ATSAME70Q21A-ANT - Cortex-M7 MCU 300MHz 2MB Flash | Microchip
MPN: ATSAME70Q21A-ANT ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $18.5 | $18.50 |
| 10 | $16.75 | $167.50 |
| 100 | $14.2 | $1,420.00 |
| 500 | $12.6 | $6,300.00 |
| 1,000 | $11.05 | $11,050.00 |
| 3,000 | $9.95 | $29,850.00 |
ATSAME70Q21A-ANT Overview
What is a Cortex-M7 microcontroller? A Cortex-M7 is a 32-bit ARM processor core designed for high-performance embedded applications requiring DSP capability and single-precision floating-point arithmetic. It sits in the ARM Cortex-M hierarchy above Cortex-M4 and below Cortex-A application cores, and is widely used in industrial motor control, audio processing, and high-speed data acquisition. As a microcontroller IC it belongs to the broader category of embedded processors, integrating CPU core, memory, peripherals, and analog interfaces on a single die.
Key features include a 16-bit External Bus Interface (EBI) supporting SDRAM/LDDRAM/NAND Flash controllers, a high-speed USB 2.0 High-Speed PHY (480 Mbps) with on-chip transceiver, dual CAN-FD controllers, and a built-in 10/100 Ethernet MAC with IEEE 1588 PTP support for time-sensitive networking. The device integrates a 12-bit 2 MSPS ADC, two 12-bit 1 MSPS DACs, and a comprehensive set of timers including PWM, QEI, and quadrature decoders for motor and power-conversion control.
The ATSAME70Q21A uses an advanced 65nm process and a dual-bank Flash architecture with 128-bit-wide access that delivers zero-wait-state execution from Flash at 300 MHz. The multi-port SRAM is split into four banks allowing simultaneous CPU and DMA access, eliminating contention in high-bandwidth streaming applications such as audio codecs, vision processing, and motor control loops.
Typical applications include industrial drives (servo and stepper), automotive body and chassis ECUs, audio amplifiers and soundbars, machine vision cameras, smart metering, building automation, and Ethernet-connected IoT gateways. The high-speed USB, CAN-FD and Ethernet peripherals allow simultaneous wired connectivity while the Cortex-M7 DSP performance handles sensor fusion in real time.
When designing with the ATSAME70Q21A, ensure the PCB layout provides a solid ground plane and short traces for the high-speed USB differential pair (D+/D-), Ethernet TX/RX pairs, and the 12 MHz crystal reference. The 144-LQFP package has a thermal pad that must be soldered to the ground plane for proper thermal dissipation and signal return.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in alternatives, comparison data and practical design notes that go beyond what is found in the bare Microchip datasheet, helping engineers select and source the right part for high-performance Cortex-M7 designs.
Drop-in alternatives for ATSAME70Q21A-ANT — 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 ATSAME70Q21A-ANT (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, USB, ADC, Core Architecture, DAC.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
ATSAME70Q21B-ANT
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$16.1 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAME70Q21A-CN
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$17.55 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAME70Q21B-AN
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAME70Q20B-ANT
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$16.75 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAMS70Q21A-ANT
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
ATSAME70Q21A-CFNT
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$11.4 / Unit
View Datasheet →ATSAME70Q21A-ANT Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core | ARM Cortex-M7 with FPU |
| Maximum CPU Clock | 300 MHz |
| Flash Memory | 2 MB (2048 KB) |
| SRAM | 384 KB (multi-port) |
| Operating Voltage (VDDIO/VDD) | 1.8 V / 2.5 V / 3.3 V |
| Package | 144-pin LQFP (20x20 mm) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Ethernet MAC | 10/100 Mbps with IEEE 1588 PTP |
| USB | USB 2.0 High-Speed with on-chip PHY (480 Mbps) |
| CAN-FD | 2x CAN-FD controllers |
| ADC | 12-bit, up to 2 MSPS |
| DAC | 2x 12-bit, 1 MSPS |
| External Bus Interface | 16-bit EBI (SDRAM / NAND) |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +85C (industrial) |
| MSL Level | 3 (168 hours) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Packaging | Tape & Reel (-ANT suffix) |
ATSAME70Q21A-ANT 144-pin lqfp (20x20 mm) Pin Configuration Guide
Pin configuration for ATSAME70Q21A-ANT (144-pin lqfp (20x20 mm) package). This digital IC includes GPIO, communication interfaces (UART, SPI, I2C), and power pins. Refer to the manufacturer datasheet for alternate pin functions and configuration options. Essential for embedded system design and PCB layout.
No detailed pinout data available for ATSAME70Q21A-ANT.
Refer to the datasheet for full pin configuration.
