Full-speed USB 2.0 PIC microcontrollers

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Microchip Technology expands its family of certified full-speed USB 2.0 PIC® microcontrollers with more cost effective and smaller options.

Microchip Technology has announced new Flash PIC® microcontrollers with certified full-speed USB 2.0 connectivity and 48 megahertz (MHz) operation, for 12 megabits-per-second (Mbps) data-transfer rates. In combination with a wide variety of on-chip peripherals and nanowatt technology power management, these features provide a complete embedded-control solution for designers working with USB in industrial, medical and many other embedded applications.

The majority of USB-capable microcontrollers are optimized exclusively for applications in the personal computing (PC) peripherals and consumer markets, leaving a real void for embedded designs. Microchip's USB PIC microcontroller family makes the benefits of full-speed USB available to a broader range of embedded applications that operate in harsh environments and only occasionally connect to personal computers. The new PIC18F4450/2450 full-speed USB microcontrollers help to address these needs by integrating USB as one of the primary serial interfaces, as opposed to the prevalent approach that adds a serial-to-USB patch on top of a legacy design.

The two new USB PIC microcontrollers feature 16 kilobytes (kb) of self-programmable Enhanced Flash memory, which allows field upgrades for end applications via the USB port. Microchip's advanced PMOS Electrically Erasable Cell (PEEC) Flash technology provides high endurance of up to 100,000 erase/write cycles and long data retention of more than 40 years. In addition, their full-speed USB 2.0 interface includes an onboard transceiver for direct data transfers to external peripherals with minimum CPU overhead.