The Cortex-M0 architecture was specifically developed as the first 32-bit microcontroller replacement for traditional 8 and 16-bit formats. Thanks to new process technologies, today's 32-bit microcontrollers fit in the same silicon areas as an 8- or 16-bit device, which means that 8- and 16-bit microcontrollers are losing their traditional cost advantage. The amount of memory that an MCU needs for program code can also effect the cost of a processor or of the system design. The higher the memory requirement, the higher the cost. It may not seem obvious, but the 32-bit Cortex-M0 based LPC1100 offers superior code density compared to 8-bit and 16-bit architectures.