STM32F4 series microcontroller selection details

This article will provide a comprehensive introduction to the STM32F4 family of microcontrollers in detail, with some guidance on the selection of the F4 series in actual projects.

Overall Introduction of STM32F4

The entire STM32F4 can be divided into three series: Entry Series, Basic Series, and Advanced Series. The following data is taken from the official website link. The following data provides a brief description of the specific models and new features for each series.

For most users, the Advanced series is not used, and is rarely seen in open source projects, so it is not analyzed in detail here.

The most used is the basic series. In the basic series, the most used model is the F407 series, why? The majority of the development boards sold by Taobao stores like Positive Atom and Wildfire are of this series. So the next will introduce this model in detail, in addition to the F405 model will also be introduced in detail, the two models are using the same datasheet, the two models at present, Taobao's price is basically the same, about 40 yuan.

For the entry-level series, the F411 and F401 models are sold more in Taobao, and the F411 pins are compatible with the F103. But for learners, it is generally chosen F103 model as the entry model, so the use of people is still relatively small, but F411CEU6 cost-effective, the current price of about 20, about twice as much as F103C8T6.

Advanced series

STM32F469/479- Quad-SPI interface, LCD-TFT controller and MPI-DSI interface

STM32F429/439- LCD-TFT controller

STM32F427/437- Serial audio interface with higher performance and lower static power

180 MHz CPU/225 DMIPS, up to 2MB dual-zone Flash with SDRAM controller and Chrom-ART gas pedal

Base series

STM32F446- 180 MHz/225 DMIPS, up to 512 KB Flash with Dual Quad SPI and SDRAM interface

STM32F407/417- 168 MHz CPU/210 DMIPS, up to 1 MB Flash, added Ethernet MAC and camera interfaces

STM32F405/415- 168 MHz CPU/210 DMIPS, up to 1 MB Flash, advanced interconnect and encryption

Entry-level series: STM32F4 series based on low-cost considerations!

STM32F410-New milestone in energy efficiency (89 µA/MHz in run mode and 6 µA in shutdown mode) with hardware random number generator, low-power timer and DAC.

STM32F411-High RAM capacity and enhanced peripheral set, such as USB OTG2.0FS and up to 5 SPI.

STM32F412- High RAM and Flash capacity, USB interface, enhanced peripheral set including flexible external static memory controller (up to 16-bit data bus for LCD and external memory control), dual QUAD SPI, CAN, DFSDM and TRNG.

STM32F413/423- Further increases the Flash and RAM capacity of the STM32F412 with an enhanced peripheral set including 10x UART, 3x CAN, SAI interface, 1x low-power timer, 2x DAC, 2x DFSDM (up to 6 filters), and the STM32F423 family includes AES encryption.

STM32F4 value line- Designed for the cost-driven application market, the most affordable entry-level high-performance MCU

STM32F401 - Less than 3 x 3mm in size, with USB OTG2.0FS and SDIO interfaces

84 MHz CPU/105 DMIPS, the smallest and lowest cost solution with excellent dynamic power efficiency

100 MHz CPU/125 DMIPS with excellent dynamic power efficiency and batch acquisition mode (BAM, a new mode for batch data processing with DMA intelligent power optimization).

F407 Model Description

The STM32F407/417 family of MCUs is targeted at medical, industrial and consumer applications requiring high integration, high performance, embedded memory and peripherals in packages as small as 10 x 10 mm. The STM32F407/417 MCUs offer the performance of a Cortex-M4 core (with floating point unit) operating at 168 MHz.

Performance: The STM32F407/417 MCU delivers 210 DMIPS/566 CoreMark performance when executing from Flash memory at 168 MHz and utilizes ST's ART gas pedal to achieve a zero wait state for FLASH.

Power efficiency: Using ST's 90 nm process and ART gas pedal, the family features dynamic power tuning to achieve current consumption as low as 238 µA/MHz (@ 168 MHz) in run mode and when executing from Flash memory.

Rich connectivity: Excellent and innovative peripherals: Compared to the STM32F4x5 family, the STM32F407/417 microcontrollers also feature an Ethernet MAC10/100 compliant with IEEE 1588 v2 standard requirements and an 8 to 14-bit parallel camera interface.

