With many gadgets and tech starting to become smaller and smaller in size, even MCUs or microcontroller Units are starting to get smaller as well. Just recently, a high capacity, low-power package MCU was found at the small size of just 1.6mm x 1.4mm.
Smallest MCU Revealed: Introducing the Huada HC32L110
An article by Hackaday details how they were able to find the smallest MCU so far. Per the publication, they got in contact with Cedric Honnet, who detailed the smallest MCU that he has ever been able to see.
The smallest MCU found is know as the Huada HC32L110. For those interested in certain miniature projects, the Cortex-M0+ comes with quite a lot of useful specs that can all be viewed here. The MCU is also packed directly into a smaller piece of solderable silicon.
How Powerful is the Huada HC32L110 Compared to the ATTiny20?
The MCU reportedly enables matchstick head scale computing with much more power compared to what previous technologies were capable of accessing. The Huada HC32L110, when compared against the ATTiny20, shows a massive spec increase along with a more powerful CPU and even 16x the RAM.
What really makes the Huada HC32L110 even more interesting, however, is that it is being sold for just $1 each. This is about the same amount as the ATTiny20 charges.
in addition, there is also something that not a lot of users might enjoy and that is the fact that the MCU has a 0.35mm pitch 16-pin BGA.
What Are the Disadvantages of the Huada HC32L110?
With the dimensions of the BGA, it could be quite difficult for the typical keyboard but once it gets fabbed, stenciled, and reflowed, it can reportedly become a "devboard in no time." This, however, isn't the only drawback.
The datasheet or Arduino port are not in English and even the 67-page PDF also does not have certain details like the register mappings.
Although LILYGO made a promise that they would be selling devboards quite soon, the publication says that it is sure that it would be difficult to develop their own very soon.
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Hopes for the Huada HC32L110 in Terms of Information Accessibility and More
The publication was hoping for the effects to be similar to a ESP8266, which includes missing information that would be pieced together, translated, and also made more accessible.
When it boils down to soldering the small packages, HackaDay recommends that users get a reflow.
Should users, however, want to go with a magnet wire route, Hackaday does not recommend against the idea. This is because it seems just like the miniature microcontrollers just like ATTiny20 are attractive enough for it to be propositioned for people to choose the craziest route possible and play around.
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Written by Urian B.
