Eight-Pin FLASH MCUs Tooled For Distributed Intelligence

Designed for distributed-intelligence applications, the PIC12F629 and PIC12F675 eight-pin microcontrollers (MCUs) claim to pack twice the amount of Flash, RAM and data EEPROM and a lower voltage range than comparable devices. Both devices include a 14-bit instruction set with 1.8 KB of flash memory, 64 bytes of RAM, 128 bytes of EEPROM, an analog comparator, internal 4-MHz oscillator, and in-circuit debug capability. The PIC12F675 also provides four channels of 10-bit a/d conversion. An added feature of both is EEPROM write capability over their entire voltage range from 2V to 5.5V. And they are pin- and code-compatible with all of the company's eight-pin PICmicro MCUs. Samples are scheduled for May and volume production is scheduled for June. Available in PDIP and SOIC packages, the PIC12F629 and PIC12F675 cost $0.96 and $1.21, respectively, each/1,000-unit quantities. MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY INC., Chandler, AZ. (480) 792-7668.