TI's MSP430 vs. ST Microelectronics' ARM Cortex-based processor for battery-powered apps

I recently conducted a tradeoff study (see Table 1) on several 16 and 32-bit low-power microprocessors for a handheld device in the biotech industry. There are four key areas of concern: power/current consumption, physical package size, cost, and compiler/firmware support. Texas Instrument's low-power 16-bit MSP430 family has traditionally been a first choice for this sort of application. The Renesas family of 16-bit micros is competitive with the MSP430 in pricing but does not beat the MSP in power consumption. However, the new ARM Cortex offering from ST Microelectronics, is the first chip on the market giving TI a serious run for its MSP money.

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