Microcontrollers allow versatile pin use

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team Apr 10, 2007

Microchip's new microcontrollers offer up to 64Kbyte of Flash program memory and up to 8Kbyte of RAM

Microchip has added eight new members to the cost-effective PIC24F 16-bit microcontroller family, with up to 64Kbyte of Flash program memory and up to 8Kbyte of RAM, in smaller, lower cost, 28- and 44-pin packages, including a tiny 6 x 6mm 28-pin QFN package option.

The 28- and 44-pin PIC24FJ64GA004 family contains a similar peripheral set to the 100-pin PIC24FJ128GA family.

Peripheral pin select pin-mapping allows designers to use the available pins exactly as they like.

For many applications, this can allow the use of a smaller, more cost-effective microcontroller.

The wide range of on-board peripherals includes two independent channels, each of I2C, UART and SPI communications.

The new devices support simple migration from a 16MIPS PIC24F microcontroller all the way up to a 40MIPS dsPIC33 digital signal controller.

The new PIC24FJ64GA004 family is supported by the MPLAB integrated development environment - including the enhanced Visual Device Initialiser, which graphically assists the Peripheral Pin Select feature, generating the required initialisation code.

The MPLAB C30 C compiler provides industry-leading code densities, along with free maths and peripheral libraries.

For emulation and debugging with the new family, Microchip offers the MPLAB REAL ICE and the cost-effective MPLAB ICD 2.

In addition, a new version of the Explorer 16 development board is available, fitted with a 44-pin PIC24FJ64GA004 (part number DM240002).

For those who already own the Explorer 16 board, a new Plug-in Module (PIM) has been created (part number MA240013) to enable development with the new family.

A number of PICtail Plus daughter cards are also available for use with the Explorer 16 board that enable designers to add Ethernet connectivity, an SD/MMC card, speech playback or an IrDA interface.

Microchip has also developed a web seminar about this new 16bit family, which can be viewed via its website.

All eight members of the new family are available now for general sampling and volume production.

The PIC24FJ64GA004, PIC24FJ48GA004, PIC24FJ32GA004 and PIC24FJ16GA004 are available in 44-pin TQFP and QFN packages, while the PIC24FJ64GA002, while the PIC24FJ48GA002, PIC24FJ32GA002 and PIC24FJ16GA002 are available in 28-pin SOIC, QFN, SSOP and SDIP packages.