PIC MCUs Pack Shunt Regulator

Including several peripherals for fan and motor control, the 14-pin PIC16F616/610 and the 8-pin PIC12F615/609 PIC flash MCUs integrate shunt regulators, allowing them to run from higher voltage rails without external regulators. Specialized peripherals include full-bridge PWMs with dead-band control, a Timer1 gate for pulse-width measurement, comparator for hall-effect sensor interfaces, and a/d converters for temperature and various monitoring functions. Other integrated features include a precision 4-/8-MHz oscillator, up to 3.5 KB of flash memory and 128 bytes of RAM, brownout reset, and watchdog timers. Development tools include the MPLAB IDE, MPLAB In-Circuit Debugger 2, and the MPLAB PM3 universal device programmer. Additionally, the PICkit 2 Starter Kit (DV164120) connects to a PC via USB 2.0 and requires no additional power supply for the programmer or target board. Prices for the MCUs range from $0.60 to $0.77 each/10,000 and the DV164120 kit costs $49.99. MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC., Chandler, AZ. (888) 628-6247.