Typical Applications
ATSAME70Q21A-ANT is suitable for 7 applications: Industrial Servo and Motor Control, Automotive Body and Chassis ECUs, Audio Amplifiers and Soundbar DSP, Machine Vision and Smart Cameras, Smart Metering and Building Automation, Industrial Ethernet Gateways and IoT Edge Nodes, Power Conversion and Digital Power Control.
Industrial Servo and Motor Control
The ATSAME70Q21A-ANT's 300 MHz Cortex-M7 with DSP extensions delivers the cycle budget needed for field-oriented control (FOC) loops on permanent-magnet and induction motors. The integrated PWM timers, QEI interfaces, and dual 12-bit DACs allow precise current and torque control, while the 384 KB multi-port SRAM holds sensor data and observer state without DMA contention. Hardware CAN-FD enables low-latency communication with supervisory PLCs in industrial automation racks, making the part a strong fit for servo drives, CNC spindles, and robotic actuators where deterministic real-time response and a single-chip solution reduce BOM and PCB complexity.
Recommended
Automotive Body and Chassis ECUs
With dual CAN-FD controllers, HS USB and a wide industrial temperature range, the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT fits body-control modules, gateway ECUs and chassis controllers in passenger vehicles. The 2 MB dual-bank Flash supports OTA firmware updates with safe rollback, while the 384 KB SRAM buffers diagnostic and CAN message traffic. Note that this -ANT variant is industrial-grade (-40C to +85C); for AEC-Q100 qualified automotive designs, the SAM E70Q21A-ANTN variant or external watchdog should be considered. The Cortex-M7's DSP also handles sensor fusion for ADAS-style surround sensing where cost constraints push designers away from Cortex-A application processors.
Recommended
Audio Amplifiers and Soundbar DSP
Audio amplifiers, soundbars, and multi-channel home theater systems rely on a strong DSP engine for sample-rate conversion, EQ, room correction, and active crossover networks - exactly what the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT's 300 MHz Cortex-M7 + FPU provides. The 384 KB SRAM can hold 24-bit/96 kHz multichannel audio buffers, while the HS USB and Ethernet MAC enable networked audio streaming (DLNA, AirPlay-style, Dante). The dual 12-bit DACs can drive analog bias or volume control, and the CAN-FD bus allows integration with automotive head units. The LQFP-144 footprint has enough pins for multiple I2S/TDM interfaces to external DACs and ADCs.
Recommended
Machine Vision and Smart Cameras
The ATSAME70Q21A-ANT's 16-bit External Bus Interface can directly connect to a parallel image sensor or external SDRAM, while the 300 MHz Cortex-M7 + DSP handles on-device image preprocessing (color correction, gamma, edge detection). The HS USB and Ethernet MAC stream MJPEG/H.264 compressed frames to a host PC or cloud gateway, and the 2 MB Flash stores firmware plus on-device neural network weights for lightweight CNN inference. Industrial temperature grade (-40C to +85C) supports outdoor or factory-floor deployment where ambient vision and quality inspection cameras are common.
Recommended
Smart Metering and Building Automation
Smart electricity, water and gas meters require a low-power Cortex-M class core with secure Flash, hardware crypto, and reliable wired connectivity - the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT meets all three with the Cortex-M7 core, dual-bank 2 MB Flash for signed firmware, and integrated 10/100 Ethernet MAC plus CAN-FD for building-automation backbones. The 12-bit 2 MSPS ADC simultaneously samples voltage and current channels for revenue-grade metering, while the 384 KB SRAM buffers power-quality data before uploading. The industrial temperature range supports outdoor meter enclosures and DIN-rail mounted building controllers.
Recommended
Industrial Ethernet Gateways and IoT Edge Nodes
The 10/100 Ethernet MAC with IEEE 1588 PTP support makes the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT ideal for industrial gateways that translate Modbus-TCP, EtherNet/IP, PROFINET or EtherCAT traffic into a field-bus or cloud API. The HS USB port can host a 4G/LTE modem or Wi-Fi dongle, while CAN-FD connects to vehicle or machine subnets. The 300 MHz Cortex-M7 + 384 KB SRAM runs protocol stacks (TLS, MQTT) without external memory, and the 16-bit EBI allows external SDRAM for high-throughput logging. Multiple industrial control vendors standardize on the SAME70 family for these reasons.
