Microchip Technology PIC18-Q41 and AVR DB MCU families

Sensor-based Internet of Things (IoT) applications rely on a combination of analog functionality and digital control capability to meet a challenging list of requirements including low cost, small size, performance and low power. Addressing this challenge through a focus on increased microcontroller (MCU) integration, Microchip Technology has announced the PIC18-Q41 and AVR DB MCU families — designed to combine analog peripherals and multi-voltage operation with interperipheral connections for increased system integration and reduced signal acquisition times, and offering the convenience and efficiency of operating in a single design environment.

The company is bringing easy-to-use analog capability to PIC and AVR MCUs so designers can meet the requirements of large-scale IoT systems. With a unified, seamless development tool experience, designers can use the MCUs either as a single-chip controller or as an intelligent analog signal conditioning component in a larger system.

To address the need for signal conditioning in space-constrained sensing and measuring applications such as IoT end nodes and industrial, medical devices, wearables, automotive and lighting systems, the PIC18-Q41 MCU has a configurable operational amplifier (op amp) and analog-to-digital converter (ADC) with computation and digital-to-analog converters (DACs). It is particularly suitable for IoT and large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) at the edge, including predictive maintenance edge nodes in a smart factory. Offered in compact 14- and 20-pin packages, the MCU also makes a good companion to Microchip’s 32-bit MCUs and other controllers that require analog integration.