ATSAMC21G15A-MUT - 48MHz Cortex-M0+ MCU, 32KB Flash | Microchip
MPN: ATSAMC21G15A-MUT β Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3.42 | $3.42 |
| 10 | $2.98 | $29.80 |
| 100 | $2.45 | $245.00 |
| 500 | $2.18 | $1,090.00 |
| 1,000 | $1.94 | $1,940.00 |
ATSAMC21G15A-MUT Overview
A microcontroller (MCU) is a single-chip computer that integrates a CPU core, program and data memory, and a rich set of peripherals such as timers, communication controllers, and analog blocks. The Cortex-M0+ is ARM's smallest and most energy-efficient application processor core, designed for deterministic real-time embedded workloads. Within the SAM family taxonomy, the ATSAMC21G15A sits at the entry of the Cortex-M0+ lineup with CAN-FD connectivity, bridging simple 8/16-bit MCU designs and higher-end Cortex-M4 designs.
Key features include 32 KB Flash, 4 KB SRAM, a 12-channel 12-bit 1 Msps ADC, two Analog Comparators, a 10-bit DAC, six SERCOM (configurable serial communication) modules, one CAN-FD controller, one USB Full-Speed controller, and a 32-pin Peripheral Touch Controller. The device also supports 5 V I/O on most pins, which simplifies interfacing to legacy 5 V logic and analog front-ends without level shifters.
Architecturally, the ATSAMC21G15A uses Microchip's SAM C21 platform with an event system, a Direct Memory Access (DMA) controller, and a SleepWalking peripheral power-gating scheme. These features reduce active and standby current, enabling battery-friendly designs. The integrated PTC supports up to 32 self-capacitance or mutual-capacitance touch channels for buttons, sliders, and proximity sensors.
Typical applications include industrial CAN-FD nodes, automotive body and HVAC control modules, 5 V sensor hubs, USB-CDC/HID peripherals, capacitive-touch human-machine interfaces (HMI), and small home appliances. The 5 V tolerance and CAN-FD support also make it a strong fit for 24 V industrial automation backplanes where 5 V tolerance reduces external protection.
When designing with this device, plan a 32 kHz external crystal or 32.768 kHz internal ultra-low-power oscillator for RTC accuracy, and place the decoupling network (100 nF + 4.7 uF bulk) within 3 mm of the VDD pins. For CAN-FD, terminate the bus with 120 ohm at both ends and use a CAN-FD transceiver such as the MCP2562FD.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in SAM C21 alternatives, and practical design notes not found in the manufacturer datasheet alone.
Drop-in alternatives for ATSAMC21G15A-MUT β 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 ATSAMC21G15A-MUT (same form factor and footprint) β differing in DAC, Program Memory (Flash), ADC, Analog Comparators, Package.
Quick Comparison Tool β Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
ATSAMC21G15A-MNT
β Drop-Inβ In Stock
$2.3 / Unit
View Datasheet βATSAMC21G16A-MUT
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―π Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAMC21E16A-MUT
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―π Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAMC20G15A-MUT
β Drop-In β οΈ εζ°εΎ ιͺθ―β In Stock
$1.55 / Unit
View Datasheet βATSAMC21G15A-MUT Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core | ARM Cortex-M0+ (32-bit) |
| Maximum Clock Frequency | 48 MHz |
| Program Memory (Flash) | 32 KB |
| Data Memory (SRAM) | 4 KB |
| Supply Voltage Range | 2.7 V to 5.5 V |
| I/O Voltage Tolerance | 5 V tolerant |
| ADC | 12-bit, up to 1 Msps, 12 channels |
| DAC | 10-bit, 1 channel |
| Analog Comparators | 2 |
| SERCOM Modules | 6 (configurable UART/SPI/I2C) |
| CAN-FD Controllers | 1 |
| USB | Full-Speed USB 2.0, device/host |
| Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) | Yes, up to 32 channels |
| DMA Channels | 12 |
| Operating Temperature Range | -40C to +85C (industrial) |
| Package | 48-pin QFN (7x7 mm) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| MSL Level | 3 |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Functional Safety (FuSa) | Class B capable (SAM C21 family) |
ATSAMC21G15A-MUT Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | VDD β Digital supply voltage (2.7V to 5.5V) |
