Microchip Expands CAN Microcontroller Line With 8-bit PIC MCUs

Microchip Technology Inc. announced the PIC18F "K80" 8-bit CAN microcontrollers (MCUs) featuring 1.8 – 5.5V operation and eXtreme Low Power (XLP) technology, for what the company says is the industry’s lowest sleep current consumption of less than 20nA. The new MCUs also feature an on-chip 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC) and a peripheral that enables mTouch™ capacitive touch-sensing user interfaces. They are ideal for applications in the automotive (e.g. body control modules, automotive lighting, door/seat/steering/window control, HVAC control), industrial (e.g. security systems, elevators and escalators) and medical (e.g. glucose meters, patient-monitoring devices) markets.

Manufacturers are under intense pressure to cut costs while delivering more sophisticated products. The PIC18F K80 CAN MCU family enables smaller, more cost-effective and robust control with its integrated CAN peripheral for automotive and industrial applications. For medical applications that require low power and accuracy, the MCUs deliver best-in-industry current ratings for longer battery life, as well as the on-chip 12-bit ADC and touch-sensing peripheral for advanced sensors.

"The PIC18F K80 family was developed for designers who need to add cost-effective CAN communication to their applications with extremely low power sleep and active modes, and robust operation up to 5.5V," said Mitch Obolsky, vice president of Microchip’s Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division. "The new MCUs offer a migration path for our popular PIC18F4680 CAN family, serving a wide spectrum of applications."

Microchip also announced two PIC18 Explorer Board Plug-In Modules (PIMs) for the PIC18F K80 MCUs, – the 44-pin PIC18F46K80 and the 64-pin PIC18F66K80 PIMs. For the implementation and evaluation of CAN, Microchip’s CAN/LIN PICtail™ (Plus) Daughter Board may be used in conjunction with its PIC18 Explorer or Explorer 16 development boards.

Microchip’s complete suite of standard development tools is also available, including the user-friendly MPLAB® IDE, REALICE™ and ICD3 tools; and the MPLAB C18 and HI-TECH® C compilers for PIC18 MCUs.

The new PIC18F45K80, PIC18F46K80, PIC18F65K80 and PIC18F66K80 MCUs are available in 44- and 64-pin TQFP and QFN packages. Additionally, the PIC18F45K80, PIC18F46K80 MCUs are available in a 40-pin PDIP package. The PIC18F25K80 and PIC18F26K80 MCUs are available in 28-pin QFN, SOIC, SPDIP and SSOP packages.

Pricing starts at $1.84 each, in 10,000-unit quantities.