ATSAMC21N-XPRO - SAM C21N Xplained Pro MCU Eval Kit | Microchip
MPN: ATSAMC21N-XPRO ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $71.06 | $71.06 |
| 10 | $64.5 | $645.00 |
| 25 | $60.4 | $1,510.00 |
| 50 | $56.9 | $2,845.00 |
| 100 | $52.75 | $5,275.00 |
ATSAMC21N-XPRO Overview
What is an MCU evaluation kit? An evaluation kit (sometimes called a development board or starter kit) is a printed-circuit assembly that hosts a microcontroller or microprocessor together with the minimum support circuitry required to run it: power regulation, clock source, reset circuit, debug probe, and breadboard-friendly headers. Evaluation kits sit at the top of the embedded-computing hierarchy: evaluation kit -> development board -> prototyping platform -> embedded system, and they are the standard vehicle for early firmware bring-up before committing to a custom PCB.
Key features of the ATSAMC21N-XPRO include the ATSAMC21N18A MCU with 5V-tolerant I/O, six SERCOM serial-communication modules, CAN-FD, a 12-bit ADC and DAC, an integrated ATECC508A CryptoAuthentication device on the I2C bus, and the EDBG that exposes a USB mass-storage drag-and-drop programmer plus a virtual COM port. The board is supported by Microchip Studio, Atmel Studio 7, MPLAB X IDE, and the Zephyr RTOS, giving firmware engineers multiple toolchains out of the box.
From an architecture standpoint, the ATSAMC21N18A is built on a 5V-tolerant, low-leakage CMOS process optimized for industrial and commercial applications in electrically noisy environments. The Cortex-M0+ core delivers 1.25 DMIPS/MHz while consuming only a fraction of the current of Cortex-M3/M4 devices, allowing the same firmware to scale from battery-powered to 24V industrial buses.
Typical applications include industrial CAN-FD node prototyping, automotive accessory and body-controller evaluation, low-power IoT sensor hubs, motor-control reference designs using the ATSAMC21MOTOR plug-in board, and secure-communication proof-of-concepts that leverage the on-board ATECC508A. The 5V-tolerant I/O and CAN-FD peripheral specifically target 12V/24V industrial bus and CAN networks.
Design tip: when transitioning from the ATSAMC21N-XPRO to a custom board, replicate the EDBG USB portion only if in-field firmware updates are needed; otherwise replace it with a 10-pin Cortex Debug connector to save BOM cost. Always place a 4.7 uF decoupling cap on each VDD pin pair of the ATSAMC21N18A and route the 32.768 kHz crystal traces with ground guarding.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in evaluation-board alternatives, and practical bring-up notes that go beyond the manufacturer user guide, giving procurement and firmware teams a single source for the ATSAMC21N-XPRO.
Drop-in alternatives for ATSAMC21N-XPRO — 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 ATSAMC21N-XPRO (same form factor and footprint) — differing in ADC, Package, RoHS Status, I/O Tolerance, Operating Temperature.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
ATSAMC21J18A-MUT64
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$2.85 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMC21G18A-AUT
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$2.78 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMC20N18A-ANT
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$4.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMC21E16A-AUT
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$2.78 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMD20-XPRO
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAML21-XPRO-B
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAMC21N-XPRO Specifications (manufacturer-published)
| Product Type | MCU Evaluation Board (Xplained Pro) |
| Target MCU | ATSAMC21N18A |
| Core | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 48 MHz |
| Flash Memory | 256 KB |
| SRAM | 32 KB |
| Operating Voltage (VDD) | 2.7 V to 5.5 V |
| I/O Tolerance | 5 V |
| Communication Peripherals | 6x SERCOM, CAN-FD, I2C, SPI, UART |
| ADC / DAC | 12-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC |
| On-board Crypto IC | ATECC508A-MAHDA-T (UDFN-8) |
| Main Crystal Frequency | 16 MHz |
| RTC Crystal Frequency | 32.768 kHz |
| Debug Interface | EDBG (USB) + 10-pin Cortex Debug |
| Expansion Headers | 2x Xplained Pro 20-pin + 1x 10-pin mikroBUS |
| Supported IDEs | Microchip Studio, MPLAB X, Atmel Studio 7, Zephyr |
| USB Interface | USB Micro-B (power + EDBG + CDC + MSD) |
| Form Factor | Xplained Pro (approx. 80 x 60 mm) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
ATSAMC21N-XPRO Interfaces & Connectors
ATSAMC21N-XPRO exposes the following interfaces and connectors as published by the manufacturer: Expansion / Buses, GPIO, USB. Expansion header pinout, connector pin numbering, and electrical limits are defined in the manufacturer documentation.
