Microchip's new PICmicro microcontrollers enhance power management functions to meet overall power consumption control requirements

zbz0529

Microchip's new PICmicro microcontrollers enhance power management functions to meet overall power consumption control requirements [Copy link]

Microchip Technology, a global leader in microcontrollers and analog semiconductors, has announced the launch of four new PICmicro 8-bit Flash microcontrollers to effectively control system power consumption in battery-powered and linear power supply control applications.
The PIC16F series provides fault-redundant clocks and reliable system shutdown functions to meet the needs of automotive and general markets for safety and motor control power management.

These low-cost microcontrollers equipped with power management functions can reduce power consumption and extend battery life, so the market demand continues to rise. In view of this, Microchip's latest PIC16F737/747/767/777 devices have three enhanced nanoWatt technology modes that can implement overall control of system power consumption. These devices are also equipped with three pulse width modulation (PWM) modules for three-phase motor control, which can improve motor efficiency and system shutdown safety, and are suitable for low-end applications such as brushless DC motors.

The new microcontroller also features a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC) and a real-time clock, which can effectively measure and track energy utilization over time, making it an optimal solution for general metering applications such as multi-rate (peak and off-peak) universal billing meters.

“The PIC16F7x7 family provides a cost-effective solution for motor control and other power-critical applications,” said Ganesh Moorthy, vice president of Microchip’s advanced microcontroller and automotive divisions. “We have integrated nanoWatt Technology into these standard Flash products, which are compatible with existing Flash products and integrate power management features to reduce system power consumption by 10 times with minimal additional software support.”

To enhance field reprogramming capabilities and improve design flexibility, the new microcontrollers have 4K and 8K words of standard Flash program memory. The PIC16F7x7 family also offers up to 5MIPS performance at 20MHz and has 368 bytes of RAM and a master synchronous serial port module.

Other nanoWatt Technology features of the new devices include an on-chip multi-frequency oscillator running at 8MHz with fast start-up, flexible clock switching, dual-speed start-up with reset, a fail-safe clock monitor, and a low-current programmable watchdog timer for safety-critical applications. Serial interfaces include a USART module, SPI? and I2C?.

PIC16F7x7 devices are widely used in many fields, including general instrumentation (dual-rate power meters, gas meters, single-phase power meters, IC card interfaces for power meters, and AMR wireless metering); motor control (brush, brushless DC motors, and AC induction motors); home appliances (air conditioners, coffee machines, dishwashers, and refrigerators); automotive (car alarms, remote keyless entry); battery/handheld devices (MP3 players, portable medical devices, mobile phones); and RF products (RFID readers, RF receivers).

These microcontroller products are the latest members of Microchip's 8-bit PICmicro series. According to the well-known research organization Gartner Dataquest, Microchip ranked first in the world in 8-bit microcontroller shipments in 2002.

Microchip's many development tools support the PIC16F7x7 microcontroller series, including the free MPLAB? 16 IDE (Integrated Development Environment) software. In terms of hardware, the full-featured emulation system MPLAB ICE (in-circuit emulator) and MPLAB ICD2 (in-circuit debugger) both support the PIC16F7x7 series. Programmers include the full-featured standard device programmer PRO MATE? II and the low-cost programmer PICSTART? Plus.

The PIC16F737/747/767/777 devices are available now in 28- and 44-pin QFN, SOIC, SDIP, SSOP, PDIP and TQFP packages. Samples and production quantities are available now.