New Industry Products

DSCs for Harsh Environments improve Reliability and Safety

November 24, 2014 by Jeff Shepard

Microchip Technology Inc. today announced from the SPS IPC Drives Conference in Germany a new family of 16-bit dsPIC33 Digital Signal Controllers (DSC) with the dsPIC33 "EV" family. This new family provides 5V operation for improved noise immunity and robustness, designed for devices operating in harsh environments such as appliance and automotive applications. The dsPIC33EV family is the first dsPIC® DSC with Error Correcting Code (ECC) Flash for increased reliability and safety. For safety-critical applications, the dsPIC33EV devices also include CRC, Deadman Timer (DMT), and Windowed Watchdog Timer (WWDT) peripherals as well as a backup system oscillator and certified Class B software.

Other key features of this family include up to 6 advanced motor control PWMs, 12-bit ADC, and operational amplifiers, a combination designed for motor control applications. The dsPIC33EV devices provide easy interface to 5V automotive sensors such as level or flow sensing, with improved noise immunity and enhanced reliability, and provide plenty of performance to execute smart sensor filter algorithms and integrate CAN communication software. For robust automotive touch user interfaces, the higher voltage operation enables more dynamic range and support for larger screen sizes. The dsPIC33EV devices offer up to 150 degrees C operation with AEC-Q100 Grade 0 qualification enabling robust automotive applications that are suited for under-hood applications.

The advanced peripheral integration features include CAN and SENT peripherals for automotive communications, 70 MIPS performance with DSP acceleration for high-speed control algorithm execution. These features, combined with the lower system cost and high performance of the dsPIC33EV family, make it well-suited for a wide range of applications in the appliance (e.g., dryers, refrigerators, dishwashers, range hoods and control panels), industrial (e.g., power tools, sewing machines, actuators, building controls and HVAC systems), automotive markets (e.g., sensors, user interface, fuel pumps, cooling fans and water pumps), among others.

"Many automotive and appliance applications prefer 5V devices for increased robustness in high-noise environments and easy connection to precision sensors," said Joe Thomsen, vice president of Microchip's MCU16 Division. "The new dsPIC33EV family provides 5V operation up to 150 degrees C, including CAN and SENT communications, making this family ideal for motor control and automotive sensing applications."

The dsPIC33 "EV" family is supported by Microchip's dsPIC33EV 5V CAN-LIN Starter Kit (part # DM330018, $79.99). For motor control applications, a new dsPIC33EV256GM106 5V Motor Control Plug-In Module (part # MA330036, $25.00) is available to plug into the Low Voltage Motor Control Development Bundle (part # DV330100, $369.00).

Devices in the dsPIC33EV family are available in 28 SOIC, 28 QFN, 28 SPDIP, 44 TQFP, 44 QFN, 64 TQFP, and 64 QFN packages, with Flash memory ranging from 64KB to 256KB, including options with and without CAN. The dsPIC33EV256GM106, dsPIC33EV128GM106, dsPIC33EV64GM106, dsPIC33EV256GM006, dsPIC33EV128GM006, and dsPIC33EV64GM006 are offered in 64-pin TQFP and QFN packages. The dsPIC33EV256GM104, dsPIC33EV128GM104, dsPIC33EV64GM104, dsPIC33EV256GM004, dsPIC33EV128GM004, and dsPIC33EV64GM004 are offered in 44-pin TQFP and QFN packages. The dsPIC33EV256GM102, dsPIC33EV128GM102, dsPIC33EV64GM102, dsPIC33EV256GM002, dsPIC33EV128GM002 and dsPIC33EV64GM002 are offered in 28-pin SOIC, QFN and SDIP packages. All of these new devices are available today for sampling and volume production, starting at $1.34 each in volume.