Texas Instruments MSPM0 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontrollers sell for 39 cents and up

MSPM0L Block Diagram

Texas Instruments has just introduced its low-cost MSPM0 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller portfolio comprised of the MSPM0L series with a 32 MHz CPU, up to 64 kB of flash, and 4 kB SRAM, and the MSPM0G series with an 80 MHz CPU, up to 128 kB of flash and 32 kB SRAM. Texas Instruments MSPM0L MSPM0L1306 key features: CPU – Arm 32-bit Cortex-M0+ core @ up to 32 MHz Memory – Up to 4KB SRAM Storage – Up to 64KB flash Digital peripherals 3-channel DMA controller 4x 16-bit general-purpose timers, each with two capture/compare registers supporting low-power operation in STANDBY mode, supporting a total of 8 PWM channels Windowed watchdog timer Analog peripherals 12-bit 1.45-Msps analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with up to 10 total external channels Configurable 1.4-V or 2.5-V internal ADC voltage reference (VREF) 2x zero-drift, zero-crossover chopper operational amplifiers (OPA) 1x general-purpose amplifier (GPAMP) 1x high-speed comparator (COMP) with 8-bit […]

HC32L110 Arm Cortex-M0+ MCU is available in a tiny 1.59 x 1.436 mm CSP16 package

HC32L110 CSP16 Arm MCU

Before you ask… No, it’s not another one of those CNXSoft’s typos, I did not mean to write cm (centimeters), and HDSC HC32L110 is indeed an Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller available in an almost microscopic 1.59 x 1.436 mm CSP16 package, which could make it the world’s smallest Arm MCU. I discovered the microcontroller when LilyGO shared a small board only showing the MCU’s dimensions and CSP16 type. Silicon Labs EFM8SB10F8G-CSP16 showed first in a web search, but that’s an 8-bit 8051 microcontroller with a 1.781 x 1.659 mm CSP16 package, and it’s unlikely they’d use a “Western” microcontroller. But I soon found the microcontroller on Huada Semiconductor Co. Ltd (HDSC) website. HC32L110 specifications: MCU core – Arm Cortex-M0+ 32-bit core @ up to 32 MHz Memory – 2KB to 4KB RAM memory with parity check Storage – 16K to 32KB flash memory with erase and write protection Peripherals 16x GPIOs […]

PlasticArm is a functional, non-silicon, flexible Cortex-M0 microcontroller

PlasticArm Cortex-M0 plastic MCU

Four years ago, we wrote about PragmatIC’s ultrathin and flexible plastic electronics circuit, with news that an ultra-cheap ARM Cortex M0 MCU made of plastic materials was coming soon. In this case, “soon” means about four years, but Arm has now finally announced PlasticArm, an ultra-minimalist, fully functional Cortex-M0-based SoC, with 128 bytes of RAM and 456 bytes of ROM that, with 18,000 gates, is twelve times more complex than previous state-of-the-art flexible electronics. PlasticArm specifications are similar to a standard Cortex-M0+ core with some notable exceptions: Cortex-M core in PlasticARM ARMv6-M architecture ISA – 16-bit Thunb and subset of 32-bit Thumb 32-bit data access and address width 86 instructions 2-stage pipeline Architectural register file mapped to RAM external to the CPU (instead of inside the CPU) Runs code from other Cortex-M CPUs 0.8-μm process There are two main advantages of PlasticArm. First, It’s flexible and integrated into paper, plastic, […]

SAMD21 MINI / Wemos D1 SAMD21 M0 Mini Development Board Sells for $7 and Up

SAMD21 Mini Development Board

Microchip / Atmel SAMD21 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller has been around for several years, and we covered various boards based on the MCU include the official Arduino Zero launched in 2014, Arduino Tian, and the tiny SAM 15×15 or Exen Proto boards among others. Another SAMD21 development board has now shown up on Electrodragon website: SAMD21 Mini Development Board sold for $14.50 on the website, but you’ll also find it, under the RobotDyn or Wemos brand on Aliexpress for $7.05 and up. SAMD21 Mini Board / WeMos D1 SAMD21 M0 Mini Specifications: MCU – Microchip ATSAMD21G18 Arm Cortex-M0+ microcontroller @ 48 MHz with 32KB data RAM, 256KB flash USB – 1x micro USB port for power and programming Expansion 2x 14-pin headers with 19x digital I/O (including 12x PWM), 6x Analog I/O 3.3V logic level Programming – 6-pin ISCP connector Misc – Power, Tx and Rx LED’s, button Power Supply Input […]

