TI MSP430F5256IRGCR

Using an "always-on" ultra-low-power system controller can significantly reduce the power consumption of portable devices such as mobile phones and tablets. When the power-hungry application processor and touchscreen controller are turned off, these controllers can act as sensor hubs and monitor user activation signals (e.g., reading inertial sensors or touch sensors) and important system parameters (e.g., battery health and temperature). Then, the microcontroller will "wake up" the system based on user input or when a fault occurs and requires CPU intervention.

The MSP430F525x series is the latest addition to the 1.8V dual-supply I/O product family (previously only the MSP430F522x was available), designed specifically for "always-on" system controller applications. With 1.8V I/O, it can be seamlessly connected to application processors and other devices without external level conversion, while the main power supply of the MCU can be on a higher voltage rail.

Compared with the MSP430F522x, the MSP430F525x quadruples the RAM capacity (32KB) and doubles the number of serial interfaces (four USCI_A and four USCI_B). The MSP430F525x also features four 16-bit timers, one high-performance 10-bit ADC, one hardware multiplier, DMA, one comparator, and one RTC module with an alarm function.

The MSP430F525x consumes 290µA/MHz (typical) in operating mode (running from flash) and 1.6µA (typical) in standby mode (LPM3). It can switch to operating mode in 3.5µs (typical), making it ideal for "always-on" low-power applications.

The main advantages of the MSP430F525x are as follows:

• Up to 32KB of RAM, supporting complex sensor hub algorithms and advanced aggregations such as keyboard control and power management.
• Four USCI_A and four USCI_B modules, supporting eight dedicated hardware serial interfaces (e.g., four I²C and four SPI) to work in parallel for fast and stable communication with sensors or peripherals.
• Up to 35 I/Os that can be used on the 1.8V voltage rail.

• Dual supply voltage devices
  • Main supply (AVCC, DVCC) powered by external supply: 3.6V down to 1.8V
    • Up to 18 general-purpose I/Os with up to 8 external interrupts
  • Low-voltage interface supply (DVIO) powered by separate external supply: 1.62V to 1.98V
    • Up to 35 general-purpose I/Os with up to 16 external interrupts
• Ultra-low power consumption
  • Active Mode (AM): all system clocks running; 290µA/MHz (typical) at 8MHz, 3.0V executing from flash; 150µA/MHz (typical) at 8MHz, 3.0V executing from RAM
  • Standby Mode (LPM3): RTC with crystal, watchdog, supply supervisor available; full RAM retention, fast wake-up; 2.1µA at 2.2V, 2.3µA at 3.0V (typical); VLO, general-purpose counter, watchdog, supply supervisor available; full RAM retention, fast wake-up; 1.6µA at 3.0V (typical)
  • Off Mode (LPM4): full RAM retention, supply supervisor available, fast wake-up; 1.3µA at 3.0V (typical)
  • Shutdown Mode (LPM4.5): 0.18µA at 3.0V (typical)
  • Wake-up from standby mode in 3.5µs (typical)
• 16-bit RISC architecture, extended memory, system clock up to 25MHz
• Flexible power management system
  • Fully integrated LDO with programmable regulated core supply voltage
  • Supply voltage monitoring, supervision, and brownout protection
• Unified clock system
  • FLL control loop for frequency stabilization
  • Low-power low-frequency internal clock source (VLO)
  • Low-frequency trimmed internal reference source (REFO)
  • 32kHz watch crystal (XT1)
  • High-frequency crystal up to 32MHz (XT2)
• 16-bit Timer_A (TA0) with five capture/compare registers
• 16-bit Timer_A (TA1) with three capture/compare registers
• 16-bit Timer_A (TA2) with three capture/compare registers
• 16-bit Timer_B (TB0) with seven capture/compare shadow registers
• Four universal serial communication interfaces
  • USCI_A0, A1, A2, and A3 each support: enhanced UART with automatic baud-rate detection; IrDA encoder and decoder; synchronous SPI
  • USCI_B0, B1, B2, and B3 each support: I²C; synchronous SPI
• 10-bit ADC with internal reference and sample-and-hold
• Comparator
• Hardware multiplier supporting 32-bit operations
• Serial in-system programming, no external programming voltage required
• 3-channel internal DMA
• Basic timer with RTC function

• "Always-on" system controller
• Power management hub
• Bluetooth controller
• Analog and digital sensor fusion system
• Data logger
• General-purpose applications