Texas Instruments introduces its MSP430 FRAM microcontroller with CapTIvate technology

Texas Instruments announced the introduction of its MSP430 FRAM microcontroller (MCU) with CapTIvate™ technology. As the lowest power capacitive touch MCUS in the industry today, the new MSP430FR2633 MCUS with CapTIvate technology provide a comprehensive range of hardware and software features to ensure the most reliable performance for applications in noisy environments such as electronic access control, home appliances, personal electronics, and industrial control panels.

The MSP430FR2633 MCU is an extension of TI's 16-bit ultra-low power FRAM MCU portfolio, designed to help designers at all skill levels build robust human machine interfaces (HMI) with capacitive buttons, sliders, rollers, or proximity (BSWP) sensors. Multi-touch designs can also be achieved with plastic, glass and metal coatings of different thicknesses. In addition, designers can quickly develop innovative solutions through the new CapTIvate Design Center. CapTIvate Design Center is a graphical user interface (GUI) that allows developers to quickly configure the system by dragging and dropping sensors and start tuning performance in as little as 5 minutes.

Experience the difference in low power consumption with FRAM and CapTIvate technology

The on-chip touch Wake hardware can scan up to four electrodes with the CPU off, and in sleep mode, the current consumption per button is only 0.9µA, which is the industry leading level. As a result, the device can operate for up to 15 years when powered by a single button battery. The industry's broadest portfolio of low-power ferroelectric random access memory (FRAM) MCUS features non-volatile memory that is not only more durable, but also writes up to 100 times faster, enabling the system to wake up from the lowest power standby mode in a very short time. In the event of a power failure, the FRAM also offers the option to save and restore buttons, thus eliminating the extra space taken up by the backup battery.

The MSP430FR2633 MCU with CapTIvate technology provides developers with great design flexibility without sacrificing other performance. In an access control system, proximity sensors may be used to illuminate the screen, while a large matrix of buttons will be used to support user input. In addition, self-capacitors provide greater sensitivity for proximity sensing, while mutual capacitors enable a tight arrangement of a large number of buttons with low crosstalk. The flexibility provided by CapTIvate technology enables simultaneous support for self-capacitors and mutual capacitors, enabling enhanced system solutions. The MSP430FR2633 MCU is capable of supporting 16 button self-capacitance and 64 button mutual capacitance mode.

The new CapTIvate technology, available for the first time on the TI MSP430FR2633 MCU, offers advanced hardware features such as dedicated regulators, frequency hopping, zero cross synchronization, and signal processing algorithms to avoid error detection in noisy environments. In addition, spread spectrum timing reduces electromagnetic radiation, thereby reducing its impact on system circuits.