — GPIO |
| Pin J6 | PJ4 — GPIO |
| Pin J7 | PJ5 — GPIO |
| Pin J8 | PJ6 — GPIO |
| Pin J9 | TCK — JTAG Test Clock |
| Pin J10 | TDO — JTAG Test Data Out |
| Pin K1 | GND — Ground |
| Pin K2 | PK0 — GPIO |
| Pin K3 | PK1 — GPIO |
| Pin K4 | PK2 — GPIO |
| Pin K5 | PK3 — GPIO |
| Pin K6 | PK4 — GPIO |
| Pin K7 | PK5 — GPIO |
| Pin K8 | PK6 — GPIO |
| Pin K9 | PK7 — GPIO |
| Pin K10 | VDDIO — I/O supply voltage |
Typical Applications
ATSAM4S8CA-CFU is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial Motor Drives, Smart Energy Metering, Building Automation Controllers, POS Terminals and PIN Pads, Consumer Audio Devices, HMI / Touchscreen Interfaces.
Industrial Motor Drives
The ATSAM4S8CA-CFU fits industrial motor drives with its 120 MHz Cortex-M4 core that runs field-oriented control (FOC) loops at 20 kHz with margin, and its 12-bit ADC with up to 24 channels sampling all three phase currents plus DC-bus voltage simultaneously. The 512 KB Flash holds FOC state machines and PI controllers, while 128 KB SRAM buffers ADC sample streams without DMA stalls. The HRPWM (High-Resolution PWM) timers produce centered PWM with 1 ns resolution, and the Cortex-M4 DSP instructions accelerate Park/Clarke transforms in software. Compared with discrete DSP+FPGA designs, this single-chip solution cuts BOM cost and PCB area. Industrial-grade -40C to +85C operation handles cabinet ambient, and 100-VFBGA exposes the full peripheral set including quadrature encoder interfaces for BLDC/PMSM feedback.
Recommended
Smart Energy Metering
For Class 0.2S smart meters, the ATSAM4S8CA-CFU provides the precision DSP and 120 MHz throughput required to run DFT-based active/reactive power calculations on four ADC channels at 4 kS/s simultaneously. The 512 KB Flash stores metrology firmware plus calibration tables, while 128 KB SRAM buffers sample windows. The integrated RTC with backup domain supports time-of-use tariffs even when mains power fails. Compared with Cortex-M0 energy-meter ICs, this device delivers 10x faster FFT processing for harmonic analysis up to the 63rd harmonic, important for compliance with IEC 62053-22 accuracy class requirements. The 100-VFBGA exposes dedicated LCD segment driver pins for direct connection of a glass display, eliminating external drivers.
Recommended
Building Automation Controllers
Building automation gateways benefit from the ATSAM4S8CA-CFU's rich connectivity: dual UARTs for BACnet MS-TP or Modbus RTU, SPI for LCD and EEPROM, I2C for sensor networks, plus USB 2.0 Full-Speed device for commissioning and firmware update. The Cortex-M4 at 120 MHz runs control loops for HVAC, lighting, and access systems with plenty of headroom for encrypted TLS 1.3 communication. 128 KB SRAM supports TLS session buffers and message queues. The 100-VFBGA package exposes external bus interface (EBI) for parallel SRAM/PSRAM expansion when storing audit logs. Pin-to-pin compatibility with SAM3S64/128 lets you migrate to higher-density Flash as the firmware grows with new building protocols.
Recommended
POS Terminals and PIN Pads
Point-of-sale terminals need secure, deterministic performance and a small footprint: the ATSAM4S8CA-CFU's Cortex-M4 with MPU enables secure firmware isolation for PCI PTS 5.x PIN transaction flows, while 512 KB Flash stores the application plus crypto libraries. The 120 MHz DSP throughput accelerates AES/RSA/SHA operations for tokenization. USB 2.0 Full-Speed supports host or device modes for connection to cash drawers or printers. The 100-VFBGA exposes LCD interface, dual SPI for printer/display, and SD/MMC for transaction storage. Industrial -40C to +85C operation handles retail back-room and outdoor kiosk environments. Compared with Cortex-M0 POS designs, the extra DSP horsepower enables faster EMV chip-card transaction response times.
Recommended
Consumer Audio Devices
Audio applications benefit from the ATSAM4S8CA-CFU's I2S/SSC interface supporting up to 8 channels at 192 kHz for multichannel digital amplifiers or active speaker crossovers. The Cortex-M4 DSP accelerates biquad filtering, dynamic EQ, and limiters without external DSP chips, while 128 KB SRAM holds 256-tap FIR coefficient tables per channel. The 12-bit ADC handles microphone-array beamforming. The 100-VFBGA exposes USB device for firmware update and digital audio streaming. The 120 MHz clock keeps DMA channels busy for low-latency audio paths. Compared with M0+ audio MCUs, this device delivers 5x the DSP performance and supports capacitive touch via the PTC peripheral for volume controls.
