Microchip is building on its 80MHz 32-bit PIC32 microcontroller (MCU) portfolio three new families. The PIC32MX5/6/7 families are designed specifically for data-intensive applications running several software stacks simultaneously and are complemented by Microchip’s free software stacks. The families couple the PIC32’s performance with up to 128kbytes of RAM and connectivity options, including 10/100Mbit/s Ethernet, two CAN2.0b controllers, USB Host, Device and OTG, and 6 UART, 5 I2C and 4 SPI ports.

The integrated 100Mbit/s Ethernet MAC uses an industry-standard RMII/MIII interface to commodity Physical Interface chips (PHYs), while the CAN and USB modules have a built-in DMA interface to maximise data throughput. Microchip offers free TCP/IP and USB software stacks, including full source code, to further enable software development. Available software includes two TCP/IP software stacks, along with libraries for USB Host and Device, Advanced Encryption Standard (AES), multiple file systems, advanced graphics, audio, and many other software products. Migrating software across Microchip’s 600-plus 8-, 16- and 32-bit PIC microcontroller portfolio is possible, as its development tools, USB stacks and TCP/IP stacks span the entire range of PIC MCUs.

Additionally, the new PIC32MX5/6/7 families are pin compatible with the existing PIC32 and 16-bit PIC24F USB MCU families. The PIC32 Ethernet Starter Kit ($72) was designed to enable Ethernet-based development, and the PIC32 USB Starter Kit II ($55) is an upgrade of Microchip’s existing USB starter kit for the new families. Owners of the Explorer 16 Development Board can purchase a $25 plug-in module for development with the PIC32MX5/6/7 families.