TI's tiny microcontroller is the world's smallest and costs less than 20 cents

The MSPM0C1104 measure only 1.38 mm² and yet is a fully-featured microcontroller.

TI

Texas Instruments has officially unveiled the MSPM0C1104, which it claims to be the world's smallest microcontroller. This remarkable device measures a mere 1.38 mm², which is only slightly larger than a flake of black pepper.

The MSPM0C1104 is a wafer chip-scale package microcontroller (MCU) that is 38% smaller than existing alternatives, making it an ideal solution for applications where board space is at a premium, such as in medical wearables and personal electronics, all while maintaining essential functionality.

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However, do not let its tiny size deceive you. The MSPM0C1104 is equipped with a complete 24 MHz Arm Cortex-M0+ processor, featuring 16 KB of flash memory, 1 KB of SRAM, a 12-bit ADC with three channels, and six GPIO pins that are compatible with standard communication interfaces, including Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART), Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), and Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C).

Functional block diagram for the MSPM0C110x.

TI

The chip is also very power-efficient, drawing 87 μA/MHz when running and 5 μA in standby. It is designed to handle a wide temperature range-from -40°C to 125°C.

While it may not be a powerhouse capable of replacing the processors found in smartphones, desktops, or laptops, the MSPM0C1104 is poised to find its niche in space-constrained devices such as earbuds and medical probes.

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In terms of affordability, the MSPM0C1104 is priced competitively, starting at just $0.16 for orders of 1,000 units, making it an attractive option for manufacturers looking to innovate.

Supporting its range of silicon, TI offers an optimized software development kit for all MSPM0 MCUs, including a hardware development kit for rapid prototyping, reference designs for fast prototyping, and code examples for common MCU functions. 

If you want to take a look at the development kit, you can pick up a copy from TI for $5.99.