Knowing which STM32 MCUs are interchangeable

[ISeed]

Hi all!

Let's say I'm developing a board around a particular STM32, but I want to be able to switch it for one with, lets say, with a larger RAM. How can I know if 2 MCUs are entirely identical, when it comes to footprint and pinout?

Is there some trick / tool to know this?

Thanks!

[S.Ma]

As long as you stay within the same family, try to use a package which is cross compatible.

Datasheet comparison should be enough to this regards.

if you change families, there are other things beyond package and pinout to consider.

[ISeed]

Thanbks for the reply!

So if I stay in the same family, and use the same package type and number of pins, they are interchangeable?

What do you mean by cross-compatible package?

And family - down to which name character is it considered a single family?

For instance, which from the examples below share the same pinout, considering they have the same number of pins and package:

• STM32L
• STM32L469
• STM32L469V
• something else??

Thanks!

[S.Ma · Accepted solution]

https://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers-microprocessors/stm32l4-series.html

Shows the L4 family.

In this family, open the datasheet of the parts you'd like to compare pinout.

If cubemx is working, you can try to import an L4 IOC file into another L4 to see if it looks ok.

I would still check by cubeMX the portability across pinout or by comparing datasheet.

For example, some STM32F410 has DAC while STM32F411 may not.

STM32L496 and STM32L4R5 share common BGA132 pinout (using non SMPS version) however L4R has DMAMUX and only 1 ADC vs 3.

[After Forever]

Open your project in STM32Cube and press Alt-L. It will open a window with both fully and partly compatible MCUs.

[ISeed]

Thanks guys!