Difference between AVR and MSP430

Prerequisite – Difference between Micro-controller (µC) and Microprocessor (µP)

A micro-controller is a single Integrated Circuit (IC) which is comparable to a little stand alone computer and it is designed to perform the specific tasks of embedded systems. A micro-controller contains processing unit and small amount of memory (ROM, RAM etc.), few I/O ports for peripherals, timer etc. AVR and MSP430 comes under the family of micro-controller. MSP430 micro-controller and AVR micro-controller differs from each other in terms of different architecture and different sets of instruction, speed, cast, Memory, Power Consumption, Bus Width etc. Now let’s understand in detail how they differs from each other. 

1. AVR micro-controller :
AVR micro-controller is manufactured by Atmel corporation in the year 1996. It is based on RISC Instruction set Architecture (ISA) and also called as Advanced Virtual RISC. AT90S8515 was the initial micro-controller belongs to AVR family. AVR micro-controller is most popular category of controller and it is cheap. It is used in many robotic applications. 

2. MSP430 micro-controller :
It is a 16 bit family of micro-controller from Texas Instruments, first introduced on 14 February 1992. It is one of the simplest micro-controller and it is designed for low cost and, specifically, low power consumption embedded applications. It is a mixed signal micro-controller means a single IC has both Analog and Digital circuits. MSP430 micro-controller is based on Von Neumann Architecture. It can be programmed using various IDEs. It is relatively faster than PIC, AVR and other micro-controller. 

Difference between AVR and MSP430 :

S.No.	AVR	MSP430
01.	Bus width of AVR micro-controller is 8/32-bit.	Bus width of MSP430 micro-controller is 16-bit.
02.	AVR micro-controller supports UART, USART, SPI, I2C communication protocols.	MSP430 micro-controller supports UART, USART, LIN, I2C, SPI, I2S. IrDA communication protocols.
03.	Its speed is 1 clock/ instruction cycle.	Its speed is 6 clock/ instruction cycle.
04.	AVR micro-controller is based on RISC Instruction Set Architecture.	MSP430 micro-controller is based on some features of RISC.
05.	It is based on modified Harvard architecture.	It is based on Von-Neumann architecture.
06.	Its families include Tiny, Atmega, Xmega, special purpose AVR.	Its families include MSP430X, MSP430FR57xx, MSP430x1xx to x6xx series.
07.	AVR micro-controller has very good community support.	MSP430 micro-controller has average community support.
08.	Manufacturer of AVR micro-controller is Atmel.	Manufacturer of MSP430 micro-controller is Texas Instruments.
09.	AVR micro-controllers are known for its low cost and effective.	MSP430 micro-controllers are known for its ultra low power operation.
10.	Popular micro-controllers are Atmega8, 16, 32, Arduino Community.	Popular micro-controllers are MSP430G2553, MSP430 Launchpad.