Search by company

Memory-rich MCUs take on LCD duties

Edited by the Electronicstalk editorial team May 31, 2007

Six new members of the 8bit PIC microcontroller family integrate more memory and liquid-crystal display modules.

Microchip has added six new members to its 8bit PIC microcontroller family, each with an integrated liquid-crystal display (LCD) module.

The PIC18F85J90 family doubles the amount of Flash and RAM memory available in 64- and 80-pin PIC18 LCD devices.

This increased memory enables users to add more complex functionality, such as speech playback, while taking advantage of the cost savings offered by the PIC18 "J" series' 3V manufacturing process.

The integrated LCD module can provide software-programmable contrast control.

This can boost the LCD voltage, dim the display, or compensate for operating environment including temperature and ambient lighting.

These features can improve display appearance, even with a lower cost LCD glass.

Other key device features include an internal oscillator, higher-speed low-voltage performance (up to 10MIPS at 3V) and more LCD segment drive on 64-pin devices.

Example applications for the new family include dashboard displays, handheld terminals, appliance display/control units, utility meters, home security systems and exercise equipment.

Additional features include: up to 32Kbyte of self-programming Flash program memory; up to 2Kbyte of SRAM; a software controllable internal oscillator (32kHz to 8MHz); a 12-channel 100Ksample/s 10bit A/D convertor; two analogue comparators, with internal voltage reference; brownout and low-voltage detection; serial communications including I2C, SPI and USART; and two capture/compare/PWM modules.

All six members of the family are supported by Microchip's high-performance development systems, including: the MPLAB integrated development environment; the MPLAB C18 C compiler; the MPLAB ICD 2 in-circuit debugger, the PICDEM HPC explorer board (part number DM183022) and the forthcoming PICDEM LCD 2 demo board (DM163030).

All six PIC18F85J90 LCD microcontrollers are available for sampling and in volume.

The PIC18F85J90, 84J90 and 83J90 are available in 80-pin TQFP packages, whereas the PIC18F65J90, 64J90 and 63J90 come in 64-pin TQFP packages.