ATSAMD21E17A-AU - ARM Cortex-M0+ 48MHz 128KB MCU 32-TQFP | Microchip
MPN: ATSAMD21E17A-AU ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $4.2 | $4.20 |
| 10 | $3.78 | $37.80 |
| 100 | $3.35 | $335.00 |
| 500 | $2.99 | $1,495.00 |
| 1,000 | $2.65 | $2,650.00 |
| 3,000 | $2.3 | $6,900.00 |
ATSAMD21E17A-AU Overview
A 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller is a low-power, high-efficiency embedded processor that uses the 32-bit ARM instruction set optimized for energy-constrained applications. Cortex-M0+ cores deliver roughly 2.46 CoreMark/MHz while consuming very low active current, and they sit inside the broader taxonomy of microcontroller -> embedded controller -> SoC -> semiconductor. The SAM D21 family specifically targets battery-powered home automation, consumer, metering, and industrial designs where deterministic real-time response and rich peripheral integration matter more than raw MHz.
Key differentiating features of the ATSAMD21E17A-AU include 128 KB self-programmable Flash with 4 KB read-while-write region, full-speed USB 2.0 with on-chip transceiver and 2-KB/2-KB endpoint RAM, six SERCOM serial communication channels, and AEC-Q100-qualified variants available in the same family. The device also integrates a 32-bit Real-Time Counter (RTC) with calendar mode, capacitive touch support via the Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC), and a hardware Cryptographic Engine supporting AES and True Random Number Generator on related family members.
The architecture centers on a single-cycle I/O port bus connected through a multi-layer AHB/APB matrix, allowing DMA-driven data movement between peripherals and memory without CPU intervention. The 1.62 V minimum VDDIN extends the usable supply range down to a single 1.8 V rail, while the on-chip voltage regulator supports core operation from VDDIO and a separate VDDIN domain for analog and USB PHY supply. Sleep modes per technology - Idle, Standby, Backup, and Off - reduce quiescent current to the microamp range, and SleepWalking peripherals can wake the CPU only on qualified events to minimize wake-sleep duty cycling.
Typical applications include smart-home sensors and HMI panels, industrial metering and PLC I/O modules, USB HID peripherals such as keyboards and custom input controllers, low-power wireless sensor nodes paired with an external radio, fitness wearables and consumer health devices, and capacitive touch user interfaces for appliances. The wide 1.62-3.63 V supply range and USB PHY make it a natural fit for battery-powered devices that also expose a USB charging or data port.
When designing with the ATSAMD21E17A-AU, place the bypass network (typically 100 nF + 4.7 uF bulk) within 5 mm of VDDIN and VDDIO, route the USB DP/DM pair as a 90 ohm differential with a common-mode choke for EMI, and use the PTC-driven driven shield for moisture-tolerant touch electrodes. The 32-TQFP allows optical inspection and hand rework, but the 0.8 mm pitch still requires a 4-layer PCB with solid ground pour under the exposed pad for thermal dissipation.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing for the ATSAMD21E17A-AU, drop-in alternatives within the SAM D21E family and across vendors, and practical design notes not found in the standalone manufacturer datasheet, giving engineers a single reference for sourcing, comparison, and layout decisions.
Drop-in alternatives for ATSAMD21E17A-AU — 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 ATSAMD21E17A-AU (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, ADC, Operating Temperature, SERCOM Modules, Operating Temperature Range.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
ATSAMD21E17A-AUT
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAMD21E17A-AF
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$2.34 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMD21E16A-AU
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAMD21E15B-AU
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$1.45 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMD21E16B-AU
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$2.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMD21E17A-AU Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core Architecture | ARM Cortex-M0+ (SAM D21E family) |
| CPU Bit Width | 32-bit |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 48 MHz |
| CoreMark/MHz | 2.46 |
| Program Flash Memory | 128 KB (128K x 8) |
| RWW (Read-While-Write) Flash Section | 4 KB |
| SRAM | 16 KB |
| Operating Voltage Range (VDDIN) | 1.62 V to 3.63 V |
| USB Interface | USB 2.0 Full-Speed (12 Mbps) with on-chip transceiver |
| SERCOM Channels | 6 (configurable as UART/SPI/I2C) |
| Timer/Counters | Three 16-bit TC, one 32-bit TCC, one 24-bit RTC |
| ADC | 12-bit, up to 350 ksps, up to 20 channels |
| DAC | 10-bit, 1 channel |
| DMA Controller | 12 channels |
| Package | 32-pin TQFP (7x7 mm), 0.8 mm pitch |
| Operating Temperature Range | -40 C to +85 C (industrial) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| MSL Level | 3 (per JEDEC J-STD-020) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Functional Safety (FuSa) | SAM D21E family supports FuSa variants |
ATSAMD21E17A-AU Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | PA00 — General-purpose I/O / XIN (external clock input) |
| Pin 2 | PA01 — General-purpose I/O / XOUT (external clock output) |
| Pin 3 | PA02 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[0] (analog input) |
