TI Korea (CEO Kent Chon, www.ti.com/kr) April 1, 2015 – TI (CEO Kent Chon) announced the launch of the MSP432™ microcontroller (MCU) platform, the industry's lowest-power 32-bit ARM® Cortex®-M4F MCU. Leveraging TI's accumulated expertise in ultra-low-power MCUs, the new 48MHz MCU maximizes performance without power loss, consuming only 95 mA of operating power and 850 nA of standby power. It also includes industry-leading analog peripherals, such as a high-speed 14-bit 1 MSPS analog-to-digital converter (ADC), further enhancing power efficiency and performance. The MSP432 MCU is suitable for ultra-low-power embedded applications requiring efficient data processing and enhanced low-power performance, such as industrial automation, building automation, industrial sensing, industrial security panels, asset management, and consumer electronics.

World's lowest power Cortex-M4F MCU

This new MSP432 MCU is the most advanced product in TI's ultra-low power innovation, achieving a ULPBench™ score of 167.4 points, which is superior to any Cortex-M3 and M4F MCU on the market. ULPBench, an ultra-low power benchmark from the Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC), a non-profit organization in the MCU industry, provides a standard index for comparing power performance across any MCU, regardless of architecture. The MSP432 MCU maximizes power efficiency during high-speed operation through its built-in DC/DC converter and reduces overall system cost and design complexity via LDOs. Additionally, the 14-bit ADC consumes only 375 mA at 1 MSPS operation. The optional RAM conservation feature, a proprietary function of the MSP432 MCU, can reduce total system power to 30 nA per bank by supplying power only to the banks that are needed out of the eight RAM banks. Furthermore, the MSP432 MCU can lower overall system power by operating within a voltage range of as low as 1.62 V to as high as 3.7 V. The MSP432 MCU, the flagship product of TI's 32-bit ultra-low power MSP MCU portfolio, continues the ultra-low power performance of the MSP430™ while supporting enhanced analog capabilities and up to 2MB of flash memory.

TI's first 32-bit MSP MCU provides higher performance

The MSP432 MCU delivers enhanced performance without additional power consumption. Its integrated Digital Signal Processing (DSP) engine and the ARM Cortex-M4F Floating-Point Unit (FPU) enable various high-performance applications, such as signal conditioning and sensor processing, while simultaneously maintaining performance for additional functions, thereby differentiating the product. The MSP432 MCU provides improved performance by enabling simultaneous read and write operations via dual-bank flash memory of up to 256KB. Products and data can be protected via the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) 256 hardware encryption accelerator, and the MSP432 MCU's data and code can be protected through IP protection features. These capabilities allow for the processing of more data and the integration of more advanced algorithms. Furthermore, it enables the implementation of wired or wireless IoT stacks and higher-resolution display images. All of this can be executed within the existing power budget.

A simple tool to help you get started with development quickly

To evaluate MSP432 MCUs, a target board (MSP-TS432PZ100) or a low-cost LaunchPad Rapid Prototyping Kit (MSP-EXP432P401R) with integrated emulation capabilities is provided. Developers can perform additional evaluation tasks by adding various booster packs, including the low-power SimpleLink™ Wi-Fi CC3100 booster pack, to the MSP432 LaunchPad kit. In addition, through TI's cloud development ecosystem, everything from products, documentation, software, and IDEs (integrated development environments) can be conveniently accessed on the web, allowing developers to quickly get started with development work. The MSP432 MCU supports multiple RTOS (real-time operating systems), including TI-RTOS, FreeRTOS, and Micrium μC/OS.

Other Key Features and Benefits of the 32-bit MSP432 MCU Platform

· Code, registers, and low-power peripherals are compatible between the MSP430 and MSP432 portfolios, allowing developers to utilize existing code and port code between 16-bit and 32-bit products.

· Power consumption can be monitored in real time with ±2% accuracy using EnergyTrace+™ technology and ULP Advisor software.

· The all-encompassing power-optimized MSPWare™ software includes libraries, code examples, documentation, and hardware tools for 16-bit and 32-bit MSP MCUs, and is available online in TI’s Resource Explorer or Code Composer Studio™ (CCS) IDE. Additional support is also provided through the IAR Embedded WorkBench® and ARM Keil® MDK IDEs.

· Open source Energia supports rapid prototype development using the MSP432 Launchpad Kit. Libraries for cloud connectivity, sensors, displays, etc., can be easily imported, allowing the use of many types of native code for rapid firmware development.

Developers can create IoT products through the high flexibility, ample memory, high performance, integrated analog functions, and compatibility with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth® Smart, and Sub-1GHz wireless connectivity solutions of the MSP432 MCU.

Price and Supply Timing

Samples of the MSP432P401RIPZ MCU are currently available. In the future, multiple products will be supplied with various feature combinations, packages, and flash capacities up to 256KB, with pricing starting at $2.15 per unit for quantities of 1,000. Developers can start designing right now using the $12.99 MSP-EXP432P401R Launchpad Kit and the $89 MSP-TS432PZ100 target board.

More detailed information on TI's ultra-low power MSP432 MCU

· Benefits of TI's Ultra-Low Power MSP432 MCU

· MSP432 MCU White Paper

· MSP432 MCU Video

· Subscribe to TI E2E's Official MSP Blog

The Center of Innovation, TI MCU

Based on leading process technology, TI possesses proprietary system architecture, intellectual property, and real-world system expertise, and has continuously innovated low-power and high-performance MCU products for over 20 years.