TI Korea (CEO Kent Tran) has launched the MSP432 microcontroller platform, the industry's lowest-power 32-bit ARM Cortex-M4F MCU.

"Since the MSP432 maximizes performance without additional power consumption, developers no longer need to choose between low power and high performance. The MSP432 MCU provides both simultaneously," said Seungwoon Ryu, Deputy General Manager of TI's EP/DLP Application Team.

High performance achieved through cores and peripherals

The 48MHz high-performance ARM Cortex-M4F core mounted on the MSP432 MCU integrates the complete ARM instruction set with DSP and FPU engines. "In the case of Cortex-M0+ solutions chosen for power budgets, the instruction set was limited, which inevitably led to an increase in assembly instruction lines, resulting in increased power consumption during execution.

However, the MSP42 MCU features an extended instruction set along with an additional floating-point instruction set, significantly reducing assembly lines. "This allows for more powerful performance while reducing power consumption," explained General Manager Ryu Seung-woon.

Thanks to this, the MSP432 MCU provides the high performance of the Cortex-M4F while having power consumption similar to that of the Cortex-M0+.

The MSP432 MCU is equipped with high-performance peripherals. Dual-bank flash memory of up to 256KB operating independently.

Lee improves speed through the simultaneous execution of read and erase, and the ROM-mounted

DriverLib doubles the execution speed compared to using Flash.

The bit-band function of peripheral devices and SRAM memory enables speed improvement by converting data in memory into bits rather than bytes.

"In the case of peripheral devices, to update the content, you have to move the value to memory, write it to the value you want to change it to, and then move it back; however, if you access it at the bit level, you can write it immediately," explained General Manager Ryu Seung-woon. Since the process of moving back and forth between memory is eliminated and the routines are simplified, the MCU performs the work that would normally be done three times in one go, thereby increasing speed. Power consumption is also reduced by that amount.

Through these capabilities, the MSP432 MCU can process more data and integrate more advanced algorithms, enabling wired and wireless IoT stacks and higher-resolution display images. Furthermore, all of this can be executed within the existing power budget.

Ultra-low power performance through comprehensive power saving techniques

The architecture of the MSP432 MCU is optimized for ultra-low power implementation, so the operating power consumption in active mode is only 95uA/MHz, and the standby power is only 850nA when the real-time clock (RTC) is enabled.

Various power-saving techniques, including peripheral devices, contribute to the realization of such outstanding power-saving performance.

The MSP432 MCU operates over a wide voltage range from a minimum of 1.62V to a maximum of 3.7V, which can lower the overall system power.

In addition, the LDO and DC/DC are integrated, resulting in a 40% improvement in power saving performance. "When power consumption is a critical factor, the built-in DC/DC can be activated to maximize power efficiency, and the LDO can be activated when a rapid transition between sleep mode and wake-up mode is required," explained General Manager Ryu Seung-woon.

In addition, it is equipped with a 14-bit ADC, so when, for example, sensor values are sampled at a speed of 1 MSPS, it consumes only a minimum amount of power of 375 μA.

The selective RAM retention feature, a proprietary function of the MSP432 MCU, reduces total system power consumption to 30nA per RAM bank by supplying power only to the necessary banks out of the eight. Additionally, since DriverLib is loaded in ROM rather than flash, 35% power savings are achieved compared to using flash.

Simple tools for rapid development

Developers can start designing right now using the MSP-EXP432P401R LaunchPad Kit ($12.99), a low-cost rapid prototyping kit with integrated emulation capabilities, and the MSP-TS432PZ100 target board ($89) for evaluating MSP432 MCUs. Additional evaluation tasks can be performed 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 and documentation to software and IDEs is conveniently available on the web, allowing you to quickly get started with development work.

Other advantages

Since code, registers, and low-power peripherals are compatible between the MSP430 and MSP432 portfolios, developers can utilize existing code by porting from 16-bit to 32-bit products.

EnergyTrace+ technology, which tracks how much power the MCU actually consumes, and ULP Advisor software, which generates cause messages for unused peripherals and advises disabling them, optimize the code and system for ultra-low power operation.

The MSP432 MCU supports multiple RTOSs, including TI-RTOS, FreeRTOS, and Micrium μC/OS. In addition, it offers high flexibility, ample memory, high performance, integrated analog functions, and compatibility with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth Smart, and Sub-1GHz wireless connectivity solutions, making it easier for developers to develop IoT products.

"Developers now have the option to use the MSP430 for fields requiring low power, and the MSP432 for fields requiring both low power and high performance," emphasized General Manager Ryu Seung-woon.

Price and Supply Timing

Mass production of the MSP432, the flagship product of TI's 32-bit ultra-low-power MSP MCU portfolio, is scheduled for the second quarter of this year. Currently, MSP432 MCUs supporting 256KB of flash memory are being sampled, and in the future, they are expected to support up to 2MB of flash memory. The price of the MSP432P401RIPZ MCU currently being sampled starts at $2.15 per unit based on a quantity of 1,000.