Microchip expands microcontroller portfolio

BANGALORE, INDIA: Microchip Technology, a provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions, has announced a new, six-member family of 32-bit PIC32MX5/6/7 microcontrollers that provides the same integrated Ethernet, CAN, USB and serial connectivity peripherals with new, more cost-effective memory options.

Additionally, design enhancements have been made that provide lower power consumption of 0.5 mA/MHz active current, higher Flash memory endurance of 20k read/write cycles and better EEPROM emulation capability, said a press release.

And, by maintaining common pin outs, the PIC32 portfolio provides designers with a migration path to achieve the correct balance of memory and cost for their high-performance applications, it added.

Microchip said embedded designers are constantly looking for ways to lower their costs without sacrificing performance or functionality and added that the 80 MHz PIC32 microcontroller family meets these needs by maintaining best-in-class performance of 1.56 DMIPS/MHz, and integrating Ethernet, CAN, USB and multiple serial communication channels, while offering more cost-effective memory options. Specifically, the family offers 32 Kbytes of RAM and up to 140 Kbytes of Flash.

“We are committed to building upon the success of the PIC32 portfolio by offering six new microcontrollers, each available in five different pin-compatible packages,” said Sumit Mitra, vice president of Microchip's High Performance Microcontroller Division.

He said these MCUs give its customers lower-cost memory options that support scalability and seamless migration with the rest of its growing 32-bit product line.

“Microchip has maximized the raw performance of the MIPS32 M4K core, while taking advantage of its high flexibility, to create a 32-bit microcontroller architecture that exceeds the requirements of demanding embedded designs,” said Art Swift, vice president of marketing and business development, MIPS Technologies.