Measuring just 1.38 mm² — smaller than a grain of black pepper — and priced at only $0.16, this new MCU opens the door to innovative designs in healthcare, wearables, and IoT.
American semiconductor company Texas Instruments (TI) has officially unveiled what it claims to be the world’s smallest microcontroller unit (MCU) — the MSPM0C1104. The announcement was made during the Embedded World 2025 exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany.
The MCU measures a mere 1.38 mm², making it approximately 38% smaller than the smallest MCU currently available on the market. TI compares its size to that of a black peppercorn, emphasizing its potential in space-constrained applications such as earbuds, smart watches, medical implants, tiny cameras, and even industrial IoT sensors.
Impressive Specs in a Tiny Package
Despite its minuscule size, the MSPM0C1104 features a solid technical specification:
- ARM Cortex-M0+ core running at 24 MHz
- 16 KB Flash memory
- 12-bit SAR ADC with 3 channels
- 6 GPIO pins
- Support for standard communication interfaces: UART, SPI, and I²C
The chip is housed in an advanced WCSP (Wafer Chip-Scale Package) — a packaging technology that allows the die to be mounted directly on the PCB, saving board space and reducing height.
Designed for the Challenges of Miniaturized Devices
TI notes that this new MCU was designed to address the unique challenges engineers face when working on ultra-small devices in fields such as medical technology, wearables, automotive electronics, and even precision agriculture.
“In miniature systems like wireless earbuds, smart medical trackers, and endoscopic tools, PCB space is at a premium,” the company stated. “This tiny MCU opens up endless possibilities for developing intelligent, connected applications that integrate seamlessly into daily life.”
Affordable for Mass-Scale Applications
One of the standout features of the MSPM0C1104 is its price — just 16 cents per unit in large quantities. This ultra-low cost makes it viable even for disposable or cost-sensitive applications such as medical monitoring patches, environmental sensors, or smart toys.
Part of the MSPM0 Family – A Unified Platform for Rapid Development
The MSPM0C1104 is part of TI’s MSPM0 family, a series of cost-effective and energy-efficient microcontrollers designed to streamline the development of connected applications. It integrates seamlessly with TI’s development ecosystem, including Code Composer Studio, driver libraries, and SDKs. Developers can also access code examples, full documentation, and a compatible LaunchPad evaluation board.
Conclusion
TI’s new microcontroller represents a significant leap forward in the world of ultra-miniature electronics — combining tiny size, affordability, and technical capability. It promises to transform how engineers approach the design of smart, space-constrained devices and push the boundaries of what’s possible in compact electronics for years to come.
