The MSP430 is an ultra lowpower 16bit RISC microcontroller family. A lot of derivatives with different features match the requirements of special projects. There are low cost derivatives for less than $1, some with 14-bit ADCs, some with a hardware multiplier and some with an LCD driver. Driven by an external 32kHz crystal, the CPU is able to run at up to 8MHz. A lot of the instructions are performed within one clock cycle. The power saving modes are unbeatable. With 0,1uA in mode 4, the CPU can be woken up within 6us by an external interrupt. Mode 3 consumes only 0.8uA from which the CPU can be activated by an internal interrupt. The typical current consumption in active mode is 250uA.

More information about the microcontrollers at the Texas Instruments home page.