| Pin 2 | PA00 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM1[0] |
| Pin 3 | PA01 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM1[1] |
| Pin 4 | PA02 β General purpose I/O / AIN0 (ADC input) |
| Pin 5 | PA03 β General purpose I/O / AIN1 (ADC input) |
| Pin 6 | GND β Ground |
| Pin 7 | PA04 β General purpose I/O / AIN2 / VOUT (DAC output) |
| Pin 8 | PA05 β General purpose I/O / AIN3 |
| Pin 9 | PA06 β General purpose I/O / AIN4 |
| Pin 10 | PA07 β General purpose I/O / AIN5 |
| Pin 11 | PA08 β General purpose I/O / AIN6 / SERCOM0[0] |
| Pin 12 | PA09 β General purpose I/O / AIN7 / SERCOM0[1] |
| Pin 13 | PA10 β General purpose I/O / AIN8 / SERCOM0[2] |
| Pin 14 | PA11 β General purpose I/O / AIN9 / SERCOM0[3] |
| Pin 15 | VDD β Digital supply voltage |
| Pin 16 | GND β Ground |
| Pin 17 | PA14 β General purpose I/O / XIN32K (32.768 kHz crystal in) |
| Pin 18 | PA15 β General purpose I/O / XOUT32K (32.768 kHz crystal out) |
| Pin 19 | PA16 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM1[0] |
| Pin 20 | PA17 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM1[1] |
| Pin 21 | PA18 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM1[2] |
| Pin 22 | PA19 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM1[3] |
| Pin 23 | PA20 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM3[0] |
| Pin 24 | PA21 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM3[1] |
| Pin 25 | PA22 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM3[2] |
| Pin 26 | PA23 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM3[3] |
| Pin 27 | PA24 β USB_DM (USB Full-Speed data minus) |
| Pin 28 | PA25 β USB_DP (USB Full-Speed data plus) |
| Pin 29 | PA27 β General purpose I/O |
| Pin 30 | RESET β Reset input, active low |
| Pin 31 | VDD β Digital supply voltage |
| Pin 32 | GND β Ground |
| Pin 33 | PB02 β General purpose I/O / AIN10 / SERCOM5[0] |
| Pin 34 | PB03 β General purpose I/O / AIN11 / SERCOM5[1] |
| Pin 35 | PB04 β General purpose I/O / AIN12 / SERCOM5[2] |
| Pin 36 | PB05 β General purpose I/O / AIN13 / SERCOM5[3] |
| Pin 37 | PB06 β General purpose I/O / AIN14 / SERCOM4[0] |
| Pin 38 | PB07 β General purpose I/O / AIN15 / SERCOM4[1] |
| Pin 39 | PB08 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM4[2] |
| Pin 40 | PB09 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM4[3] |
| Pin 41 | PB10 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM2[0] |
| Pin 42 | PB11 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM2[1] |
| Pin 43 | PB12 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM2[2] / CAN RX |
| Pin 44 | PB13 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM2[3] / CAN TX |
| Pin 45 | PB14 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM2[0] |
| Pin 46 | PB15 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM2[1] |
| Pin 47 | PB16 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM5[0] |
| Pin 48 | PB17 β General purpose I/O / SERCOM5[1] |
| Pin 49 | EP β Exposed thermal pad - must be soldered to GND pour |
Typical Applications
ATSAMC21G15A-MUT is suitable for 7 applications: Industrial CAN-FD Sensor Node, USB HID / CDC Peripheral Device, Capacitive-Touch HMI Panel, Automotive Body & HVAC Control Module, 5V Industrial Sensor Hub, Small Home Appliance Controller, Battery-Powered IoT Edge Node.
Industrial CAN-FD Sensor Node
The ATSAMC21G15A-MUT is a strong fit for industrial CAN-FD sensor nodes because it integrates a hardware ISO 11898-1:2015 CAN-FD controller alongside a 12-channel 12-bit 1 Msps ADC and six SERCOM modules. In a typical 24 V industrial backplane the MCU runs from a 5 V regulated rail with full 5 V tolerance, eliminating external level shifters and reducing BOM cost. The on-chip CAN-FD controller offloads frame encoding from the Cortex-M0+ core, leaving headroom for the user's application stack while still hitting 1 Mbit/s bus rates. An external MCP2562FD transceiver handles the differential physical layer; place it within 25 mm of the CANH/CANL pins. The wide 2.7-5.5 V supply range and -40C to +85C industrial temperature grade make the part suitable for factory-floor installations without additional thermal management.
