Re: Low voltage hobbyist-accessible microcontrollers?

From: Stefan Heinzmann (stefan_heinzmann_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 08/30/04 

Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2004 19:13:32 +0200

Spehro Pefhany wrote:

> On Mon, 30 Aug 2004 16:45:15 +0200, the renowned Stefan Heinzmann
> <stefan_heinzmann@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Tim Shoppa wrote:
>>
>>>In the perfect world there would be a flash-based microcontroller,
>>>serially programmable, that could run off a single cell (meaning 0.9V -
>>>1.8V or so).
>>
>>There are 0.9V microcontrollers, for example from Seiko/Epson, but
>>they're ROM based. I'm not aware of any Flash (whether on chip with a
>>microcontroller or separate) that goes down in Voltage that far. Your
>>best bet will be to use a DC/DC converter to step up the voltage.
>
>
> I think the former actually incorporate an on-chip charge pump to
> double the cell voltage with the help of a couple of external caps.
> Some Japanese mask micros have a mask option to select straight
> through or boosted input PS voltage.
>
> For smaller quantity or more demanding applications, an external
> doubler, an extra cell, or a higher voltage cell may be the best
> solution.

You're right, I checked the Epson data sheets. Whichever, the OP will
not have much fun with them, as they're ROM based. I second your advice. 

-- 
Cheers
Stefan