Lowest power: Microcontrollers claim twice performance, battery life

Dallas, TX – Texas Instruments announced five new families of MSP430F2xx high-performance microcontrollers, claimed to be the industry’s lowest-power 16-bit general purpose microcontrollers (MCUs). They provide a direct upgrade path for corresponding devices in the company’s MSP430F1xx generation of ultra-low-power MCUs, with software and pin compatibility, twice the performance, twice the battery life, and increased memory, TI says.

By Control Engineering Staff December 27, 2007

Dallas, TX

Texas Instruments

announced five new families of MSP430F2xx high-performance microcontrollers, claimed to be the industry’s lowest-power 16-bit general purpose microcontrollers (MCUs). They provide a direct upgrade path for corresponding devices in the company’s MSP430F1xx generation of ultra-low-power MCUs, with software and pin compatibility, twice the performance, twice the battery life, and increased memory, TI says.

The MCUs allow developers of meters, sensors, industrial control systems, handheld instruments, and other embedded systems to extend the performance and lifetime of products with minimal redesign.

The devices integrate on-chip memories of up to 120 KB , and a 20-bit address word increases total addressable memory to 1

The MCUs have an operating voltage range of 1.8 to 3.6 V and a clocking architecture that allows the designer to implement select processing speed versus operating voltage.

On-chip options include program memories up to 120 KB, three-channel direct memory access (DMA), eight-channel 12-bit analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), and two-channel 12-bit digital-to-analog converters (DACs). A universal serial communications interface (UCSI) saves development time with a flexible implementation of standards that include I2C, SPI, IrDA and UART.

Performance, lower power, design flexibility :r portable embedded control systems that require more memory as well as other systems that can benefit from the high level of analog integration.”

Control Engineering News Desk
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