NXP Unveils LPC84x ARM Cortex M0+ MCU Family, and LPCXpresso845-MAX Evaluation Board

NXP Semiconductors has expanded LPC800 series MCUs with the new LPC84x family of 32-bit ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller said to offer 10 times the performance, three times more power saving savings, and 50 percent smaller code-size than 8- or 16-bit microcontrollers. Key features of LPC84x MCU family (LPC844 / LPC845): MCU Core – ARM Cortex-M0+ core @ 30 MHz with advanced power optimization RAM – 16 kB RAM (Logic for Bit banding across all of SRAM) Storage – 64 kB Flash, small 64-byte page size suitable for EEPROM emulation Peripherals Timers – 32-bit CTimer, WWDT, 4-channel multi-rate, SCTimer/PWM Serial Interfaces – Up to 4x I2C, 2x SPI, up to 5x UART Analog Interfaces – 12 ch, 12-bit ADC up to 1.2 Msps; 2x 10-bit DAC; comparator with external Vreg; 9-channel capacitive touch interface working in sleep and deep sleep modes Up to 54 GPIOs 25-ch DMA offloads core Power Control Five […]

Samsung Announces Mass-Production of its Exynos i T200 WiFi Processor for the Internet of Things

Exynos i T200 is an ARM Cortex R4 + Cortex M0 WiSoC for the Internet of Things, potentially used in the Samsung ARTIK-053 IoT module, and the first Exynos IoT processor from Samsung. The company has just announced that mass production had started, so let’s have a closer look at the processor’s features. Samsung Exynos i T200 specifications: MCU Cores ARM Cortex-R4 @ 320MHz ARM Cortex-M0+ @ 320MHz (Very high frequency for an M0+ core, is that a mistake?) On-chip Memory – 1.4MB SRAM RF & WiFi Connectivity 802.11b/g/n WiFi; single band (2.4GHz) Integrated T/R switch, power amplifier, low noise amplifier Interfaces – SDIO,  I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, I2S Security – WEP 64/128, WPA, WPA2, AES, TKIP, WAPI, PUF (Physically Unclonable Function) Process – 28-nanometer (nm) High-K Metal Gate (HKMG) The Cortex R4 core is used for system control, and the Cortex M0+ core for I/O and LED control. Cortex […]

SAM 15×15 is a Tiny Arduino Zero Compatible Board based on Atmel SAMD21G18 MCU

Arduino Zero is an official Arduino board based on UNO r3 form factor but using Atmel SAMD21G18 ARM Cortex M0+ MCU instead of an AVR MCU. Albert van Dalen has decided to design a compatible module based on the same MCU, and called SAM 15×15, as its size can be trimmed down to as low as 15×15 mm. SAM 15×15 comparison with Arduino Zero and Uno boards. SAM 15×15 Arduino Zero Arduino Uno Microcontroller ATSAMD21G18A ATSAMD21G18A ATmega328P Digital I/O Pins digitalWrite digitalRead 34 20 14 Analog Output Pins (PWM) analogWrite 24 10 6 Analog Input Pins (ADC) analogRead 14 6 6 ADC resolution 12-bit 12-bit 10-bit 10-bit DACs 1 1 0 Flash Memory 256KB 256KB 32KB SRAM 32KB 32KB 2KB EEPROM 32KB (emulated in Flash) 32KB (emulated in Flash) 1KB CPU Speed 48MHz 48MHz 16MHz The board allows for three form factors to match your specific needs: 28 x 28mm […]

NXP LPC Microcontrollers Roadmap for 2017 – LPC800 and LPC54000 Series

With the acquisition of Freescale, NXP now has both Kinetis and LPC ARM Cortex M micro-controller families. The company has kept selling both so far, but it’s unclear whether they’ll keep developing new Kinetis MCU family in the future. There’s no such doubt about LPC family with the company having published a 2017 roadmap for ARM Cortex M0+ based LPC 800 series, and ARM Cortex M4 based LPC54000 series. LPC800 series MCUs are promoted as 8-bit MCU alternatives, and three new models are expected next year: LPC84x ARM Cortex M0+ @ 30 MHz with 64KB flash, 8 to 16KB RAM available in QFN and LQFP packages. LPC802 ARM Cortex M0+ @ 15 MHz with 16KB flash, 2KB RAM available in TSSOP packages LPC804 ARM Cortex M0+ @ 15 MHz with 32KB flash, 4KB RAM available in QFN or TSSOP packages There will be new models of the more powerful LPC54000 […]