Microchip Technology Announces New 8-Bit Microcontroller Family
Microchip Technology Inc. announced the first eight members of the PIC18F high-performance 8-bit microcontroller family to take advantage of Microchip’s latest process technology. The company claims that the new family of microcontrollers set a new benchmark for lower power consumption, low cost and high-performance operation.
To control power consumption, the new 28-, 40- and 44-pin microcontrollers provide nanoWatt Technology features that include power-managed modes, an operating voltage range of 1.8 to 3.6V and efficient on-chip peripherals. Additionally, speeds of 16 MIPS (64 MHz) can be achieved at 3V operation from the internal oscillator, offering high performance while maintaining low power consumption. All of these features make the PIC18F4XK20/2XK20 family well suited for general-purpose control, and a broad range of battery-operated or low-power applications.
With the ever-increasing focus on portable applications that require reduced energy consumption and increased functionality, there is a clear need for embedded electronic intelligence that can do more with less. Microchip’s new PIC18F4XK20/2XK20 family of high-performance 8-bit microcontrollers are said to meet these needs head-on, not just with the levels of performance, but also at a cost-effective price point. Additionally, this new family continues Microchip’s easy migration strategy, providing full code, pin-out and tool compatibility with the company’s comprehensive portfolio of 8-bit microcontrollers.
Enhanced on-chip peripherals available with the PIC18F4XK20/2XK20 family include a software-selectable, precision 16 MHz internal oscillator with Phase Lock Loop (PLL); a Master Synchronous Serial Port (I2C™/SPI) module with address masking; a four-channel, 10-bit Enhanced Capture/Compare Pulse-Width Modulation module with PWM steering capability; up to 14 10-bit Analog-to-Digital Conversion channels with a 1.2V fixed voltage reference; and dual rail-to-rail comparators.
Other key features include: up to 64 Kbytes of Flash program memory; up to 3,936 bytes of RAM; up to 1,024 bytes of Data EEPROM memory; programmable Brown-Out Reset, with a software-enable option; extended WatchDog Timer; enhanced low-power Timer 1; EUSART with LIN compatibility; and two-speed oscillator start-up.
To reduce time-to-market, all eight members of the PIC18F4XK20/2XK20 microcontroller family are supported by Microchip’s standard, high-performance development systems, including: the free MPLAB® Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with Visual Device Initializer, the MPLAB C18 C Compiler, the MPLAB ICD 2 In-Circuit Debugger, and the $49.99 PICkit™ 2 Debug Express (part # DV164121).
With prices starting at $1.56 each in 10,000-unit quantities, the eight-member PIC18F4XK20/2XK20 family is offered in the following package options: 28-pin PDIP, SOIC, SSOP and QFN, 40-pin PDIP, and 44-pin TQFP and QFN. The PIC18F45K20, PIC18F25K20, PIC18F44K20, and PIC18F24K20 are now sampling and volume production is expected in the fourth calendar quarter of 2007. The PIC18F46K20 and PIC18F26K20 are now sampling, and the PIC18F43K20 and PIC18F23K20 are expected to be sampling in the fourth calendar quarter of 2007.
