Low power microcontroller

Abstract

A low power microcontroller that includes a low power node controller adapted to retrieve data from peripheral devices is presented. The microcontroller contains a state machine coupled to a storage medium, which is adapted to store a set of instructions executable by the state machine. The microcontroller also contains a power domain controller, which is adapted to enable the state machine upon receipt of a notification signal. As an option, the microcontroller contains a plurality of communication controllers for communicating with a plurality of external devices, wherein the power domain controller includes a register which may be read by the state machine to identify a communication controller among the plurality controllers. Also, a method of operating a microcontroller for use with an external device is presented. The method provides a state machine which executes a set of instructions.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.