product feature Microchip Enters the 32-Bit Fray MIPS-Based PIC32 product line offers easy migration path, extensive tool support. by John Donovan, Editor-in-Chief
Microchip, currently king of the 8-bit microcontroller market, has dealt its way into the high-end 32-bit segment with the introduction of the PIC32 family of 32-bit MCUs based on the MIPS architecture. The move comes two years after Microchip introduced its 16-bit product line, aimed at providing a smooth migration path for legacy PIC 8-bit applications, of which there are many. Now the elevator goes all the way to the top. The announcement is also a major design win for MIPS, who are late coming to the MCU market, and a smart move for Microchip, who are—to be honest—late in coming to the 32-bit market. Max Baron, principal analyst at In-Stat, is impressed with the move. “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.” Portable Design agrees. The MIPS32 M4K core can achieve 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%. Launching with seven general-purpose members, the PIC32 family operates at up to 72 MHz and offers ample code- and data-space
M4K 32-bit Core 72 MHz, 1.5 DMIPS/MHz 5 Stage Pipeline, 32-bit ALU Trace JTAG
32-bit HW Mul/Div
32 Core Registers Shadow Set
DMA 4 Ch.
2-Wire Debug
VREG
Bus Matrix Prefetch Buffer Cache
Flash
Interrupt Controller
SRAM
GPIO (85)
Peripheral Bus 16-bit Parallel Port
16 Ch. 10-bit ADCs
RTCC
(2) 12C
Input Capture (5)
(2) UARTs
Output Compare PWM (5)
(2) SPI
16-bit Timers (5)
capabilities with up to 512 Kbytes flash and 32 Kbytes RAM. The PIC32 family also includes a wide range of integrated peripherals, including 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. As a purely defensive measure, the new product line makes a great deal of sense. Microchip has a huge installed base, and creating a migration path is critical to hanging onto those customers. Microchip has paid a lot of attention to tool compatibility, with one toolset supporting 8-, 16- and 32-bit applications. In addition to Matlab support via Microchip’s free MPLAB IDE, complete tool chains are also available from Ashling, Green Hills and Hi-Tech—including C and C++ compilers, IDEs and debuggers. RTOS support is available from CMX, Express Logic, FreeRTOS, Micrium, Segger and Pumpkin. Graphics tools providers include EasyGUI, Segger, RamTeX and Micrium. To kick-start usage, Microchip offers the PIC32 Starter Kit, complete with a USB-powered MCU board, the MPLAB IDE and MPLAB C32 C complier, documentation, sample projects with tutorials, schematics, and 16-bit compatible peripheral libraries. Application expansion boards are also being made available, which plug into the expansion slot on the bottom of the MCU board. It’s unusual to see a new product line launched with such depth of support; it usually takes a while for the “ecosystem” to catch up, or even form. Microchip deserves kudos for execution. The PIC32 line is more than a marketing fix, it’s a serious new contender. But while the new family is quite capable, it’s walking into some serious competition. It’s going up against Freescale’s heavily promoted “Controller Continuum”—which Microchip maintains is hardly continuous—and ARM’s diverse and heavily entrenched processor lineup. At the very least the PIC32 family will provide an architectural alternative for designers who aren’t married to ARM. With the advent of their new MIPS32 products, Microchip is dealing itself into a segment that is much more lucrative than the commoditized 8-bit market to which it owes its success to date. While admittedly playing catch-up, Microchip is looking to be a major player from Day One. Its new product family is an excellent start. Microchip Technology Inc., Chandler, AZ. (480) 792-7200. [www.microchip.com].
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