GigaDevice GD32A503 – microcontrollers for automotive applications

GigaDevice, an industry-leading semiconductor device supplier, has released the first GD32A503 series automotive-grade microcontroller based on the Cortex®-M33 core, officially entering the automotive-grade MCU market.

The new MCU adopts an advanced automotive-grade process platform, follows automotive-grade design concepts and production standards, and meets the high reliability and stability requirements of automotive use. With balanced processing performance, rich peripheral interfaces and enhanced safety levels, this series of products provides mainstream development options for a variety of electrified automotive scenarios such as body control, automotive lighting, smart cockpits, assisted driving and motor power. The GD32A503 product portfolio provides 10 models in 4 packages, which have passed early user verification and are now officially open for sample and development board applications.

Automotive grade safety and reliability

The new GD32A503 adopts 40nm automotive-grade process and high-speed embedded flash memory eFlash technology, and realizes the collaboration between R&D and manufacturing through DFM manufacturability design and high test vector coverage to improve yield and reliability and meet the stringent automotive market needs.

The development of GD32A503 is based on the AEC-Q100 Grade 1 reliability and safety standards of the automotive electronics general test specification. The tape-out, packaging test and production supply chain management have also passed the automotive industry quality management system IATF 16949:2016 specification certification. The zero defect quality control concept is introduced in each link of the process, with special emphasis on preventive system control and process control to ensure product quality.

Configuration and functionality for wide range of applications

The GD32A503 series MCU is based on a 100MHz Cortex®-M33 core, equipped with 384KB Flash and 48KB SRAM, and a dedicated code space that can be configured as 64KB DFlash/4KB EEPROM. The chip is powered by a wide voltage of 2.7-5.5V, has an operating temperature range of -40~+125℃, and a working life of more than 15 years.

In order to achieve diversified body control and interconnection applications, GD32A503 integrates a variety of communication interfaces to enhance connectivity, supports up to 3 USARTs, 2 I2Cs, 2 SPIs, 1 I2S, and is also equipped with 2 CAN FDs and 3 LINs. According to development and application requirements, the newly added MFCOM component can be flexibly configured as USART/SPI/I2C/LIN interfaces, further improving the flexibility of solution design.

The chip is equipped with 1 general 16-bit timer, 2 basic timers, and 4 PWM advanced timers. The internal 12-bit ADC sampling rate can reach 1M SPS, and it also integrates high-precision analog peripherals such as fast comparators and DAC to support automotive motor control.

GD32A503’s Flash/RAM supports ECC verification, data communication supports CRC verification, and is also equipped with high and low voltage monitoring (BOR/PDR), clock monitoring and other functions to provide hardware guarantees for safe and stable operation of the system. And with excellent electrostatic protection and anti-interference (ESD/EFT) capabilities, it can cope with the low failure rate and high reliability requirements required for automotive electronics.

With many excellent features, the GD32A503 series MCU can be widely used in a variety of automotive scenarios, such as windows, wipers, air conditioners, smart car locks, electric seats, electric trunks, atmosphere lights, dynamic taillights and other body control systems, automotive lighting systems and motor power systems, as well as dashboards, car audio and video, entertainment audio, central control navigation, car wireless charging and other smart cockpit systems. Thanks to its excellent safety monitoring mechanism, GD32A503 is also suitable for some ADAS assisted driving systems, such as surround view cameras, AVAS acoustic alarm systems, etc.

Product-level software and solutions and the automotive ecosystem

The GD32A503 series products support the AUTOSAR® automotive open system architecture, enhance the independence of software and hardware modules, and make it easier to migrate between different designs. The newly built product-level software package provides a microcontroller abstraction layer (MCAL) and internal drivers, which can directly access the MCU and peripheral chips, effectively simplifying the development process of upper-layer applications of automotive software, enhancing code versatility and reuse, and reducing development costs and cycles.

The new MCU is compatible with a variety of mainstream integrated development environments (IDEs) such as Keil MDK/IAR EWARM/SEGGER/GCC. The supporting development boards include the GD32A503V-EVAL full-function evaluation board and the GD32A503R-START, GD32A503C-START, GD32A503K-START entry-level start-kits, corresponding to various packages and pins, to facilitate user development and debugging.

Thanks to the rich and complete ecosystem of the GD32 family, the development resources of the GD32A503 chip are also ready. Users can use the existing GD32 debugging mass production tools, technical documents, operating systems, and software and hardware platforms to develop automotive-grade projects, continue to leverage the advantages of Arm technology and promote its popularization in the field of automotive electronics.

GigaDevice has joined hands with many Tier-1 and solution manufacturers in the industry to continuously build an automotive MCU ecosystem, providing users with differentiated application solutions for the automotive market. This includes reference designs for various automotive scenarios such as automotive instrument systems based on new MCUs, warning cameras, DC motor control, electric seats adjustments, cooling systems and radiators, automotive ambient light strips, and advanced exterior lighting. Thanks to the complete ecosystem, development cycle of terminal devices is simplified and shortened, and the mass production process is accelerated.

Product selection table:

Available product list here.
Data sheet: GD32A503 GD32A513

Maritex is GigaDevice products’ authorized distributor. Series GD32A5XX is already available for orders.

For product inquiry, samples and development tools please contact: k.kowalska-aziz@maritex.com.pl