Recommended
USB HID / CDC Peripheral Device
The integrated full-speed USB 2.0 device/host controller with on-chip PHY makes the ATSAMC21G15A-MUT ideal for USB HID, CDC, or vendor-class peripherals. The Cortex-M0+ runs the USB stack in software with Microchip's ASF or MPLAB Harmony framework, while the 12 DMA channels keep endpoint transfers off the CPU. Designers get a single-chip USB-to-UART bridge, data-logger, or HID game controller with no external PHY or 12 MHz crystal. The 48-QFN's small 7x7 mm footprint suits compact dongles and embedded instruments. Internal 5 V tolerance on PA24/PA25 simplifies bus-powered designs with a 3.3 V LDO. For HID-only designs without CAN, the SAM C20 variant is a cost-down option.
Recommended
Capacitive-Touch HMI Panel
The ATSAMC21G15A-MUT integrates Microchip's Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) supporting up to 32 self-capacitance or mutual-capacitance touch channels, enabling buttons, sliders, and proximity sensing without an external touch IC. The hardware-driven PTC offloads touch scanning from the Cortex-M0+, allowing the CPU to remain in Idle or Standby between scans and extending battery life. Driven by the QTouch library, the device can implement waterproof touch keypads for appliances or industrial HMIs. The 12-bit ADC and 10-bit DAC support LED backlight dimming and audio feedback. For high-noise environments, the PTC's hardware noise-immunity and frequency-hopping reduce false triggers. Designers should reserve a 100 nF decoupling cap within 3 mm of each VDD pin.
Recommended
Automotive Body & HVAC Control Module
The ATSAMC21G15A-MUT targeting Class B functional-safety (FuSa) applications is suitable for non-safety-critical automotive body and HVAC control modules. Combined with an external CAN-FD transceiver, it implements body control messages at 500 kbit/s CAN 2.0 or 2 Mbit/s CAN-FD while the 12-bit ADC reads sensor inputs such as temperature, pressure, and blower position. The wide 2.7-5.5 V supply range tolerates the 12 V automotive bus after a pre-regulator. The 48-QFN (7x7) footprint supports slim HVAC control boards. For safety-critical domains (steering, braking) the SAM C21 family offers IEC 60730 Class B documentation reducing the customer's firmware self-test burden.
Recommended
5V Industrial Sensor Hub
The 5 V-tolerant I/O of the ATSAMC21G15A-MUT lets it interface directly to legacy 5 V analog sensors and logic without level shifters, lowering BOM cost in industrial 24 V sensor hubs. The 12-channel 12-bit ADC at 1 Msps handles multi-sensor acquisition, while six SERCOM modules connect to UART/SPI/I2C sensors simultaneously. The Cortex-M0+ core runs at 48 MHz, sufficient for sensor fusion and basic filtering at edge nodes. With DMA-driven ADC scanning and SleepWalking peripherals, average current stays below 5 mA even with multiple active sensors. The wide operating temperature range (-40C to +85C) supports factory and outdoor deployments.
Recommended
Small Home Appliance Controller
For coffee makers, blenders, washing machines, and similar small home appliances, the ATSAMC21G15A-MUT provides a cost-optimized 32 KB Flash MCU with capacitive-touch UI via the PTC and motor control via the SERCOM-driven PWM. The 5 V I/O tolerance simplifies driving triac-based AC loads through MOC3021 optoisolators. Six SERCOM interfaces handle display, button matrix, motor encoder, and wireless connectivity (e.g., ATSAMB11 BLE module). The 48-QFN (7x7 mm) footprint fits in space-constrained control boards. Class B functional-safety documentation supports IEC 60730 appliance safety compliance. The 32 KB Flash capacity is adequate for typical appliance firmware stacks including QTouch and motor-control libraries.
