Flash MCUs Increase Mixed-Signal Processing Performance

Four additions to the MSP430 line of 16-bit RISC microcontrollers promise increased performance via a unique, integrated direct-transfer controller (DTC) module. The DTC module provides direct data transfer between an on-chip, 200+ ksamples/s 10-bit a/d converter and on-chip memory. The company says that this allows the CPU to perform digital-signal processing operations at speeds up to 50 times faster than conventional MCUs. The MSP430F1xx2 devices operate with input voltages ranging from 1.8V to 3.6V and include up to 4 KB or 8 KB of reprogrammable flash memory, 256 bytes of RAM, a multi-channel PWM timer, watchdog timer, and brownout protection. Included with the MSP430F1232 and F1222 is a USART that can be used in either UART or SPI mode. Also available is the MSP-FET430P120 development tool, which includes two samples of the MSP430F1232 and support for embedded real-time JTAG emulation. In QFPs, the MSP430F1232 (8 KB flash), F1222 (4 KB flash), F1132 (8 KB flash), and F1122 (4 KB flash) are priced at $2.79, $2.62, $2.48 and $2.24, respectively, each/10,000. TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC., Dallas, TX. (800) 477-8924, ext. 4500.