Microchip Technology Announces New Serial Communication Tool
Microchip Technology Inc. announced the PICkit™ Serial Analyzer, the latest offering in the PICkit development tool series. This new tool is intended to enable design engineers to easily interface with circuits that are embedded deep within serial systems using any Windows®-based PC, for a very low initial investment.
The new PICkit Serial Analyzer comes complete with a 28-pin demo board populated with a PIC16F886 Mid-Range 8-bit microcontroller. The kit’s hardware and Graphical User Interface (GUI) software allow communication between the PC and several industry-standard serial protocols on the microcontroller being tested, including I2C,™ SPI and USART.
Today’s design engineers must develop firmware to communicate via serial communication protocols to a number of components typically found in embedded systems. The PICkit Serial Analyzer provides engineers with a tool to test and debug serial communication firmware. Included are user’s guides for both the PICkit Serial Analyzer and the 28-pin demo board, complete source code, selected application notes, and Microchip’s free MPLAB® IDE integrated development environment – enabling new users to easily enter the world of embedded control. The kit also comes with a GUI that enables designers to easily analyze the various serial communication protocols, as well as create and save scripts.
"Serial communication between components is commonplace in the embedded world. Yet there are very few affordable tools available to help engineers develop the necessary firmware," said Derek Carlson, Vice President of Microchip Development Tools. "With the PICkit Serial Analyzer, Microchip continues to provide engineers with low-cost, easy-to-use development tools that will help them to design using PIC® microcontrollers."
Available now, the PICkit Serial Analyzer (Part # DV164122) is $49.99 and includes Microchip’s 28-pin PIC16F886 Flash microcontroller demo board, USB cable and CD. Additionally, the 28-pin demo board (Part # DM164120-3) may be purchased separately for $24.99 and comes with one populated and two bare boards.
