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TI Combines MCU and RF Technology in the CC430 Platform

November 12, 2008

The new single-chip MSP430 MCU and low-power RF solution enables networking, energy harvesting, industrial monitoring and tamper detection, lighting, and automatic metering applications.


MUNICH -- Helping drive mass-market adoption of consumer and industrial wireless networking applications, Texas Instruments Inc. (TI) announced the new CC430 technology platform—demonstrated for the first time at Electronica in the TI booth in Hall A4.420—offering the "industry's lowest power, single-chip radio-frequency (RF) solution for microcontroller (MCU)–based applications. By reducing system complexity, shrinking package and printed circuit board (PCB) size by up to 50%, and making RF design easy, the CC430 platform helps advance applications including RF networking, energy harvesting, industrial monitoring and tamper detection, personal wireless networks, and automatic metering infrastructure (AMI).

Best of Both Worlds on a Single Chip
The unique blend of TI's MSP430F5xx MCU and low-power RF transceiver draws a low enough current to enable battery-operated wireless networking applications that operate without servicing for ten years or longer, a critical factor for customers in the metering industry. Advanced functionality in a tiny form factor can also power innovative RF sensor networks that report data to a central collection point to analyze information, such as smoke in the atmosphere to detect forest fires, moisture or pesticide information in crop fields, or even humidity levels in a winery. The power-efficient, flexible CC430 platform will also enable battery-free sensors that use energy harvesting modules that run off of solar power, human body temperature, or vibrations for a power source.

"Our energy harvesting microgenerators are based on the simple idea that the vibration of a piece of plant machinery can be transformed into electrical power for sensor systems to send critical performance data over wireless protocols," explains TI customer, Roy Freeland, CEO of Perpetuum. "Sensing applications are limitless, power supplies are not; solutions like the CC430 platform that combine low power and high functionality with the know-how to take the mystery out of RF design help bridge this gap to help usher in a new age of energy solutions."

Smaller Is Better
The first CC430 devices are monolithic with high integration to allow for a 50% reduction in package and PCB space compared with two-chip solutions. Applications that benefit from this integration and size reduction can include smart hospital tracking systems that communicate patient or medical equipment information to a central location, as well as personal area networking between watches, pedometers, chest strap heart rate monitors, and PC-based health and fitness analysis programs. Smaller board space and reduced complexity also help shrink the size of heat cost allocators and AMI smart metering systems, which are expected to make up 28% of all electric meters by 2013.

An extensive MSP430 MCU peripheral set will be available for CC430-based devices, including intelligent, high-performance digital and analog peripherals such as a 16-bit ADC and low-power comparators, which provide high performance—even during RF transmissions—and consume no power when not in operation. These peripherals also speed design by integrating functions such as an integrated Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) accelerator that encrypts and decrypts data sent wirelessly for more secure alarm and industrial monitoring systems. An additional choice for designers will be the on-chip LCD controller, contributing to further cost and size reductions for LCD based applications.

Making RF Solutions Easy
The combination of TI's new MSP430F5xx MCU and low-power RF transceiver offers a unique low-power/performance mix and high integration, along with extensive RF know-how and support. These advancements help break down barriers to RF implementation, such as stringent power, performance, size, and cost requirements, as well as design complexity and ease-of-development issues, helping bring wireless connectivity to a host of products.

TI is taking the mystery out of RF design with RF reference designs, SmartRF Studio software, RF packet sniffer, and design notes. Designers will be able to get up and running easily with a CC430 development kit and tools such as the Code Composer Essentials or IAR Integrated Development Environment. Third-party support, training and university programs, code examples, and libraries also facilitate ease of use and shorten time to market.

Additionally, TI's Low-Power RF and microcontroller E2E online communities offer the opportunity to interact directly with engineers and other experts to ask questions, share knowledge, explore ideas, and help solve problems. Go to the company's Web site to sign up, subscribe to a forum, and start exploring the TI E2E online community today.

Availability and Pricing
Initial devices in the CC430 platform will be based on the 16-bit MSP430F5xx MCU and the industry's leading sub-1GHz CC1101 RF transceiver. TI's low-power RF transceivers offer leading selectivity and blocking to ensure reliable communications even in noisy environments. F5xx MCUs allow designers to tap into peak execution performance of up to 25 MHz while consuming as low as 160 µA/MHz. As the CC430 platform evolves, future devices will leverage the newest TI MSP430 MCU and low-power RF technologies.

The CC430 platform is 100% instruction set-compatible with other MSP430 platforms, such as the MSP430F5xx, making upgrades easy and allowing choices from the entire portfolio for a range of applications. In addition, the CC430 platform will enable code and design reuse with standalone MSP430 MCU and low-power RF transceiver solutions. The first CC430 samples will be available in limited quantities in 1Q09, with mass-market sampling and further device introductions scheduled for later in the year. Pricing for initial devices will start at less than $2 in volume.

About TI
Texas Instruments Inc. helps customers solve problems and develop new electronics that make the world smarter, healthier, safer, greener, and more fun. A global semiconductor company, TI innovates through manufacturing, design, and sales operations in more than 25 countries.






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