Comment by dragontamer

With a 12-bit singled ended ADC? That's laughable. You can't reliably measure current with this thing.

I'm not seeing any voltage comparators which are really useful for most of those use cases...

Now the MSPM0 series chips have a few OpAmps or a few better ADCs. TI also have proper power metering chips with 16-bit or 24-bit (!!!!!) ADCs for proper power metering.

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This is still a 12-bit ADC strapped onto a 8-pin chip. It's useful for something but not that whole list. Power metering? Heh, TI is smoking something or just using AI auto complete.

> Battery charging and management

> Power supplies and power delivery

> • Grid infrastructure

Those really want a comparator (100ns response time) rather than an ADC (10,000ns response time).

You also want zero-crossing detectors on grid infra, or other analog features that simply aren't available at this price point. Just no.

> • Smart metering

Lol very no. 16-bit ADC at a minimum, probably needs 24-bit delta sigma ADC instead (slower ADC but higher precision). TI has a bunch of MSP430 that do the job well.

Alternatively, an OpAmp or other amplifier can zoom into the current sensing circuits and make a 12-bit ADC work, but you need another bigger chip (the OpAmp), at which point you should be using an OpAmp+MCU solution instead.

Plus the "smart" part of metering needs a better communication module than bare bones basic UART. Maybe wireless of some kind or a DSP for custom modem work.

> • Communication modules

Just no. Waayyyyyyy to slow.

> • Personal electronics

> • Connected peripherals and printers

You have bigger, better chips for these.

> • Building security and fire safety

> • Medical and healthcare

> • Lighting

I think these three are legitimate good use cases.