PIC32 expands connectivity support
By Robert Cravotta, Technical Editor -- EDN, November 18, 2009
Microchip Technology’s PIC32MX5/6/7-family chips expand the connectivity support of PIC32 processors to cover 10/100-Mbps Ethernet; CAN (controller-area-network) 2.0b; and USB (Universal Serial Bus) host, device, and OTG (On-The-Go) peripherals. The company offers free TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) and USB host- and device-software stacks, including source code, for these families. The 100-Mbps Ethernet MAC (media-access controller) uses an RMII/MII (reduced media-independent interface/media-independent interface) and includes a unique factory-preprogrammed Ethernet MAC address. The CAN2.0b controllers use system RAM for storing as many as 1024 messages in 32 buffers with as many as 32 filters and four filter masks. Additional available software includes support for AES (Advanced Encryption Standard), multiple file systems, graphics, and audio libraries. The 80-MHz, 32-bit processors include as much as 128 kbytes of RAM, six UARTs (universal-asynchronous-transmitter/receiver) interfaces, five I2C (inter-integrated-circuit) interfaces, and four SPI (serial-peripheral-interface) ports.
The three new PIC32MX5/6/7 families are available for sampling, and volume production, and prices ranging from $4.73 to $6.55 (10,000). Package options include 100-pin TQFP and BGA packages and 64-pin TQFP and QFN packages. The PIC32MX5/6/7 families are pin-compatible with the existing PIC32 and 16-bit PIC24F USB devices. Starter kits are also available. They include the $72 DM320004 PIC32 Ethernet starter kit and the $55 DM320003-2 PIC32 USB starter kit II. Owners of the DM240001 Explorer 16 development board can purchase the $25 MJA320003 plug-in module for development with the new PIC32MX5/6/7 families.
