Freescale Semiconductor on Tuesday introduced its smallest-ever ARM-based microcontroller unit (MCU) for embedded devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) market, the Kinetsis KL03.

The chip maker is billing the KL03 as "smaller than a golf ball dimple" the 32-bit MCU with an ARM Cortex-M0+ computing core shrinks the preceding KL02 unit by 15 percent in a package that measures just 1.6-by-2.0 millimeters.

The KL03 is also 35 percent smaller than any competing Cortex-M0+ microcontroller on the market, according to Freescale. The chip maker is showcasing its new MCU at Embedded World in Nuremburg, Germany this week.

"When size is no longer a barrier to incorporating microcontrollers into edge node devices, we can start to redefine what's possible for the Internet of Things," said Rajeev Kumar, director of worldwide marketing and business development for Freescale's Microcontrollers business. "We see the miniaturization of MCUs as a key driver of IoT evolution. With the groundbreaking form factors of the new Kinetis KL03, systems designers for edge node products now have the technology they need to develop entirely new product categories capable, quite literally, of changing the world."

Possible uses for the new MCU in the burgeoning IoT space range from placement in embedded smart home systems, wearable tech products, and industrial devices to exotic applications like pairing the KL03 with a simple sensor array in a small pill that could be swallowed and provide health data to doctors, Kumar said.

The Kinetis KL03 will be sampling to Freescale partners in March for testing with the FRDM-KL03Z Freescale Freedom development board with assorted developer tools. The MCU will be made available at volume for $0.75 per unit in 100,000-unit quantities beginning in June, the company said.

The KL03's 48MHz ARM Cortex-MO+ has a bit manipulation engine for "faster, more code-efficient handling of peripheral registers," according to Freescale. The tiny MCU has 32KB of flash memory, 2KB of RAM, and 8K of ROM with an on-chip boot loader, with high-speed 12-bit ADC and a high-speed analog comparator. It operates on a 1.71-3.6-volt charge and utilizes low-power wake up and other low-power modes for different tasks.

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