Microchip Technology Inc. announced the PIC32 family of 32-bit microcontrollers (MCUs). The PIC32 family adds more performance and more memory while maintaining pin, peripheral and software compatibility with Microchip’s 16-bit MCU/DSC families. To further ease migration and protect tool investments, the PIC32 family is fully supported by Microchip’s free MPLAB^® Integrated Development Environment (IDE). The MPLAB IDE offers unprecedented compatibility by supporting Microchip’s complete portfolio of 8-, 16- and 32-bit devices.

“As a world leader in embedded-control solutions, Microchip is introducing the PIC32 family to build on the success of our vast 8- and 16-bit portfolio and offer customers a seamless migration path that bridges product families,” said Ganesh Moorthy, executive vice president of Microchip. “We provide designers with the most compatible environment in the industry for developing systems with 8-, 16-, and 32-bit MCUs!”

Consumers’ desire for ever-more engaging end products is driving system requirements for increased memory capacity, performance and functionality. Launching with seven general-purpose members, the PIC32 family operates at up to 72 MHz and offers ample code- and data-space capabilities with up to 512 KB Flash and 32 KB RAM. The PIC32 family also includes a rich set of integrated peripherals, significantly reducing total design complexity and cost. Examples include a variety of communication peripherals, a 16-bit Parallel Master Port supporting additional memory and displays, as well as a single-supply on-chip voltage regulator.

“Microchip brings a new perspective to the ever-growing 32-bit microcontroller market, born of their tremendous success in the 8-bit market,” said Tom Starnes, processor analyst at semiconductor market research firm Objective Analysis. “The peripheral-compatible PIC32 family should bring comfort to Microchip’s customers, knowing that the headroom is available as their applications evolve.”

The PIC32 family is based on the industry-standard MIPS32^® architecture, with its leading combination of high performance, low power consumption, fast interrupt response and extensive industry tool support. The high-performance MIPS32 M4K^® core can achieve best-in-class 1.5 DMIPS/MHz operation, due to its efficient instruction-set architecture, 5-stage pipeline, hardware multiply/accumulate unit and up to 8 sets of 32 core registers. To reduce system cost, the PIC32 supports MIPS16e™ 16 bit ISA—enabling code-size reductions of up to 40%.

“In the hands of the architects at Microchip, the MIPS architecture will do well in 32-bit MCUs,” said Max Baron, principal analyst at In-Stat. “Microchip gets a great architecture, while MIPS gets to be part of a series of MCUs from a company that is very successful in the MCU market. It’s a win-win for both companies.”