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moez0102
moez0102
Associate
May 24, 2018
Question

very low power 16-Bit MCU?

  • May 24, 2018
  • 5 replies
  • 1258 views
Posted on May 24, 2018 at 10:07

Could you propose to me a very low power 16-bit MCU, please?

    This topic has been closed for replies.

    5 replies

    Nesrine M_O
    Nesrine M_O
    Associate
    May 24, 2018
    Posted on May 24, 2018 at 10:22

    Hi

    aziz.moez

    ,

    http://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers.html

    contains a comprehensive range of microcontrollers, from low-cost 8-bit MCUs up to 32-bit Arm

    ®

    -based Cortex®-M0 and M0+, Cortex®-M3,Cortex®-M4 and Cortex®-M7 Flash microcontrollers.

    0690X0000060BLTQA2.png

    If you are looking for

    low power MCU, I recommend the

    http://www.st.com/content/st_com/en/products/microcontrollers/stm32-32-bit-arm-cortex-mcus/stm32-ultra-low-power-mcus.html?querycriteria=productId=SC2157

    .

    -Nesrine-

    Szymon PANECKI
    Szymon PANECKI
    Senior III
    May 24, 2018
    Posted on May 24, 2018 at 10:23

    Hello,

    ST doesn't have 16-bit devices in MCUs portfolio. You can consider using either 8-bit MCUs (

    http://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers/stm8-8-bit-mcus.html?querycriteria=productId=SC1244

    family) or 32-bit MCUs (

    http://www.st.com/en/microcontrollers/stm32-32-bit-arm-cortex-mcus.html

    family).

    Both STM8 and STM32 families have low-power series:

    - from STM8 there are STM8L and STM8AL series

    - from STM32 there are STM32L0, STM32L1, STM32L4 and STM32L4+ series

    Regards

    Szymon
    AvaTar
    AvaTar
    Senior III
    May 24, 2018
    Posted on May 24, 2018 at 10:39

    TI has low-power variants of their MSP430 controllers.

    Could you propose to me a very low power 16-bit MCU, please?

    Limiting yourself to a certain architectural characteristic is contra-productive. There are no specific advantages of 16 bit MCUs over 32 bit MCUs - rather the other way around.

    henry.dick
    henry.dick
    Associate II
    May 24, 2018
    Posted on May 24, 2018 at 11:25

    '

    There are no specific advantages of 16 bit MCUs over 32 bit MCU'

    Code density? Simplicity? Existing code base? Tookchain? ...

    The cortex m is basically a 16bit like MCU. And the L variant has fairly good performance.

    AvaTar
    AvaTar
    Senior III
    May 24, 2018
    Posted on May 24, 2018 at 11:36

    You should have included the rest in the quote - rather the other way around.

    Structural quirks and size limitations actually make 8 and 16 bit MCUs less code size efficient. With 16 bit, you can only address 64kByte. If you exceed this limit, you need an additional offset. The MSP430 loses >20% performance with 'long addresses'.

    Pretty sure this is all about price. And a 8 bit or 16 bit MCU is not automatically cheaper than a 32 bit MCU.

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