Microchip's New PIC16F17576 Microcontroller Promises Ultra-Low-Power Analog Sensing
The company's latest eight-bit microcontroller comes with an analog comparator that works even when the MCU core is asleep.
Microchip has announced a new entry in the PIC16F microcontroller range, the PIC16F17576 — designed with low-power peripherals for energy-efficient analog measurement, even when the microcontroller core is asleep.
"Sensor systems can quickly become complex, often requiring multiple analog components that add board size, cost, and power draw," says Microchip's Greg Robinson in support of the company's latest launch. "With the integrated analog features in our low-power PIC16F17576 MCUs [Microcontroller Units], we're cutting that complexity. You can eliminate parts and reduce power consumption, cutting costs and simplifying the overall design process."
Microchip's PIC16F17576 family is built around a single eight-bit PIC16 microcontroller core with up to 2kB of static RAM (SRAM), 28kB of program flash, and 256b of EEPROM storage. What makes it stand out from its stablemates, though, is an ultra-low-power analog comparator — which, the company claims, can provide continuous analog threshold sensing while the microcontroller core is in sleep mode, for a sub-3µA power draw.
The design also offers up to four op-amps with dynamic gain lader, a low-power voltage reference, an adjustable internal oscillator running at up to 32MHz, a fast comparator with 50ns response time, two eight-bit digital to analog converters (DACs) and a 12-bit differential analog to digital converter with computation (ADCC), two 16-bit pulse-width modulation (PWM) modules, two 16-bit capture/compare/PWM modules, a complimentary waveform generator, two EUSART and two synchronous serial ports for SPI and I2C, and four configurable logic cells, depending on model. An analog peripheral manager (APM) provides enhanced power management.
The PIC16F17576 is now available, with prices starting at $0.57 per chip in 10,000-unit tray quantities; more information is available on the Microchip website.
