Microchip introduces new PIC MCU family

     In MCU based system design, software system is usually the bottleneck that affects the time to market and system performance. Microchip Technology's next-generation PIC18-Q43 family of products can shift a variety of software tasks to hardware, helping developers bring higher-performing solutions to market faster.

     The new family integrates a wealth of peripherals that are versatile and easy to use, allowing users to create custom hardware-based features with convenient development tools. By intelligently interconnecting configurable peripherals, users can share data, logic inputs, or analog signals with near zero latency, without the need for additional code to improve system response times. The PIC18-Q43 family is ideal for a variety of real-time control and connected applications, such as home appliances, security systems, motor and industrial controls, lighting and iot. New products also help reduce development board space, bill of materials (BoM) and total cost, and speed product to market.

     Kernel-independent peripherals (CIP) are peripherals that have additional features and can handle various tasks autonomously without the intervention of a central processing unit (CPU). The new family features a variety of CIPs, such as timers, simplified pulse width modulation (PWM) outputs, CLCS, computation-enabled analog-to-digital converters (ADCC), and multiple serial communication modes, designed to make it easier for developers to customize their specific design configurations. CLC provides programmable logic that is not limited by the speed of software execution, allowing customers to customize functions such as waveform generation and timing measurement.

     CLC acts as the "glue" logic to "glue" the various peripherals inside the chip, making hardware customization easier than ever. Kernel-independent communication interfaces in the new family, including UART, SPI, and I2C, provide flexible and easy-to-use building blocks for developers seeking to create custom devices, and the addition of multiple DMA channels and interrupt management capabilities accelerates real-time control by simplifying the software cycle. With Microchip's comprehensive suite of development tools, users can quickly and easily generate application code and custom CIP combinations in a graphical user interface (GUI) environment. In addition, the new range of products can operate at up to 5V, helping to improve noise suppression and allowing customers to interface with a wider variety of sensors.

     Greg Robinson, assistant vice president of marketing for Microchip's 8-member MCU Business group, said, "The PIC18-Q43 family of products offers a variety of CIPs that enable multiple functions and even the entire control loop in customizable on-chip hardware. By combining flexible CIP and highly integrated simulation capabilities, users can significantly reduce development time. With automated waveform control, timing and measurement operations, and logic functions, system performance will be greatly improved."