Microchip Technology today announced the four-member PIC24FJ256GB210 microcontroller family, which integrates USB for Embedded Host/Peripheral/On-the-Go and 96 Kbytes of RAM. This large RAM enables the buffering of sizeable amounts of data and better overall throughput, for applications such as Ethernet connectivity, remote sensing, data logging and audio streaming. It can also be used to store generated images or data for dynamic content, such as real-time, remote sensor data graphs. In combination with Microchip’s free USB software library and TCP/IP stack, these MCUs lower system costs and footprints in a broad range of industrial, instrumentation/measurement, medical and consumer applications.
Features
- Universal Serial Bus Features:
- USB v2.0 On-The-Go (OTG) Compliant
- Dual Role Capable – Can act as either Host or Peripheral
- Low-Speed (1.5 Mbps) and Full-Speed (12 Mbps) USB Operation in Host mode
- Full-Speed USB Operation in Device mode
- Analog Features:
- Up to 24x, Capacitive touch sensing
- Up to 24x, 10-Bit, ADC at 500 ksps:
- 3x Analog Comparators with Programmable Input/Output Configuration
- Power Management:
- On-Chip Voltage Regulator of 1.8V
- Switch between Clock Sources in Real Time
- Idle, Sleep and Doze modes with Fast Wake-up and Two-Speed Start-up
- Run Mode: 800 uA/MIPS, 3.3V Typical
- Sleep mode Current Down to 20 uA, 3.3V Typical
- Standby Current with 32 kHz Oscillator: 22 uA, 3.3V Typical
The requirements for embedded designs are rapidly expanding, including the widespread and growing adoption of connectivity and the ability to buffer large amounts of data. At the same time, the pressure to reduce cost and size is constant. Microchip integrates a USB peripheral and large amounts of RAM into a single microcontroller as small as 64 pins, along with Peripheral Pin Select to provide designers the flexibility to remap digital I/O pins. Additional peripherals include 24 channels of mTouch capacitive touch sensing, along with a free touch software library, and the 16-bit Enhanced Parallel Master/Slave Port, which enables wider peripheral selection and improved bandwidth when connecting to off-chip resources.
“Microchip doesn’t stop at providing embedded designers with high levels of microcontroller integration and performance—we also help them get to market quickly via industry-leading software support and configuration tools, training and development boards,” said Mitch Obolsky, vice president of Microchip’s Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division. “Maximum flexibility is ensured by Microchip’s unparalleled migration strategy, which allows designers to move among our large portfolio of 8/16/32-bit PIC microcontrollers through code compatibility and one universal MPLAB integrated development environment.”
Development Tools
This new microcontroller family easily integrates into Microchip’s long-standing, modular development-board system. A new $25 PIC24FJ256GB210 Plug-in Module (part # MA240021) is available today, which readily connects to the proven Explorer 16 Modular Development Board and its companion USB PICtail Plus daughter card.
