 | One of the things we’ve done with our new coverage in Embedded Computing Design is open up to all MCUs, regardless of address size. The problem designers are faced with is how to reduce power consumption for embedded devices, and there are a whole range of MCU solutions doing that – the size distinction is somewhat artificial.Last week, Shahram Tadayon of Silicon Labs showed me today’s announcement for the C8051F91x family, which makes a good example of the thinking behind MCUs with reduced power consumption.The C8051F91x has what Silicon Labs claims is the MCU industry’s lowest active current, and the lowest sleep current. “Often, vendors cherry pick one spec – these parts are designed for system optimization,” said Tadayon. Using an on-chip DC/DC converter to power the device from a single 0.9V cell, these devices offer 160 uA/MHz active current and 10nA sleep current.These parts also conserve power in other ways, such as a fast settling 12-bit ADC which can take a measurement in as little as 1.7 usec. Tadayon points out that’s one of the big power draws in an MCU implementation: the idle time between powering up out of a sleep state and waiting for the ADC to settle out for an accurate measurement.Read more about the other technology in these parts, and development kits, in the press release.Topics covered in this article
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