Microchip has recently expanded the PIC10F, PIC12F and PIC16F families by introducing several new 8-bit PIC microcontrollers featuring configurable logic and a high level of peripheral integration in 6- to 20-pin packages. The PIC10F(LF)32X and PIC1XF(LF)150X MCUs integrate new peripherals, including configurable logic cells (CLCs), complementary waveform generators (CWGs) and numerically controlled oscillators (NCOs). With the enhanced functionality and such a low pin count, embedded designers and engineers can greatly simplify their designs with a much lower part count, size, cost, and power consumption.

Engineers would be able to create many new applications and provide enhancement to many applications that already exist in the automotive, consumer, appliance, and industrial markets, among others. Software code can be used to control the combinational and sequential logic on the CLCs for on-chip interconnection of peripherals and I/Os. This adds improved functionality while reducing external component count and code space needed for the new functions. The CWG works with peripherals to generate complementary waveforms with dead-band control and auto shutdown for improved switching efficiencies. The NCO peripheral features linear frequency control with high resolution for applications such as lighting ballast, tone generation, and other resonant control circuits.

The PIC10F(LF)32X and PIC1XF(LF)150X MCUs operate at less than 30 μA/MHz in active mode and less than 20 nA in the sleep mode, and feature an analog to digital converter, up to 4 10-bit Pulse Width Modulation peripherals, and an integrated temperature-indicator module which enables low-cost temperature measurements. For programming, these MCUs have 35 instructions, 8 Stack Levels, 1.75K to 14K of Flash memory, and 64 to 512 bytes of RAM.

These MCUs are supported by Microchip's standard development tools, including the PICkit™ 3 Debugger/Programmer, as well as the MPLAB® IDE, MPLAB REAL ICE™ In-Circuit Emulator and MPLAB ICD3 In-Circuit Debugger, and the Microchip and HI-TECH C compilers. The PICDEM Lab Development Kit and the F1 Evaluation Platform has also been introduced for developing this series of 8-bit PIC MCUs. Programming the configurable logic cells (CLCs) has also been greatly simplified with a free CLC Configuration Tool, which can simulate the functionality of the registers and combinational logic with a graphical user interface.