TI introduces the world’s smallest MCU, enabling innovation in the tiniest of applications
Texas Instruments (TI) has introduced the world’s smallest MCU, expanding its comprehensive Arm Cortex-M0+ MSPM0 MCU portfolio. Measuring only 1.38mm2, about the size of a black pepper flake, the wafer chip-scale package (WCSP) for the MSPM0C1104 MCU enables designers to optimise board space in applications such as medical wearables and personal electronics, without compromising performance.
“In tiny systems such as earbuds and medical probes, board space is a scarce and valuable resource,” said Vinay Agarwal, vice president and general manager of MSP Microcontrollers at TI. “With the addition of the world’s smallest MCU, our MSPM0 MCU portfolio provides unlimited possibilities to enable smarter, more connected experiences in our day-to-day lives.”
Consumers are continuously demanding that everyday electronic items, such as electric toothbrushes and stylus pens, offer more features in a smaller footprint at a lower cost. To innovate within these shrinking products, engineers are increasingly seeking compact, integrated components that enable them to add functionality while preserving board space. The MSPM0C1104 MCU leverages the advantages of WCSP packaging technology, along with intentional feature selection and TI’s cost optimization efforts. The size of the eight-ball WCSP is 1.38mm2, making it 38% smaller than competing devices.
The MCU features 16KB of memory; a 12-bit analog-to-digital converter with three channels; six general-purpose input/output pins; and compatibility with standard communication interfaces such as Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART), Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) and Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C). Integrating accurate, high-speed analog components into the world’s smallest MCU gives engineers the flexibility to maintain the computing performance of their embedded systems without increasing board size.
The new MSPM0C1104 joins TI’s MSPM0 MCU portfolio, which offers scalability, cost optimisation and ease of use to accelerate time to market. TI’s MSPM0 MCUs feature pin-to-pin compatible package options and feature sets to match memory, analog and computing requirements in personal electronics, industrial and automotive applications. Starting at US$0.16 in 1,000-unit quantities, the portfolio includes other small packages to help reduce board size and bill of materials. This optimisation and feature integration across the portfolio help engineers design products of any size while reducing cost and complexity in their systems.
For further support, TI’s comprehensive ecosystem includes an optimised software development kit for all MSPM0 MCUs; a hardware development kit for rapid prototyping; reference designs; and subsystems, which are code examples for common MCU functions. TI’s Zero Code Studio tool enables users to configure, develop and run MCU applications in minutes without coding. Engineers can take advantage of this ecosystem to scale designs and reuse code without the need for significant hardware or software modifications. In addition to this ecosystem, TI’s MSPM0 MCU portfolio is supported by TI’s growing investments in its internal manufacturing capacity to support future demand.