2 USB OTG (one of which supports HS)

Audio: PLL (dedicated audio) and 2 full duplex I²S

Interfaces: Up to 15 communication interfaces (including 6 USART with speeds up to 11.25 Mb/s, 3 SPI with speeds up to 45 Mb/s, 3 I²C, 2 CAN and 1 SDIO)

Analog: 2 x 12-bit DACs, 3 x 12-bit ADCs at 2.4 MSPS or 7.2 MSPS (interleaved mode)

Timers: Up to 17 timers: The 16 and 32-bit timers at up to 168 MHz

Easily expandable memory capacity with flexible static memory controllers supporting Compact Flash, SRAM, PSRAM, NOR and NAND memories

True random number generator based on analog electronics

The STM32F417 also integrates an encryption/HASH processor that implements hardware acceleration for AES 128, 192, 256, 3DES and HASH (MD5, SHA-1).

Integration: The STM32F417x family features 512KB (WLCSP90 package only) ~ 1MB Flash and 192KB SRAM in 64~144-pin packages with sizes as small as 4 x 4.2 mm.

The STM32F407/417 product family features 512KB~1MB Flash and 192KB SRAM in 100~176-pin packages as small as 10 x 10 mm.

F405 Model Introduction

The STM32F405/415 family of MCUs is targeted at medical, industrial and consumer applications that require highly integrated, high-performance, embedded memory and peripherals in packages as small as 4 x 4.2 mm. The STM32F405/415 MCUs offer the performance of the Cortex-M4 core (with floating point unit) operating at 168 MHz.

Performance: The STM32F405/415 MCU delivers 210 DMIPS/ 566 CoreMark performance when executing from Flash memory at 168 MHz and utilizes ST's ART gas pedal to achieve a zero wait state for FLASH.

Power efficiency: Using ST's 90 nm process and ART gas pedal, this family of MCUs features dynamic power tuning to achieve current consumption as low as 238 µA/MHz (@ 168 MHz) in run mode and when executing from Flash memory.

Rich connectivity: excellent and innovative peripherals

2 USB OTG (one of them supporting HS)

Audio: PLL and 2 full duplex I²S

Interfaces: 15 communication interfaces (including 6 USART with speeds up to 10.5 Mb/s, 3 SPI with speeds up to 42 Mb/s, 3 I²C, 2 CAN and 1 SDIO)

Analog: 2 x 12-bit DACs, 3 x speeds up to 2.4 MSPS

Timers: Up to 17 timers: 16- and 32-bit timers at up to 168 MHz

Storage capacity can be easily expanded with flexible static memory controllers supporting Compact Flash, SRAM, PSRAM, NOR and NAND memories

True random number generator based on analog electronics

The STM32F415 also integrates a cryptographic/HASH processor that implements hardware acceleration for AES 128, 192, 256, Triple DES and HASH (MD5, SHA-1).

Integration: The STM32F405/415 product family features 512KB (WLCSP90 package only) ~ 1MB Flash and 192KB SRAM in 64~144-pin packages with sizes as small as 4 x 4.2 mm.

Comparison of F407 and F405 models

The Same of F407 and  F405

• Operating frequency are 168Mhz, CoreMark run scores are the same, indicating the same performance of both.
• Flash size is 512-1024KB, SRAM is 192KB, which means the storage space is the same.

Differences between F407 and  F405

• The F407 has a new Ethernet and camera interface. When reading the manual, you must pay attention to this point, because they share the same datasheet, and the manual does not seem to have detailed instructions inside.
• The SPI of the F407 supports up to 45Mhz, while the F405 only supports up to 42Mhz.
• The minimum number of pins is 100 for the F407 and 64 for the F405. This is very critical because the package size of 100 pins is 14x14mm while the package size of 64 pins is 10x10mm, both for the LQFP type. In the premise that the number of 64 pins meet the situation, this area is still very important for the selection of the type.
• In addition, you can see in detail the specific functions supported by each model on this website, and since the camera interface will be used in the future, the final model is F407.