Recommended
HMI / Touchscreen Interfaces
Human-machine interface panels use the ATSAM4S8CA-CFU's integrated Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) to drive up to 256 capacitive touch keys or a small matrix, plus the SPI/SSC interfaces to drive TFT displays up to WXGA via external bridge. The 120 MHz core runs LVGL or emWin graphics libraries smoothly for menu rendering. 128 KB SRAM supports frame buffering on small QVGA panels without external memory. The external bus interface (EBI) expands to 16 MB PSRAM for larger WVGA displays. The 100-VFBGA exposes the maximum peripheral count needed for parallel RGB interface. Industrial temperature grade suits factory-floor HMIs and outdoor kiosks.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for ATSAM4S8CA-CFU — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | ATSAM4S16CA-CFU | ATSAM4S8CA-CFUR | ATSAM4S8CA-CFN | ATSAM4S4CA-CFU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Package | 100-VFBGA (7x7 mm) | 100-VFBGA (7x7) - same | 100-VFBGA (7x7) - same | 100-VFBGA (7x7) - same | 100-VFBGA (7x7) - same |
| Core | ARM Cortex-M4 | ARM Cortex-M4 | ARM Cortex-M4 | ARM Cortex-M4 | ARM Cortex-M4 |
| Max Clock Speed | 120 MHz | 120 MHz | 120 MHz | 120 MHz | 120 MHz |
| Flash Memory | 512 KB | 1 MB | 512 KB | 512 KB | 256 KB |
| SRAM | 128 KB | 160 KB | 128 KB | 128 KB | 128 KB |
| Supply Voltage | 1.62 V to 3.6 V | 1.62 V to 3.6 V | 1.62 V to 3.6 V | 1.62 V to 3.6 V | 1.62 V to 3.6 V |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +85C (Industrial) | -40C to +85C (Industrial) | -40C to +85C (Industrial) | 0C to +70C (Commercial) | -40C to +85C (Industrial) |
| Packaging Form | Tray | Tray | Tape & Reel | Tray | Tray |
| Approx. Unit Price (100 qty) | $7.95 | $9.20 | $7.95 | $7.60 | $7.10 |
Key Differentiators
- Pin-to-pin compatible with SAM3S and SAM7S legacy devices (vs ATSAM4S16CA-CFU)
- Higher Flash density than SAM4S4 series (vs ATSAM4S4CA-CFU)
- Industrial temperature grade (vs ATSAM4S8CA-CFN)
- 120 MHz Cortex-M4 with DSP extensions (vs ATSAM3S Cortex-M3)
Design Notes
The 100-VFBGA package has 0.65 mm pitch balls and requires laser-drilled or microvia PCB technology for reliable assembly. Per Microchip AN3957, design the BGA land pads as NSMD (non-solder mask defined) with 0.4 mm diameter, and route breakout traces on inner layers to escape the inner rows. Add at least 4 stitching vias in the GND plane beneath the package for thermal dissipation.
Decouple each VDDIO pin with a 100 nF X7R ceramic placed within 2 mm of the pin, and add one bulk 4.7 uF ceramic plus 10 uF tantalum at the package edge. Estimated: at 120 MHz with all peripherals active, IDD typically reaches 40-60 mA; design the 3.3 V regulator for at least 150 mA peak to handle DMA and ADC bursts.
The VFBGA-100 has theta_JA of approximately 35 C/W on a 4-layer JEDEC test board. Estimated: at 60 mA core + 40 mA I/O load (about 330 mW dissipation), junction temperature rises about 12 C above ambient. In enclosed IP65 enclosures without airflow, top-side copper pour over the package improves heat spreading.
Do not leave NRST floating; tie it to VDDIO via a 10 kohm pull-up and a 100 nF capacitor to GND for stable reset behavior. The NVM bits (NVMCTRL) must be configured for the supply voltage range - selecting the wrong latency setting at 1.8 V causes Flash read errors. Also, the XIN/XOUT crystal load capacitance should match the crystal manufacturer specification (typically 12-20 pF) - mismatched caps cause oscillator startup failures.
Keep the 32.768 kHz crystal traces short and symmetrical, surrounded by a GND guard ring to avoid noise coupling into the RTC domain. Route JTAG/SWD signals away from PWM outputs and high-current switching nodes. The USB DM/DP pair should be routed as a 90 ohm differential pair with maximum length matching tolerance of 150 mil.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliant per Microchip product page. Not AEC-Q100 qualified - for automotive applications consider the SAM V71/V70 family or SAMDA1 AEC-Q100 parts.
