World's first integration of a low leakage current configurable transimpedance amplifier

TI (CEO Kent Tran) announced the release of the new MSP430FR2311 microcontroller (MCU), which can extend battery life in sensing and measurement applications.

This new product is the industry's only MCU to integrate a low-leakage current transimpedance amplifier (TIA) that consumes only 50 pA of current. Added to the ultra-low-power MSP430™ MCU family, this new microcontroller provides leakage current 20 times lower than other voltage and current sensing solutions and allows for flexible configuration of analog functions and memory without wasting battery life or board space.

Developers can simplify circuitry and save up to 75% of PCB space by using MCU solutions with built-in, flexible analog capabilities. The MSP430FR2311 MCU integrates analog functions such as ADCs, OP amps, comparators, and TIAs, enabling developers to connect to a wide range of sensors.

In addition, this solution features FRAM (Ferroelectric Random Access Memory) technology, requires no external crystal, and is provided in a single 3.5mm x 4mm package. This single-chip solution reduces design complexity and overall project development time.

Minimize the number of parts in sensing and measurement applications

The MSP430FR2311 MCU allows developers to select the amplifier configuration (non-inverting, inverting, or transimpedance) they need and customize applications by choosing the amount of memory to allocate to application code or data, eliminating the need to be constrained by the flash-to-RAM ratio. Customers can begin development in just minutes using the MSP430FR2311 MCU LaunchPad™ development kit, supported by the Code Composer Studio™ integrated development environment (IDE) and IAR Embedded WorkBench®.

In addition, applications can be implemented using the MSP430FR2311 smoke detection subsystem reference design (scheduled for availability in Q2 2016), which detects current using photodiodes and TIA configurations. Furthermore, customers developing medical health and fitness, building automation, and personal electronics can further extend battery life by using the TI Designs reference design (TIDA-00242) based on the TI energy harvesting IC (bq25570) and the MSP430FR2311 MCU.

Customers currently using 2KB and 4KB devices of the MSP430G2x series MCUs can easily migrate their designs to the MSP430FR2311 MCU, enabling them to take advantage of high performance with more built-in analog functions such as non-volatile FRAM, ADC, and comparator. A migration guide is provided to easily transfer functions from the MSP430F2xx and MSP430G2xx series, allowing you to learn how to easily move between product families if more analog functions are required.