Once a new project of electronics and embedded system got kicked off, there inevitably comes the job to select a proper microcontroller chip. Here are a few of the foremost factors that need to put into consideration at the very beginning.

1. Application Type

There are numerous MCUs out there on the market that works for different applications. Based on the application, it generally categorized as universal MCU and special-purposed MCU. You can filter your choice of microcontrollers by the product type of your project.

2. Peripherals

It is advisable to make a list of the external interface and peripherals required for your application, from the communication interfaces-I2C, SPI, UART, USB, etc. to the digital inputs and outputs- ADC-ch, PWMs, GPTimer, LPTimer, COMP and so on. When it is done, you’re one big step closer to the proper MCU category.

3. MCU Architecture

Von Neumann Architecture and Harvard Architecture are the two main architecture of MCU. The Von Neumann architecture makes use of the same process to transmit data and collect the set of instructions from the memory. So, it can’t perform data transfer and instruction fetching at the same time. In contrast to this, Harvard Architecture uses a separate route for data transmission and instruction collection.

4. Bit size

When it comes to the bit size, there are a range of options from 8 bits , 16, 32bit and even 64 bit microcontrollers. It refers to the binary digit that the CPU is capable of processing. The more the number of the digit, the more information the MCU can process, thus to realize more application function.

5. Memory

Engineer must estimate the required size of flash and Ram for the project. This is the make sure that it don’t run out of memory space. It is suggested that always choose a MCU of bigger memory capacity than you estimated at the beginning.

6. Package

Microcontrollers comes with many types of packages:

For example,

DIP(Dual In-line Package)

SOP(Small out-of-line Package)

QFP(Quad) Flat Package ,

PGA(Pin Grid Array package),

BGA(Ball Grid Array Package)

And etc

7. The Cost

The cost is always a crucial matter for mcu selection. Especially for those application with prospect of large scale mass production, a small flunctuation in MCU price makes a big difference to the BOM cost the finished product. Take 8-bit microcontroller as example, these are very price sensitive chips, for its month use qty often reach million-sale.

8. MCU availability

The availability of MCU and its life cycle is also an important matter to consider in advance. Luckily, after the long-lasting supply shortage of IC back in 2020-2021, factories are showing more prudence in selection of supplier with stable and reliable stock resource. Another factor is about the life cycle, nobody would want to get an EOL notice of the MCU, when you product is still on the market. So this is also about how to save the cost of making replacement in the early stage of development.

In case there is any question regarding MCU selection, please contact to get free FAE support from Yufan Microelectronics Co.Ltd.