Microchip intros industry's first low-power 8-bit MCUs with LCD driver, 5V operation and on-chip 12-bit ADC

CHANDLER, USA: Microchip Technology Inc. has announced the PIC18F “K90” 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) family—the industry’s first and only low-power, 5V, 8-bit MCUs that include an on-chip LCD driver module and 12-bit Analog-to-Digital Converter (ADC).

The new MCUs feature nanoWatt XLP technology for eXtreme Low Power consumption, with industry-leading sleep currents down to 20 nA. The family comes in 64- and 80-pin packages, with memory options that range from 32 KB to 128 KB of Flash memory, up to 4 KB of RAM and 1 KB of on-chip EEPROM. With 24 channels of mTouch capacitive touch sensing, these MCUs enable higher system integration—combining the capability to sense a large number of cap-touch sliders, buttons and keys with the ability to drive large, segmented LCDs.

“The PIC18F ‘K90’ family represents a significant expansion of our high-end 8-bit LCD microcontroller offerings into the 5V operating range,” said Mitchel Obolsky, vice president of Microchip’s Advanced Microcontroller Architecture Division. “These products are ideal for customers wanting to drive large, segmented LCDs, while consuming very low amounts of power for longer battery life.”

With this combination of features, these MCUs are well suited for applications in the home-automation (e.g. thermostats, security systems, in-home displays); appliance (e.g. coffee makers, ranges, refrigerators); industrial (e.g. electronic door locks, metering, HVAC controls); medical (e.g. pulse oximeters, glucometers, digital thermometers, portable health-monitoring devices); and automotive (e.g. alarm systems, keyless entry, dashboard and center-stack displays) markets, among others.