Searching for ultra low power microcontroller options

Question

Hello all, I am searching for ultra low power microcontroller for my upcoming project. Can any one please help me to find the best available solution comparable to MSP430.

Rom ~ 128 Ram ~ 64 Internal ADC ~ 10bit etc

Regards Dani

Answer 1

Something like the MSP430...how about the MSP430?

Answer 2

What low power features are you looking for? Is this for a program that will sleep most of the time? Does your program need to be able to wake up quickly? Or is this for a program that should have low consumption when it is awake?

The MSP430 is about as low power as it gets. However, you might want to look at what Atmel has to offer. Some microcontrollers use their picoPower technology. One choice could be the ATmega165PA. Here are a few Atmel links:

• Atmel picoPower - Quick summary and some marketing stuff.
• Innovative Techniques for Extremely Low Power Consumption with 8-bit Microcontrollers - Provides an introduction to power consumption in uC's. At the end it compares the power consumption of several CPU's.

Answer 3

A well-known family is the Microchip PIC nanoWatt XLP

Answer 4

Remember that achieving low power usage is more than just selecting a part with good power consumption numbers.

Be sure to research what sleep modes are supported, and what they mean. ie, do you have to wake up on a particular schedule or maintain a clock? Do you need to wake up based on a GPIO? Any of the µC's suggested would likely work well, but it's worth taking a close look at the datasheets. Sketch out what code will need to be written and do some rough calculations of the duty cycles you can achieve. This will help make sure you can achieve your power consumption goals before spending money.