| Pin 4 | PA03 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[1] / VREFA |
| Pin 5 | PA04 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[2] |
| Pin 6 | PA05 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[3] |
| Pin 7 | PA06 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[4] |
| Pin 8 | PA07 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[5] |
| Pin 9 | VDDIO — Digital I/O supply voltage |
| Pin 10 | GND — Ground |
| Pin 11 | PA08 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[6] / SERCOM0 PAD0 |
| Pin 12 | PA09 — General-purpose I/O / AIN[7] / SERCOM0 PAD1 |
| Pin 13 | PA10 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM0 PAD2 |
| Pin 14 | PA11 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM0 PAD3 |
| Pin 15 | VBUS — USB VBUS detect |
| Pin 16 | DM — USB D- data line |
| Pin 17 | DP — USB D+ data line |
| Pin 18 | GND — Ground |
| Pin 19 | VDDIN — Main supply voltage input |
| Pin 20 | PA12 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM2 PAD0 |
| Pin 21 | PA13 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM2 PAD1 |
| Pin 22 | PA14 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM2 PAD2 |
| Pin 23 | PA15 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM2 PAD3 |
| Pin 24 | PA16 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM1 PAD0 |
| Pin 25 | PA17 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM1 PAD1 |
| Pin 26 | PA18 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM1 PAD2 |
| Pin 27 | PA19 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM1 PAD3 |
| Pin 28 | PA20 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM3 PAD0 |
| Pin 29 | PA21 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM3 PAD1 |
| Pin 30 | PA22 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM3 PAD2 |
| Pin 31 | PA23 — General-purpose I/O / SERCOM3 PAD3 |
| Pin 32 | RESET — Reset input, active low |
Typical Applications
ATSAMD21E17A-AU is suitable for 7 applications: Smart-Home Sensor Hubs, USB HID Input Devices, Industrial Metering & PLC I/O, Capacitive Touch User Interfaces, Battery-Powered Wearables, Consumer Appliance Control Boards, Educational & Maker Development.
Smart-Home Sensor Hubs
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU fits smart-home sensor hubs because its 128 KB Flash and 16 KB SRAM comfortably host Zigbee or Matter-over-Thread application stacks alongside peripheral drivers, while the 6 SERCOM channels drive I/U-bus sensor arrays and the 12-bit ADC samples environmental data at low active current. Placed as the main controller on a 1.8-3.3 V battery or USB-C rail, it consumes only a few hundred microamps in active mode and drops below 5 uA in Standby with the 32-bit RTC keeping wall-clock time. The integrated USB 2.0 Full-Speed interface supports firmware update over USB-C without an external PHY, dramatically reducing BOM cost.
Recommended
USB HID Input Devices
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU is ideal for USB HID input devices - keyboards, mice, custom input controllers, and gamepads - because the integrated USB 2.0 Full-Speed device controller with on-chip transceiver eliminates the external PHY that older microcontrollers required. The 48 MHz Cortex-M0+ core runs USB stacks, debouncing, and capacitive touch handling in a single chip, while the Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) supports up to 256 touch buttons directly. End products typically run at 3.3 V from a USB-C VBUS rail, drawing under 50 mA total - well within USB default-current limits.
Recommended
Industrial Metering & PLC I/O
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU serves industrial metering and PLC I/O modules because its 12-bit 350 ksps ADC samples voltage and current channels fast enough for power-metering class accuracy when paired with external anti-alias filtering. The 6 SERCOM channels simultaneously drive isolated UART, RS-485, SPI display, and I2C EEPROM buses, while the 12-channel DMA offloads per-sample processing from the 48 MHz CPU. Operating from -40 C to +85 C, the part handles factory floor environments and integrates a 32-bit RTC for time-stamped logging over Modbus or CAN.
Recommended
Capacitive Touch User Interfaces
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU powers capacitive touch user interfaces for appliances and consumer electronics because the integrated Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC) supports up to 256 self-capacitance or mutual-capacitance electrodes with driven shield for moisture tolerance. Combined with the 10-bit DAC for haptic or LED backlight driving and the 6 SERCOM channels for display and audio, a single chip implements a complete capacitive keypad + TFT or segment UI. SleepWalking peripherals keep idle current low while continuing to scan electrodes at a slow rate for proximity wake.
Recommended
Battery-Powered Wearables
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU fits battery-powered wearables such as fitness bands and medical patches because its Idle and Standby modes drop quiescent current below 5 uA while the 32-bit RTC keeps accurate time-of-day for sleep tracking. The 1.62-3.63 V supply range accepts a single Li-Ion or Li-Poly cell directly without an LDO, and SleepWalking peripherals wake the CPU only when a sensor interrupt fires - critical for multi-day battery life. The integrated USB 2.0 Full-Speed interface also enables charging and firmware update through the same connector.
