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Please refer to Event Code: MSP305

Texas Instruments Microcontroller Family Offers Industry-Leading MIPS/Watt Performance for Battery-Powered Applications

DALLAS (June 22, 1998) -- A microcontroller family from Texas Instruments (TI) that provides an ultra-low power solution is now available for the first time outside Europe. These devices offer a high-performance 16-bit reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microcontroller unit (MCU) and integrated peripherals for industry-leading MIPS/Watt performance. This combination is ideal for applications such as utility metering, industrial metering, high-precision portable measurement and home measurement such as thermostats and smoke detectors. Designed in extensively by utilities in Europe, these devices will be especially useful in North America for remote meter reading as utilities are deregulated.

This microcontroller family, designated the MSP430, has lower standby power and lower active power than any other 8 or 16-bit MCU market solution. With a performance rating of 4 MIPs, the MSP430 delivers in an industry leading 1200 MIPS per Watt. Its ultra-low power consumption can extend battery life up to ten times longer than traditional low power MCUs. The devices also offer the industry's shortest active duty cycle.

The MSP430 offers an integrated, high-resolution A/D converter, producing a lower total system cost and reduced power consumption than solutions using a discrete A/D converter. On-chip integration of the 16-bit RISC core, the 14-bit resolution A/D, liquid crystal display (LCD) driver, internal oscillator, universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART/SPI), timers and JTAG make the MSP430 the highest performance, lowest power single-chip solution for most battery-powered applications.

MSP430 chip The MSP430 device family is fully supported by a development tool set including a Windows® based software simulator, evaluation boards with assembler and linker, C-compiler with industry-leading efficiency, in-circuit emulators, UV-EPROM devices, programming adapter or gang programmer for OTP devices, and a JTAG tool set for debug.

The MSP430 product family consists of the following devices, available now in the below configurations. In addition, the MSP430C311s -- listed first in the table below -- will be available in third quarter of 1998.

Device
Memory
RAM
LCD
Segment
Peripherals
Package
Type
MSP430C311s 2K ROM
128
64
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 48 SSOP
MSP430C312 4K ROM
256
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 56 SSOP
MSP430C313 8K ROM
256
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 56 SSOP
MSP430C314 12K ROM
512
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 56 SSOP
MSP430C315 16K ROM
512
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 56 SSOP
MSP430P313 8K OTP
256
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 56 SSOP
MSP430P315 16K OTP
512
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 56 SSOP
MSP430P315s 16K OTP
512
92
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver 48 SSOP
MSP430C323 8K ROM
256
84
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver, ADC 64 QFP
64 TQFP
68 PLCC
MSP430C325 16K ROM
512
84
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver, ADC 64 QFP
64 TQFP
68 PLCC
MSP430P325 16K OTP
512
84
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver, ADC 64 QFP
64 TQFP
68 PLCC
MSP430C336 24K ROM
1K
120
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver,
T_A, MPY, USART
100 QFP
MSP430C337 32K ROM
1K
120
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver,
T_A, MPY, USART
100 QFP
MSP430P337 32K OTP
1K
120
T/P, WDT, BT, T/C, LCD Driver,
T_A, MPY, USART
100 QFP

Key To Peripherals In Device Chart

ADC: six-input channel, 14-bit analog-to-digital converter with integrated current source
T/P: timer/port module for slope A/D conversions, two 8-bit, or a single 16-bit timer/counter
WDT: 15-bit watchdog or interval timer
BT: eight-bit general-purpose timer (for real timer clock generation)
MPY: hardware multiplier
T_A: 16-bit timer_A with five (5) capture/compare registers and five (5) outputs
USART: UART/SPI module
T/C: 8-bit timer counter capable of providing serial communications

For ROM-coded devices, suggested resale pricing in quantities of 25,000 starts at $1.75. More information on the MSP430 family of devices is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.ti.com/sc/docs/msp/msp430/msp430.htm

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