Microchip touts new pin-mapping function on 16-bit microcontrollers

By Colleen Taylor, Contributing Editor -- Electronic News, 4/4/2007

Chandler, Arizona-based microcontroller and analog semiconductor provider Microchip Technology Inc. announced eight new members of its PIC24F 16-bit microcontroller family, which the company said extends the line into smaller and lower cost 28-pin and 44-pin packages with 16 Kbytes to 64 Kbytes of flash program memory and up to 8 Kbytes of RAM.

According to Microchip, the new PIC24FJ64GA002 microcontroller provides more onboard memory than any other 28-pin packaged 16-bit microcontroller. In addition, Microchip said, the entire PIC24FJ64GA004 family allows the flexible use of all onboard peripherals, by enabling designers to map them to the pin they desire through what the company calls a  "peripheral pin select" pin-mapping function.

The PIC24FJ64GA004 family is targeted at applications including consumer (security systems, heating control, audio equipment); automotive (body control, steering systems); instrumentation/measurement (scales, medical instruments and monitoring); industrial (building monitor-and-control systems, security/access systems, sensors).

In addition to peripheral pin select, Microchip said the new PIC24F family features two independent channels of I2C, UART and SPI communications, which allow the microcontrollers to communicate to a number of devices over multiple protocols. The PIC24FJ64GA004 family is designed for transition to other members in the PIC24F family and for migration to other families in Microchip's 16-bit portfolio, including the PIC24H and dsPIC33 families, through code compatibility.

In addition to providing tool support, Microchip has developed an instructional Webinar on this new 16-bit family.

All eight members of the PIC24FJ64GA004 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. The PIC24FJ64GA002, PIC24FJ48GA002, PIC24FJ32GA002 and PIC24FJ16GA002 are available in 28-pin SOIC, QFN, SSOP and SDIP packages.

In February, Microchip announced plans to put more resources into vertical markets.