Recommended
Consumer Appliance Control Boards
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU fits consumer appliance control boards (coffee machines, washing machines, HVAC thermostats) because the 48 MHz Cortex-M0+ handles a touch UI, motor PWM via TCC, and a Wi-Fi/BLE companion over UART in a single chip. The 12-channel Event System and DMA controller allow direct peripheral-to-peripheral signalling without CPU wakeup for inverter control loops, while 128 KB Flash stores asset-management tables and OTA upgrade buffers. The 32-TQFP is also widely accepted by appliance CM factories using AOI and selective soldering processes.
Recommended
Educational & Maker Development
The ATSAMD21E17A-AU is widely adopted in educational and maker development platforms such as the Arduino Zero and Adafruit Feather M0 because it pairs an Arduino-friendly bootloader ecosystem with USB device support out of the box. The 48 MHz Cortex-M0+ runs the Arduino core, and 128 KB Flash is enough for typical sketches plus libraries for SD cards, displays, and sensors. Datasheet document 40001882A includes a full peripheral-mapping guide, while the Atmel/Microchip Studio IDE supports the SWD interface through the on-board debugger.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for ATSAMD21E17A-AU — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | ATSAMD21E17A-AUT | ATSAMD21E17A-AF | ATSAMD21E16A-AU | ATSAMD21E15B-AU | ATSAMD21E16B-AU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 32-TQFP (7x7 mm) | 32-TQFP (7x7 mm) - same | 32-TQFP (7x7 mm) - same | 32-TQFP (7x7 mm) - same | 32-TQFP (7x7 mm) - same | 32-TQFP (7x7 mm) - same |
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Flash Memory | 128 KB | 128 KB | 128 KB | 64 KB | 32 KB | 64 KB |
| SRAM | 16 KB | 16 KB | 16 KB | 8 KB | 4 KB | 8 KB |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz | 48 MHz |
| USB Controller | Full-Speed USB 2.0 with on-chip PHY | Full-Speed USB 2.0 with on-chip PHY | Full-Speed USB 2.0 with on-chip PHY | Full-Speed USB 2.0 with on-chip PHY | Full-Speed USB 2.0 with on-chip PHY | Full-Speed USB 2.0 with on-chip PHY |
| SERCOM Channels | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 |
| Operating Voltage | 1.62 V to 3.63 V | 1.62 V to 3.63 V | 1.62 V to 3.63 V | 1.62 V to 3.63 V | 1.62 V to 3.63 V | 1.62 V to 3.63 V |
| Carrier Type | Tray | Tape & Reel | Tray | Tray | Tray | Tray |
Key Differentiators
- Largest Flash in the SAM D21E 32-pin TQFP family (vs ATSAMD21E16A-AU)
- Higher memory tier than ATSAMD21E15B-AU (vs ATSAMD21E15B-AU)
- Identical silicon to ATSAMD21E17A-AUT (vs ATSAMD21E17A-AUT)
Design Notes
Place a 100 nF X7R ceramic bypass capacitor within 5 mm of every VDDIN/VDDIO pin pair, plus a single 4.7 uF bulk capacitor on the main supply rail. The internal 3.3 V USB regulator requires its own 1 uF capacitor on the VDD33 output pin even when the regulator is bypassed externally - see datasheet document 40001882A section 'Typical Applications'. Avoid routing high-frequency digital signals across the analog AVDD region to preserve ADC SNR above 60 dB at full 350 ksps sampling rate.
Route the USB DP/DM lines as a 90 ohm differential pair with no splits or vias, and place the 27 ohm series termination resistors within 5 mm of the device pads. For capacitive touch via the Peripheral Touch Controller (PTC), use a driven shield layer directly above the sensor electrodes to reject moisture and conducted noise. Add a 4-layer stackup with a continuous ground plane under the QFN/TQFP exposed pad; the 32-TQFP does not have an EPB, so ensure copper pour defines QFN thermal relief even though no pad exists for this package.
Do not exceed 3.63 V on VDDIN or VDDIO - the SAM D21E has no internal 5 V tolerance on GPIO. The RESET pin is active-low and must be pulled up to VDDIO with a 10 kohm resistor plus a 100 nF capacitor to ground for stable boot. When using the integrated USB 2.0 regulator, ensure VBUS rises before or simultaneously with VDDIN, otherwise the device enters an undefined boot state requiring a power cycle. The 32-TQFP does not have an exposed thermal pad, so at 48 MHz full load expect roughly 8-12 mA active current without any thermal derating needed.
Compliance Information
RoHS and lead-free per Microchip product page. Standard industrial grade (-40 C to +85 C); for AEC-Q100 automotive applications contact Microchip sales for the automotive-grade SAM D21E variant (separate part number).
