Microchip adds memory and functional safety to DSC family
Dual- and single-core dsPIC33C digital signal controllers (DSCs) are now available from Microchip with more options to meet changing application requirements across memory, temperature and functional safety. These options will help system developers to design high-end embedded control applications which need flexible options to provide scalability as projects increase in complexity, assures the company.
The dsPIC33CH512MP508 dual-core DSC supports applications with larger programme memory requirements, while the dsPIC33CK64MP105 single-core DSC adds a cost-optimised version for applications that require smaller memory and footprint. Developers can scale across product lines as the new devices are pin-to-pin compatible within Microchip’s dsPIC33CH and dsPIC33CK families.
The dsPIC33CH512MP508 (MP5) family expands the dsPIC33CH with flash memory from 128 to 512kbyte and triples the programme RAM from 24 to 72kbyte, enabling the DSC to support larger applications with multiple software stacks or larger programme memory, such as automotive and wireless charging applications. More memory is needed to accommodate AutoSAR software, MCAL drivers and CAN FD peripherals in automotive applications, points out Microchip. Implementing wireless charging in automotive applications requires additional software stacks for the Qi protocol and near-field communications (NFC), driving the need for more programme memory. Using the Live Update capability for real-time firmware updates assures high-availability for systems but also doubles the overall memory requirement. In the dual-core devices, one core can function as a master while the other is designed as a slave. The slave core executes dedicated, time-critical control code while the master core runs the user interface, system monitoring and communications functions. For example, says Microchip, having two cores facilitates partitioning of the software stacks for parallel execution of the Qi protocol and other functions such as NFC to optimise performance in automotive wireless charging applications.
The dsPIC33CK64MP105 (MP1) family extends the dsPIC33CK family and is for smaller memory and footprint applications, offering up to 64kbyte flash memory and 28- to 48-pin packages. Package sizes are available as small as 4.0 x 4.0mm. According to Microchip, this device offers the “ideal combination of features for automotive sensors, motor control, high-density DC/DC applications or standalone Qi transmitters”.
Both single- and dual-core dsPIC33C devices enable fast deterministic performance for time-critical control applications, providing expanded context selected registers to reduce interrupt latency and bringing faster instruction execution of math-intensive algorithms.
All devices in the dsPIC33C family include a set of functional safety hardware to ease ASIL-B and ASIL-C certifications in safety-critical applications. Functional safety features include multiple redundant clock sources, fail safe clock monitor (FSCM), IO ports read-back, flash error correction code (ECC), RAM built-in self-test (BIST), write protection and analogue peripheral redundancies. CAN-FD peripherals and support for 150 degrees C operation, make the family suitable for use in extreme operating conditions such as under-the-bonnet automotive applications.
The dsPIC33C family is supported by Microchip’s MPLAB development ecosystem including Microchip’s free MPLAB X integrated development environment (IDE), MPLAB Code Configurator, MPLAB XC16 C compiler tool chain and MPLAB in-circuit debugger/programmer tools. Microchip’s motorBench development suite version 2.0, now supporting high-voltage motors up to 600V, is also available to help customers tune motors using the field oriented control (FOC) algorithm.
Development boards and plug-in modules (PIMs) are also available, including the dsPIC33CH Curiosity Board (DM330028-2), the dsPIC33CH512MP508 PIM for general-purpose designs (MA330046), the dsPIC33CH512MP508 PIM for motor control (MA330045), the dsPIC33CK64MP105 PIM for general-purpose designs (MA330047), the dsPIC33CK64MP105 PIM for external op amp motor control (MA330050-1) and the dsPIC33CK64MP105 for internal op amp motor control (MA330050-2).
The dsPIC33CH512MP5 devices are available now in 48-, 64- and 80-pin TQFP, 64-pin QFN and 48-pin uQFN packages. The dsPIC33CK64MP1 devices are available now in 28-pin SSOP, 28-, 36- and 48-pin uQFN and 48-pin TQFPs. The dsPIC33CH Curiosity development board and the dsPIC33C PIM development boards are also available now.
