The average power consumption of the MSP430

it should be written in the datasheet.

Bye Jack

You might consider referring to the datasheet for the particular model you've got in mind (Electrical Characteristics). It will depend on mode, supply voltage, clock frequency, which peripherals are active etc.

Current consumption is given in the relevant datasheet - I have here an F15x, F16x, F161x where the data is on page 26. TI don't help by not putting a table of contents in their datasheets.

For back of an envelope stuff it is always under 1mA per MHz. I've always found that it falls into the "consider briefly, then totally ignore" category.

I've used the MSP430 on numerous projects. I can say with certainty that your code will have a huge impact on the device power consumption. If you need to be in the tiny range (all clocks off), then you need to consider clock restart time and if you can tolerate that with your system requirements. Also, I was caught off guard when I was looking into power draw that what devices are connected and how the pins are configured can have a big impact on power draw as well.

There's lots (and lots, and lots) to consider in the design. You might be better informed if you try to build a bench model of your system and investigate it first hand. The datasheet gives optimistic and general guidelines on power draw but it's so application dependent that it's not much help.

JJS

Lucky you. Some of us have had to worry a lot about power microprocessor consumption. ;)

Of course. If the power is consuming microprocessors that sounds problematic to me. ;-)