TI Korea (CEO Kent Chon, www.ti.com/kr) May 21, 2015 – TI (CEO Kent Chon) announced the development of innovative Compute Through Power Loss (CTPL) technology that enables context saving and restoring capabilities in the MSP430™ FRAM microcontroller (MCU) family, including the new MSP430FR6972 MCU. This patent-pending technology enables immediate wake-up via intelligent system recovery functions when an application experiences an unexpected power outage. Furthermore, the new MSP430FR6972 MCU, featuring TI's CTPL technology, includes integrated smart analog and digital peripherals to reduce system cost, power consumption, and size. These include a low-power segment LCD controller, a 12-bit differential analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with an integrated window comparator, and a 256-bit AES accelerator. The ultra-low power MSP430FR6972 MCU, featuring 64KB of non-volatile FRAM, achieved an overwhelming ULPBench score among 16-bit MCUs and can be used for data logging to implement applications such as wireless motor condition monitors. This wireless motor condition monitor system was developed by TI Designs at TI’s innovation research center, Kilby Lab, and was developed in conjunction with TI’s bq25570 energy harvesting IC and the SimpleLink™ multi-standard CC2650 wireless MCU, which can operate for decades on a single coin cell battery. This system monitors and analyzes motor vibration frequencies, and reduces the potential for device failure because it allows operators to accurately predict and schedule maintenance.

Proprietary ultra-low power features of non-volatile FRAM-based MCUs

· Reduce production costs by shortening programming time in the mass manufacturing process

· Integrated FRAM enables flexible memory usage in data and application code – A highly flexible solution that can be updated in the field

· Superior write speed compared to any other product and write cycle endurance approximately 10 billion more than existing non-volatile memory solutions – Excellent for data logging applications

· Eliminating the need for segment pre-wiping simplifies code development, and bit-level access enables continuous and rapid data logging without additional power.

Key Features and Advantages of TI's MSP430FR6972 FRAM MCU

· Fast and easy hardware layout is possible through the integration of a 116-segment LCD driver with software-configurable LCD pins. Built-in charge pump maintains LCD contrast levels even when the MCU is in low-power mode.

· Includes 52 capacitive touch-supported GPIOs, 5 timers, comparators, a real-time clock (RTC) counter, and SPI, UART, and I2C communication to reduce system cost and product size.

With the advantages of non-volatile FRAM, an LCD controller, and built-in security features, the MSP430FR6972 MCU is suitable for smart flow and electrical metering parallel processing, building and factory automation, and blood glucose measurement applications.

· 700nA RTC standby current consumption and a ULPBench score of 117.5 points prove the performance of the MSP430FR6972 MCU as the industry's lowest-power 16-bit MCU equipped with an LCD.

TI's EnergyTrace++ technology includes unique features that enable developers to analyze power consumption in real time and provide status information for both systems and peripherals, allowing engineers to use it to adjust power budgets and optimize software to create low-power applications.

Detailed migration guides and application notes enable easy migration from existing Flash MCUs to MSP430 FRAM MCUs and facilitate easy portability within the code-compatible MSP430 FRAM family.

Price and Supply Time

The MSP430FR6972 MCU and product family are currently in mass production, with prices starting at $2.15 per 1,000 units. The MSP-EXP430FR6989 LaunchPad allows developers to begin evaluation with a fully functional board and is available for $17.99. For complete development, the MSP-TS430PM64F target socket development board and MSP-FET programmer/debugger can be purchased for $175.