October 28, 2019
The ATtiny13a microcontoller
The ATtiny13A is an Atmel (now Microchip) part with the 8 bit AVR risc instruction set.
It is part of the following family:
13A - 1K flash, 64 bytes SRAM, 64 bytes EEPROM
25 - 2K flash, 128 bytes SRAM, 128 bytes EEPROM
45 - 4K flash, 256 bytes SRAM, 256 bytes EEPROM
85 - 8K flash, 512 bytes SRAM, 512 bytes EEPROM
Anyone with sense would just use the ATtiny85 -- unless saving 50 cents is important,
in which case the 13A could fit the bill if code would fit in 1K.
Here are the specs for the 13A in a nutshell:
- 8 pin package
- Clock rate to 20 Mhz
- 1K of flash
- 64 bytes of RAM
- 64 bytes of EEPROM
- runs from 1.8 to 5.5 volts DC
- It has an 10 bit ADC - with 4 channels
- 1 timer and 2 PWM channels
The marketing likes to boast that the chip will deliver 1 MIPS at 1 Mhz, which is implicit
in the definition of RISC. This is certainly a good thing. I used microcontrollers in the
distant past that ran at 10 Mhz, but required 12 clocks to execute an instruction.
Few applications are likely to push the performance of these parts.
ATTiny13A versus ATTiny13
As you might guess, the 13 is the original and the 13A came along later.
All the parts I am working with are marked ATtiny13A.
The 13A is different silicon, made with a different process, and
uses less power. It also has some new power management registers.
The "A" can run full speed (20 Mhz) across the entire reange of supply voltages.
Any code that ran on the "13" will also run on the "13A" but not vice versa,
but this only matters if you are using the new registers.
Have any comments? Questions?
Drop me a line!
Tom's Electronics pages / tom@mmto.org