Product category: Microprocessors, Microcontrollers and DSPs
News Release from: Microchip Technology | Subject: PIC10F family
Edited by the Electronicstalk Editorial Team on 16 June 2004

MCUs shrink to mop up new applications

A revolutionary range of 6-pin Flash devices in ultrasmall-form-factor SOT-23 packages provide an ideal solution for many markets and uses not typically served by microcontrollers

Novel applications include "electronic glue" to enable, for example, easy bug fixes for ASIC and printed circuit board (PCB) designs, and to replace standard logic and timing components or traditional mechanical timers and switches. The first four members of the PIC10F 8bit Flash microcontroller family (the PIC10F200, PIC10F202, PIC10F204 and PIC10F206) offer 256 or 512 instructions (x12bit program words) of Flash program memory and 16 to 24byte of data RAM.

These devices also feature a precision 4MHz internal oscillator, 33 instructions, two stack levels, 25mA source/sink current IO, low power (100nA) sleep current, a wide operating voltage range from 2 to 5.5V, one 8bit timer, a watchdog timer, ICSP in-circuit serial programming technology, power-on reset, power-saving sleep mode and (in the PIC10F204 and PIC10F206 only) an analogue comparator module.

With only six pins, they are extremely easy to use and have a short learning curve for anyone not experienced in designing with microcontrollers.

Through ICSP technology, Microchip's 6-pin devices can be programmed after placement on a circuit board.

ICSP technology enables field upgrades, system calibration during manufacturing and the addition of unique identification codes to the system.

Although the PIC10F family is ideal for any spaced-constrained application requiring low pin-count microcontrollers, the combination of small form factor, high performance and extremely low cost is creating new applications not traditionally served by microcontrollers.

For example, discovering a bug in an ASIC or a PCB can have devastating consequences for the design.

A revision to the silicon or a complete board change may be required, creating substantial time-to-market delays and potential scrap costs.

Often, the design issue is simple and can be accommodated by changing the functionality of a single signal using a small, low-cost microcontroller.

The development time for a microcontroller-based system is significantly faster and easier than designing an entirely new ASIC or PCB.

By including the low-cost PIC10F 6-pin devices in a PCB design from the start, bugs fixes, late changes and other stopgaps can be implemented with ease and little expense for ASICs, the board itself and for a number of other devices on the PCB.

Alternatively, traditional standard logic and timing components, such as delays, smart gates, signal conditioning, simple state machines, encoders/decoders, I/O expanders and small peripheral logic functions can now be cost effectively integrated into a 6-pin microcontroller.

The advantages include: eliminating components (reducing board space and cost), allowing the implementation of more complex solutions by using firmware to implement state machines, and enabling designers to change the functionality on the PCB without having to replace the actual board.

As with replacing standard logic devices, a PIC10F microcontroller can take the place of traditional 555 timers, pulsewidth modulators (PWMs), remote control encoders, pulse generation, programmable frequency source, resistor-programmable oscillators and much more.

The PIC10F devices are also an ideal solution for replacing traditional mechanical functions, such as smart switches, mode selectors, remote I/Os, timers, LED flashers, thermostats, and any other form of mechanical timers and switches.

A microcontroller solution in general can add significantly more functionality than a mechanical-based device.

As many 4bit microcontrollers tend to be in larger packages, the 6-pin SOT-23 microcontroller provides a much smaller solution that is higher in performance with respect to both MIPS and mathematical calculations.

Additionally, writing software code for an 8bit microcontroller can be easier than with 4bit devices, in many cases.

In terms of cost effectiveness, the PIC10F devices are priced at or below current 4bit microcontroller cost baselines.

Given their small form factor and low cost, the PIC10F are also ideal for many emerging "disposable" applications that incorporate electronics intelligence, like property identification.

This includes a growing number of medical equipment products such as pregnancy testers, dialysis monitoring (blood sugar), drug testers and much more.

The PIC10F family is supported by Microchip's world-class development tools, including the MPLAB in-circuit debugger development tool.

The MPLAB ICD2 is a powerful, low-cost run-time tool that offers cost-effective in-circuit Flash programming and debugging from the graphical user interface of the free MPLAB integrated development environment (IDE) software.

This enables a designer to develop and debug source code by watching variables, single-stepping and setting break points.

Running at full speed enables hardware tests in real-time.

The MPLAB ICD2 uses a header board module to support the new PIC10F family.

The PIC10F200, PIC10F202, PIC10F204 and PIC10F206 are offered in 6-pin SOT-23 packages.

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