Microchip Unveils Parallel SuperFlash Development Kit

The Parallel SuperFlash Kit 1 includes two Parallel Flash PICtail Plus daughter boards, one with a 64 Mbit device (the SST38VF6401) from the Advanced MPF+ family, and one with a 16 Mbit device (the SST39VF1601C) from the MPF+ family. The Parallel Flash PICtail Plus daughter boards interface with the PICtail Plus connector found on Microchip’s Modular Explorer 16 Development Board. These daughter boards also work with the MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment, to enable the quick creation of code and shorten the overall development time. Example code and software drivers for the two Parallel Flash devices written using the MPLAB X IDE, are available today via free download. Additionally, these daughter boards can support any 3V Parallel Flash products from Microchip. Utilizing these tools code (e.g., Program, Read, Erase, Protect and Unprotect Memory, Read ID) can be done quickly by writing software routines in the MPLAB X IDE using known good hardware.

Other key features include a 16-pin header that provides easy access to the Parallel Flash device’s data pins for probing and evaluation; a 32-pin right-angled header that provides easy access to the address and control pins for probing and evaluation; a 2-pin header/jumper, which provides for the flexibility to use either on-board power or an external power supply, and provides power-measurement capability. Additionally, this daughter board can be used in conjunction with the many other functional PICtail Daughter Boards for the modular Explorer 16 Development Board, and the Parallel SuperFlash Kit 1 can easily be used by other development/prototyping boards through the provided connectors.

“As Microchip continues to expand and innovate with new Parallel Flash products, including advanced features such as Fast Page Read, Individual Block Protection and Password Protection provide exciting capabilities,” said Randy Drwinga, vice president of Microchip’s SuperFlash Memory Division. “Customers can quickly evaluate these features and develop firmware for new designs using our new Parallel SuperFlash daughter boards.”