| Expansion / Buses | 12-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC |
| GPIO | 2x Xplained Pro 20-pin + 1x 10-pin mikroBUS |
| USB | USB Micro-B (power + EDBG + CDC + MSD) |
Refer to the manufacturer documentation for the full expansion header pinout and connector pin numbering.
Typical Applications
ATSAMC21N-XPRO is suitable for 6 applications: Industrial CAN-FD Node Prototyping, Automotive Body-Control Evaluation, Motor Control Reference Design, Secure IoT Sensor Hub, Smart Home / Building Automation, Test & Measurement Front-End.
Industrial CAN-FD Node Prototyping
The ATSAMC21N-XPRO is purpose-built for industrial CAN-FD node prototyping because the ATSAMC21N18A integrates an ISO 11898-1:2015 CAN-FD peripheral alongside 5V-tolerant I/O rated to 2.7V-5.5V. Engineers can connect the kit directly to a 12V or 24V industrial bus through an external transceiver and evaluate up to 1 Mbit/s nominal and 5 Mbit/s data-phase CAN-FD frames. The EDBG exposes the bus activity over USB virtual COM, simplifying PC-based trace capture during conformance testing.
Recommended
Automotive Body-Control Evaluation
With 5V-tolerant I/O and CAN-FD, the ATSAMC21N-XPRO serves as a low-cost evaluation platform for automotive body-control modules such as lighting controllers, mirror actuators, and door modules. The ATSAMC21N18A's six SERCOM channels map easily to LIN, UART, SPI, and I2C peripherals common in body networks. Designers can prototype LIN master stacks using a LIN transceiver click-board on the mikroBUS socket without modifying the kit.
Recommended
Motor Control Reference Design
Microchip publishes the ATSAMC21MOTOR plug-in board that mates directly with the ATSAMC21N-XPRO's Xplained Pro headers to spin BLDC, stepper, or DC motors. The ATSAMC21N18A's 12-bit PWM timers, quadrature decoder, and analog comparators provide the peripheral mix needed for sensorless or Hall-sensor-based field-oriented control (FOC). 5V-tolerant I/O accepts 24V industrial drive rails through an off-board gate-driver stage.
Recommended
Secure IoT Sensor Hub
The on-board ATECC508A-MAHDA-T CryptoAuthentication device wired to the ATSAMC21N18A's I2C bus gives the ATSAMC21N-XPRO a built-in secure-element path for TLS handshakes, signed firmware boot, and per-device key storage. Combined with the Cortex-M0+'s low active and sleep currents, the kit is suitable for battery-powered IoT sensor hubs that require authenticated cloud onboarding. Zephyr's at-tls and at-cryptoauth drivers accelerate the bring-up of secure MQTT clients.
Recommended
Smart Home / Building Automation
The ATSAMC21N-XPRO's 5V-tolerant I/O and CAN-FD make it a strong evaluation base for building-automation gateways, BACnet bridges, and KNX-adjacent prototypes that need to coexist with 24V HVAC buses. The 256 KB Flash supports full BACnet/IP stacks, while the six SERCOM channels allow simultaneous KNX twisted-pair, RS-485 Modbus, and Wi-Fi module interfaces. Developers can deploy Zephyr or Microchip Studio firmware directly over the EDBG USB.
