Microchip intros 16 bit PIC microcontrollers

BANGALORE, INDIA: Microchip Technology Inc, a provider of microcontroller, analog and Flash-IP solutions,today announced the launch of its low pin-count 16-bit eXtreme Low Power PIC MCUs by adding an on-chip 12-bit ADC, EEPROM, intelligent mTouch capacitive sensing, and the capability to run from a 5V supply.

The PIC24F32KA304 MCUs provide designers with the low-power products giving them an edge in designing industrial, automotive, medical, utility metering, white goods and many other applications, said a press release.

The PIC24F32KA304 family expands upon the popular PIC24F16KA family by adding twice as much Flash program memory and 30 p.c more RAM, which provides even more support for wireless-communication protocol stacks.

The new PIC24F32KA304 MCUs’ intelligent mTouch sensing module includes a Charge Time Measurement Unit (CTMU) that performs automated scan in sleep mode, enabling extremely low-power capacitive sensin, added the release.

"Microchip’s award-winning XLP technology is giving low-power designers what they have asked for-the world’s lowest sleep and active currents, multiple wake-up sources, and more peripherals that operate in sleep without CPU intervention," said Mitch Obolsky, vice president of Microchip’s Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division.