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Advanced Software Framework (ASF)

Advanced Software Framework (ASF) for SAM Devices

The Advanced Software Framework (ASF) provides a rich set of proven drivers and code modules developed by experts to reduce design time. It simplifies the usage of microcontrollers by providing an abstraction to the hardware through drivers and high-value middleware. ASF is a free and open-source code library designed to be used for evaluation, prototyping, design and production phases.

The latest SAM and PIC32C MCUs are not supported in ASF. ASF3 and ASF4 libraries are supported in maintenance mode only. We recommend starting new projects with our MPLAB® Harmony embedded software development framework for SAM and PIC32 MCUs.  

MPLAB Harmony v3 is a fully integrated embedded software development framework that provides flexible and interoperable software modules to simplify the development of value-added features and reduce your product’s time to market.

Learn More About MPLAB Harmony v3

ASF4

ASF4, supporting the SAM microcontroller product line (as well as a number of wireless example projects), is the fourth major generation of ASF. It represents a complete redesign and implementation of the framework to improve the memory footprint and code performance, as well as to better integrate with the Atmel START web user interface. ASF4 must be used in conjunction with Atmel START, which replaces the ASF Wizard of ASF3.

For a description of ASF4 system context, see: ASF4: Atmel START, Software Content and IDEs (from ASF4 API Reference Manual).

ASF3

ASF3 is an MCU software library providing a large collection of embedded software for AVR® and SAM flash MCUs and Wireless: megaAVR®, AVR XMEGA®, AVR UC3, SAM devices, ATWINC, ATWILC and ATBTLC. ASF3 is configured by the ASF Wizard in Atmel Studio 7 (installed as an extension to Studio). ASF3 is also available as a standalone (*.zip) with the same content as Studio extension.

Benefits of ASF4

  • Simplifies the usage of microcontrollers and wireless, providing an abstraction to the hardware and high-value middleware
  • Designed to be used for evaluation, prototyping, design and production phases
  • Common set of software interfaces across different SAM devices
  • Smaller code size: Use-case drivers offering only the functionality required by the user's application
  • Easier to use: Graphical configuration of the system through Atmel START

Benefits of ASF3

  • Simplifies the usage of microcontrollers and wireless, providing an abstraction to the hardware and high-value middleware
  • Designed to be used for evaluation, prototyping, design and production phases
  • Integrated in the Atmel Studio IDE with a graphical user interface or available as standalone for GCC and IAR compilers
  • ASF is available as free download

Downloads

Title Date Published Size Download
Windows (x86/x64)
Advanced Software Framework v3.52.0 03/10/2022 476 MB Download
Release Notes
Advanced Software Framework v3.52.0 Release Notes 03/10/2022 91 KB Download
Reference Manual
ASF4 API Reference Manual 2018 2.6 KB Download

Documentation

Title
AVR4029: Software Framework - Getting Started Download

Advanced Software Framework (ASF) for SAM Devices

Title
Migrating an Atmel Software Frameworks (ASF) Project from ASFv3.3 to ASFv4 Download