By Brandon Del Bel, Senior Firmware Engineer at SJE Rhombus
Selecting the right microcontroller (or MCU) for your product is one of the most important design decisions that you can make. However, this seemingly simple task is complicated because of the massive number of choices available.
The Problem with Basic MCUs
At one end of the spectrum, some microcontrollers do not have all the features that you need. They may be inexpensive, but you will have to put additional components on the control board, such as memory chips, analog-to-digital converters, level shifters, radio modules, real-time clocks, larger batteries, etc. Adding extra components can ultimately increase the cost of your project, meaning these basic boards often do not end up being much of a cost savings.
The Problem with Complex MCUs
At the other end of the spectrum, many microcontrollers have more than what you need and just add unnecessary cost.
Finding a Happy Medium
This means that you want to find the microcontroller with included components that most closely match what your product needs. This will help minimize the total BOM cost.
Therefore, you must consider a wide range of microcontrollers and supporting components from a variety of manufacturers. Depending on the project, sometimes it is better to use an integrated microcontroller and Bluetooth radio module, and sometimes it is better to use separate parts. It all depends on the product you are trying to create.
Talk with Your Design Company
With such a large marketplace of microcontrollers to choose from, it’s important that the company designing your product understands the complexities involved. Be sure to talk with the design company to ensure that they are selecting the right microcontroller for your product. By being proactive in this area, you could save yourself some time and money later on in the process.
The SJE Rhombus embedded design team has the experience to ensure that your product will have the right parts. Be sure to contact us if you have any questions or would like to get a quote.
