Microchip Announces First Stand-Alone Real-Time Clock/Calendar (RTCC) Family

The devices include digital trimming for time-of-day calibration, and a battery-switchover feature that supports backup power at very low voltage and current levels. By integrating all of these features within a single device, the MCP794XX family reduces component count, and lowers costs across a range of applications.

Applications for the MCP794XX include smart smart-energy thermostats, power meters and commercial refrigeration units; home-appliances such as stoves, dishwashers and microwave ovens; automotive dashboard controls and car radios; as well as office equipment, irrigation controls, video systems and other consumer-electronic products.

Many applications, such as cameras and notebook PCs, require a real-time clock with back-up power to maintain time and alarm settings when the main power is turned off. Other applications, such as commercial refrigeration, point-of-sale equipment and security systems, need a real-time clock with a power-fail monitor to capture and store the timeframes when the main power fails. With their on-chip battery-switchover circuit and power-fail timestamp, the MCP794XX RTCCs help to address system health, safety, and security concerns in applications involving the storage of perishable goods, or monitoring access to secure rooms. The devices can be ordered with a pre-programmed MAC address, which eliminates a time-consuming step in the production flow, and the digital trimming feature can support software temperature compensation, which lowers costs in comparison to devices where temperature compensation takes place in hardware.

By introducing their first stand-alone RTCCs, in addition to microcontrollers with on-board RTCCs, Microchip is providing customers with a cost-effective and low pin-count option for adding RTCC functionality to their designs without significantly increasing design size or cost.