Microchip announces a family of multi-core 64-bit microprocessors to further expand its processor line

     Real-time compute-intensive applications, such as intelligent embedded vision and machine learning, are driving embedded processing demands for greater energy efficiency, hardware-level security, and high reliability at the edge. Microchip Technology Inc. today announced the PIC64 family of products to further expand the reach of computing to meet the growing demands of today's embedded designs. The PIC64 family supports a wide range of markets that require real-time and application-level processing, making Microchip a single vendor solution provider in the MPU space. The PIC64GX MPU is the first product in a new, soon-to-be-released product family that supports intelligent edge design in the industrial, automotive, communications, iot, aerospace and defense sectors.

     Ganesh Moorthy, CEO and President of Microchip, said: "Microchip is a leader in 8 -, 16 - and 32-bit embedded solutions, and as the market evolves, our product line must evolve with it. The new 64-bit MPU portfolio enables us to offer low -, mid - and high-end computing processing solutions. "The PIC64GX MPU is the first of many 64-bit MPUs designed to support the intelligent edge and meet the broad performance needs of all market segments."

     The smart edge typically requires 64-bit heterogeneous computing solutions with asymmetric processing capabilities to run Linux®, real-time operating systems, and bare metal in single-processor clusters with secure boot capabilities. Microchip's PIC64GX family uses 64-bit RISC-V® quad-core processors with asymmetric multiprocessing (AMP) and deterministic latency to meet mid-range intelligent edge computing needs. The PIC64GX MPU is the first AMP-enabled RISC-V® multi-core solution for mixed-critical systems. It features a quad-core design, a Linux-enabled central processing unit (CPU) cluster, a fifth microcontroller-level display, and a 2 MB flexible second-level cache operating at 625 MHz.

     The PIC64GX series pins are compatible with Microchip's PolarFire SoC FPGA devices, providing great flexibility for embedded solution development. In addition, the product takes advantage of Microchip's easy-to-use tools and supporting software ecosystem, including a robust set of processes to help configure, develop, debug, and validate embedded designs.

     As one of Microchip's first 64-bit products, the PIC64 High Performance Aerospace Computing (PIC64-HPSC) family is also coming soon. These space-grade 64-bit multi-core RISC-V MPUs are designed to increase computing performance by more than 100 times while providing unprecedented radiation resistance and fault tolerance for aerospace and defense applications. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA-JPL) announced in August 2022 that Microchip had been selected to develop the HPSC processor as part of the lab's efforts to advance commercial collaborations. The PIC64-HPSC family represents NSAS-JPL and the broader defense and commercial aerospace industry entering a new era of autonomous space computing.

     With the introduction of the PIC64 portfolio, Microchip has become the only embedded solution vendor to simultaneously develop a full range of 8-bit, 16-bit, 32-bit, and 64-bit microcontrollers (MCUS) and microprocessors (MPUs). Future PIC64 families will include devices based on RISC-V or Arm architectures, and embedded designers will be able to leverage Microchip's end-to-end solutions - from chip to embedded ecosystem - to speed up design, debugging, and validation and reduce time to market.