Recommended
Power Conversion and Digital Power Control
Digital power supplies, telecom rectifiers, and solar inverters benefit from the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT's high-resolution PWM timers (down to 1 ns resolution via HRPWM), fast 12-bit ADC (2 MSPS) for voltage and current feedback, and Cortex-M7 DSP for digital control loops (peak current mode, average current mode, LLC). The dual CAN-FD and Ethernet ports let multiple converter modules coordinate in a paralleled architecture, while 384 KB SRAM holds state observers and log buffers. The wide operating voltage (1.8V/2.5V/3.3V VDDIO) eases interfacing to GaN/SiC gate drivers.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for ATSAME70Q21A-ANT — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | ATSAME70Q21B-ANT | ATSAME70Q21A-CN | ATSAME70Q20B-ANT | ATSAMS70Q21A-ANT |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Package | 144-LQFP (20x20 mm) | 144-LQFP (20x20 mm) - same | 144-LQFP (20x20 mm) - same | 144-LQFP (20x20 mm) - same | 144-LQFP (20x20 mm) - same |
| Core / Clock | Cortex-M7 / 300 MHz | Cortex-M7 / 300 MHz | Cortex-M7 / 300 MHz | Cortex-M7 / 300 MHz | Cortex-M7 / 300 MHz |
| Flash | 2 MB | 2 MB | 2 MB | 1 MB (-50%) | 2 MB |
| SRAM | 384 KB | 384 KB | 384 KB | 256 KB (-33%) | 384 KB |
| Ethernet MAC | 10/100 + IEEE 1588 PTP | 10/100 + IEEE 1588 PTP | 10/100 + IEEE 1588 PTP | 10/100 + IEEE 1588 PTP | No Ethernet MAC |
| USB HS PHY | Yes (480 Mbps on-chip) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| CAN-FD Controllers | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +85C (industrial) | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C | -40C to +85C |
Key Differentiators
- Largest Flash and SRAM in the SAM E70 LQFP-144 family (vs ATSAME70Q20B-ANT)
- Ethernet MAC with IEEE 1588 PTP support (vs ATSAMS70Q21A-ANT)
- Single-chip connectivity (HS USB + CAN-FD + Ethernet) (vs External MCU + companion interface ASIC)
Design Notes
The 144-LQFP package has a thermal pad and exposed die attach pad under the chip that MUST be soldered to a continuous ground plane for thermal dissipation and signal return paths. Use a 4-layer PCB with at least 1 oz copper on top and bottom layers; keep the high-speed USB D+/D- pair (90 ohm differential), Ethernet TX/RX pairs (100 ohm differential), and the 12 MHz crystal traces (with ground guard rings) short and length-matched. Place 100 nF decoupling capacitors within 2 mm of every VDDIO/VDD pin and bulk 4.7 uF ceramics near the package corners.
Supply the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT from a clean 3.3 V LDO for the main VDDIO/VDD rail and a separate filtered 1.2 V core rail if the internal regulator is bypassed. Decouple the PLL analog supply (VDDPLL) with a 10 nF + 100 nF + 4.7 uF pi network and route it with a wide trace from the LDO. Power-up sequencing requirements are documented in the SAM E70 family datasheet chapter 32: VDDIO must rise before or simultaneously with VDDIN; reset (NRST) must be held low until both rails are stable. Estimated quiescent current at 300 MHz is roughly 100 mA; add 30% margin when sizing the LDO.
At full 300 MHz operation with all peripherals active, the ATSAME70Q21A-ANT can dissipate up to approximately 0.6 W. Estimated: with theta_JA around 40 C/W on a 4-layer JEDEC test PCB (1 oz copper), junction temperature rise above ambient at 0.6 W is 0.6 W * 40 C/W = 24 C. With a 85C ambient rating the junction stays below 110C - within the 125C silicon limit but with limited margin. To stay safe at high ambient (enclosed industrial cabinets), use 2 oz copper on inner layers, attach the thermal pad with at least 8 thermal vias, and consider forced airflow.
Three common pitfalls: (1) Leaving the JTAG/SWD pins floating - SWDIO, SWCLK, NRST and TMS must each be pulled to the defined idle level or driven by the debugger; floating SWDIO causes random HardFault at startup. (2) Configuring the 16-bit EBI without the external SDRAM controller initialization - the bus stalls until the refresh counter is started. (3) Enabling the High-Speed USB PHY without proper VBUS sensing - VBUS must be connected to a 5V-tolerant pin via a voltage divider, or the PHY enters an undefined state when the host delivers 5V. Refer to the SAM E70 family datasheet chapter 37 (USB) for details.
Route the Ethernet TX/RX differential pairs with 100 ohm differential impedance, length-matched within 2 mm, and isolated by a continuous ground reference plane. The high-speed USB D+/D- pair also requires 90 ohm differential impedance and a clean ground return - avoid routing across plane splits. Place the 25 MHz Ethernet RMII crystal and the 12 MHz main crystal within 5 mm of their respective pins, with grounded guard rings; route the crystal traces over a single unbroken ground plane and never cross noisy signals.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliant per Microchip product page. -ANT variant is industrial-grade (-40C to +85C) but is NOT AEC-Q100 qualified; for AEC-Q100 qualified automotive designs use the SAM E70Q21A-ANTN variant or consult the Microchip automotive portfolio.
