Live-updateable controllers aid digital power

These devices offer high-resolution pulse width modulators optimised for digital power applications. In addition, the devices include advanced analogue features and peripherals. There are five separate high-speed 12-bit ADC modules, each with 300 ns conversion latency.

Up to 22 input channels are shared across these five ADC units. There are also four analogue comparators, each with their own dedicated 12-bit reference DAC; and two programmable gain amplifiers to reduce external component count.

New features include a peripheral trigger generator which is a user-programmable state machine that can respond to events faster than a firmware-driven implementation while off-loading the processor for other tasks.

In addition, a four-channel DMA unit is included to further increase the controller’s overall system performance. These devices also have configurable logic cells that can be used to create combinatorial PWM signals for advanced applications or to minimise the need for external glue logic in the design.

They also contain up to two CAN communication interfaces for automotive and industrial applications. The new additions to the family of dsPIC® DSCs include variants which are offered in an 80-pin package giving designers increased memory and more interface pins to fulfil the requirements of more sophisticated designs.

The family is supported by Microchip’s free DCDT, advanced SMPS libraries, evaluation platforms and reference designs to help accelerate the overall process of designing a digital power supply. The dsPIC33EP128GS808 family is also supported by the MPLAB ecosystem including the MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and XC16 compiler.

Fourteen parts in the dsPIC33EP128GS808 family are available today to sample or purchase. The parts are available in a TQFP, QFN and SOIC package options with 28-, 44-, 48-, 64-, and 80-pin variants.