Microchip's Latest PICs Blend Complex Programmable Logic Features with Traditional Microcontrollers
The PIC16F13276 and PIC18-Q35 families let you ditch the dedicated CPLDs and logic level shifters in your designs.
Microchip has announced new PIC series microcontroller families built around a configurable logic block (CLB) architecture — combining complex programmable logic device (CPLD)-like programmable logic with traditional microcontroller capabilities in a single chip.
"Our new product development isn’t based on keeping pace with competitors," claims Microchip's Greg Robinson, corporate vice president of the company's microcontroller arm, "it's based on efficiently solving real-world design challenges. By enabling CPLD‑like functionality on a low‑power, cost‑effective microcontroller, these two families give engineers an easy way to add programmable logic to their designs."
The new PIC16F13276 and PIC18‑Q35 CLB microcontroller families are designed to be drop-in replacements for existing PIC16 and PIC18 parts respectively, but alongside the traditional microcontroller hardware are 32 or 128 programmable logic elements respectively — effectively programmable like dedicated complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs,) but on-chip. The result, the company claims, is a chip that can reduce the bill of materials in a design, lower power requirements, and improve predictability of system behavior.
Other features include multi-voltage input/output (MVIO) capabilities for interfacing with devices running a differing logic levels without the need for external level-shifting hardware, a 10-bit analog to digital converter with computation (ADCC), and programming and debugging interface disable (PDID) — locking the memory from being accessed through the standard programming and debugging interface for security, the company explains. Variants are available with up to 4kB of static RAM (SRAM) and 64kB of flash, with precise specifications depending on chip model.
More information on the PIC16F13276 and PIC18-Q35 are available on their respective product pages; pricing starts at $0.32 for the PIC16F13276 and $0.62 for the PIC18-Q35 in tray-level quantities, with the PIC16F13276 Curiosity Nano Evaluation Kit and PIC18F56Q35 Curiosity Nano Evaluation Kit development boards available to order in single-unit quantities for $9.99.