Recommended
Test & Measurement Front-End
The ATSAMC21N18A's 12-bit ADC, 12-bit DAC, and 6 SERCOM channels turn the ATSAMC21N-XPRO into a flexible low-cost test-and-measurement front end. Engineers can build isolated voltage and current acquisition prototypes with the 32.768 kHz RTC providing timestamped logging. USB CDC over the EDBG streams up to 1 Msps acquisitions to the host PC without additional hardware.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for ATSAMC21N-XPRO — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | ATSAMC21J18A-MUT64 | ATSAMC21G18A-AUT | ATSAMC20N18A-ANT | ATSAMD20-XPRO | ATSAML21-XPRO-B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Package / Form Factor | Xplained Pro board with QFN-64 target MCU | QFN-64 (same target MCU family) | QFN-48 (same family) | TQFP-100 (same family) | Xplained Pro board with QFN-64 target MCU | Xplained Pro board with QFN-64 target MCU |
| Core / Architecture | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit | ARM Cortex-M0+ 32-bit |
| CPU Frequency | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz |
| Flash / SRAM | 256 KB / 32 KB | 256 KB / 32 KB | 256 KB / 32 KB | 256 KB / 32 KB | 256 KB / 32 KB | 256 KB / 32 KB |
| CAN-FD Peripheral | Yes (1x) | Yes (1x) | Yes (1x) | No | No | No |
| I/O Tolerance | 5 V | 5 V | 5 V | 5 V | 3.3 V | 1.65-3.6 V |
| On-board Crypto IC | ATECC508A (UDFN-8) | Depends on carrier board | Depends on carrier board | Depends on carrier board | Optional click-board | Optional click-board |
| Single-Unit Price (USD, as of 2026-09-21) | 71.06 | Bare MCU ~USD 3.50 | Bare MCU ~USD 3.20 | Bare MCU ~USD 3.10 | ~USD 49 | ~USD 65 |
Key Differentiators
- On-board ATECC508A CryptoAuthentication IC (vs ATSAMD20-XPRO)
- Native 5V-tolerant I/O at 48 MHz (vs ATSAML21-XPRO-B)
- Integrated CAN-FD peripheral (vs ATSAMC20N18A-ANT)
Design Notes
The ATSAMC21N-XPRO can be powered from the USB Micro-B connector or from an external 5V supply through the Xplained Pro power header. When the kit is plugged into a host USB port the EDBG negotiates 500 mA. Place a 4.7 uF X7R decoupling capacitor on each VDD/VDDIO pair of the ATSAMC21N18A, and route the GND return directly to the board's ground pour with vias within 5 mm of each capacitor pad.
The 32.768 kHz RTC crystal traces on the ATSAMC21N-XPRO are routed with continuous ground guarding and load capacitors placed within 2 mm of the MCU XIN/XOUT pins. When porting the schematic to a custom PCB, replicate this guarding and keep the crystal loop area under 25 mm^2. The 16 MHz main crystal trace length should be matched to within 1 mm to avoid duty-cycle distortion.
Avoid driving the ATSAMC21N18A's I/O pins above 5.5V absolute maximum - the chip's 5V tolerance is logical, not overvoltage. Do not assume PA22/PA23 are free for use; on the ATSAMC21N-XPRO they are allocated to the EDBG SWDIO/SWDCLK lines and cannot be repurposed without disabling the debug probe. Also remember the ATECC508A shares I2C address 0x60 with many third-party click-boards - check address conflicts before stacking.
Compliance Information
Evaluation kit; RoHS and REACH compliance stated by Microchip product page. AEC-Q100 not applicable for evaluation boards - automotive qualification is on the ATSAMC21N18A silicon only. CE/UKCA compliance applies to the kit as a USB peripheral.