Recommended
Battery-Powered IoT Edge Node
The ATSAMC21G15A-MUT's SleepWalking peripherals, DMA, and event system let edge nodes spend most of their time in deep-sleep at under 5 uA while still waking on sensor events. The Cortex-M0+ core at 48 MHz runs sensor-fusion firmware, while the 32 KB Flash and 4 KB SRAM handle small protocol stacks such as LoRaWAN or BLE. The full-speed USB enables direct battery-charging/firmware-update workflows without an external IC. The wide 2.7-5.5 V supply tolerates Li-Ion battery voltages (3.0-4.2 V) directly. For ultra-low-power designs the SAM L21 family is more efficient but the SAM C21 keeps USB and CAN-FD when needed. Designers should route RTC_XIN/RTC_XOUT to a 32.768 kHz crystal for accurate timekeeping.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for ATSAMC21G15A-MUT β comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | ATSAMC21G15A-MNT | ATSAMC21G16A-MUT | ATSAMC21E16A-MUT | ATSAMC20G15A-MUT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 48-QFN (7x7 mm) | 48-QFN (7x7 mm) - same | 48-QFN (7x7 mm) - same | 48-QFN (7x7 mm) - same | 48-QFN (7x7 mm) - same |
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Core / Max Clock | Cortex-M0+ / 48 MHz | Cortex-M0+ / 48 MHz | Cortex-M0+ / 48 MHz | Cortex-M0+ / 48 MHz | Cortex-M0+ / 48 MHz |
| Flash | 32 KB | 32 KB | 64 KB | 64 KB | 32 KB |
| SRAM | 4 KB | 4 KB | 8 KB | 8 KB | 4 KB |
| CAN-FD | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| USB FS | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Supply Voltage | 2.7 V to 5.5 V | 2.7 V to 5.5 V | 2.7 V to 5.5 V | 2.7 V to 5.5 V | 2.7 V to 5.5 V |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C |
| Unit Price (qty-1000) | $1.94 | $1.94 (approx) | $2.18 (approx) | $2.32 (approx) | $1.78 (approx) |
Key Differentiators
- Integrated CAN-FD controller with on-chip USB FS (vs ATSAMC20G15A-MUT)
- Drop-in Flash upgrade path with same die family (vs ATSAMC21G16A-MUT)
- 5 V-tolerant I/O eliminates level shifters (vs NXP LPC11C24FBD48)
- Class B functional-safety documentation (vs ATSAMC21G15A-MNT)
Design Notes
Place a 100 nF X7R 0402 ceramic decoupling capacitor within 3 mm of every VDD pin (pins 1, 15, 31) and a shared 4.7 uF X5R bulk capacitor on the supply rail. The QFN-48's center exposed pad (EP) must be soldered to a continuous ground pour with at least 8 thermal vias (0.3 mm drill) to a bottom-layer ground plane to keep junction temperature below 90 C at 48 MHz full load.
The USB data lines (PA24/PA25) require a 90 ohm differential impedance, with the D+/D- traces length-matched within 0.5 mm and routed over a continuous ground plane. Place the USB connector within 25 mm of the MCU. Add ESD protection (e.g., USBLC6-2SC6) near the connector; the internal ESD diodes on PA24/PA25 are rated only to 2 kV HBM, insufficient for IEC 61000-4-2 air-discharge compliance.
Route the 32.768 kHz crystal traces (PA14/PA15) as short, symmetric traces within 5 mm of the MCU with a guard ring tied to ground. Keep the crystal and traces away from switching nodes (PWM, USB data) to avoid injection of digital noise into the RTC oscillator. Use a 7 pF or 12.5 pF crystal with matching load capacitors per Crystal Selector tool guidance.
Estimated: At 48 MHz active current is roughly 7 mA per the SAM C21 datasheet typical curves; at 3.3 V VDD the power dissipation is approximately 23 mW. Do not exceed the absolute maximum of 5.5 V on any I/O pin, including the 5 V-tolerant PA24/PA25. When migrating from ATSAMC20 to ATSAMC21 firmware, remember the SERCOM peripheral indices differ on several pins; verify pin-mux in Atmel START / MPLAB Harmony before flashing.
For CAN-FD at 2 Mbit/s, place the MCP2562FD transceiver within 25 mm of the PB12 (CAN RX) and PB13 (CAN TX) pins. Keep the CANH/CANL traces 90 ohm differential, length-matched within 1 mm, and isolated from switching signals. Place a split-ferrite or common-mode choke on the bus connector side for EMI. Always terminate with 120 ohm at both ends of the bus; the ATSAMC21G15A's internal CAN controller does not include bus termination.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliant per Microchip product page. IEC 60730 Class B functional-safety documentation available for the SAM C21 family. AEC-Q100 qualification not available - for automotive safety-critical domains, consider the ATSAMx70 family.
