The new 32-bit ARM® Cortex™ M0+ core takes 8- and 16-bit designs to the next level by improving  performance, energy efficiency, cost, and ease of development. Basically the M0+ is a low end version of the Cortex-M4 with up to 40x the performance of an 8-bit MCU and fast single-cycle access to I/O. It delivers more than 2x the energy efficiency of the closest competition, and a 30% improvement in CoreMark/mA over the original M0. The M0+ has a very simple core with similar number of gates to a 16-bit core allowing for very aggressive pricing targets. The device includes a full featured interrupt controller and Micro Trace Buffer, among other features, to make overall development easier and faster.