The latest addition to Microchip's PIC32 family increases performance, integration and connectivity.
If there is one characteristic that all modern devices strive to demonstrate – regardless of the final application – it is the speed of response. The ability to react "immediately" is, of course, an illusion based on the speed with which the microprocessor can respond to an event.
The response time improvement of a microprocessor is often influenced by the running software; however, the underlying metric is the maximum number of instructions that can be executed per second, or MIPS. Hence, the consequent improvement in this figure has long driven the evolution of microprocessors.
There are a number of well known techniques for raising performance, which are measured using the Dhrystone standard unit MIPS or DMIPS. The latest member of the PIC32 family of high-performance microcontrollers, the PIC32MZ incorporates Imagination Technologies' most advanced core, the MIPS32, successfully combining many of these techniques to deliver a device that is three times more capable than its predecessor.
At the heart of the PIC32MZ is the recently announced microAptiv™ MIPS core, featuring DSP extensions and a microMIPS® instruction set architecture that allows mixing of 32-bit and 16-bit instructions to execute from memory at near full speed. In addition, the entire device is capable of working up to 200 MHz, which results in a device as a whole that provides 330 DMIPS, thus tripling the performance of the PIC32MX family.
microAptiv's DSP extensions provide an additional 159 instructions to provide single-cycle access to microarchitecture features, thus enabling accelerated digital signal processing, such as multiply/accumulate. This means that DSP algorithms can be executed in 75% fewer instruction cycles than the same algorithm executed on the PIC32MX. PIC32MZ is the first family to use the microAptiv core, which as noted above also incorporates the 16-bit instruction microMIPS function, thus resulting in significantly higher code density; up to 30% higher than for PIC32MX.
PIC32MZ is also capable of running at higher clock speeds, up to 200 MHz, which is around twice as fast as PIC32MX. Taken together, these features triple the performance measured as raw throughput, and allow the PIC32MZ microcontrollers to target applications that demand faster response times when running increasingly complex software.
Built for embedded connectivity
The PIC32MZ family integrates MAC and 10/00 Ethernet PHY as well as the highest number of serial channels ever achieved in a PIC device. These features, along with a high-performance core capable of running multiple protocol stacks simultaneously, make it the most powerful 32-bit microcontroller for applications aimed at embedded connectivity. Another first for a PIC® microcontroller is the addition of an integrated high-speed USB MAC/PHY, complemented by dual CAN ports that reinforce the PIC32MZ's connectivity credentials.
An important aspect for any connected device today is security and from this point of view the PIC32MZ family offers a whole series of functions designed to achieve more secure embedded connectivity. A full hardware cryptographic engine, with a random number generator, provides high-performance encryption/decryption and authentication of data such as AES, 3DES, SHA, MD5, and HMAC.
Along with the high-performance core and communications-oriented set of peripherals, the PIC32MZ also incorporates two other innovations never before offered in a PIC® microcontroller. Both try to meet the needs in the applications to which it is directed; both innovations address the need for more sophisticated memory systems.
A growing number of OEMs are finding that the increasing complexity of embedded software is making field upgrades unfeasible. Rather than view this trend as a development issue, manufacturers like Microchip are fully addressing this need by introducing innovative solutions for field software upgrades.
The PIC32MZ is at the forefront of this effort by integrating dual-panel Flash memory that allows full software upgrade while the device is running, executing program code at full speed. It does this by dividing embedded Flash into two physical and logical blocks, or panels. Each panel has its own charge pump and programming circuit, which means that a panel is effectively phantom memory to the point where it becomes main memory. Since both panels basically work independently, one panel continues to run at full speed while the other updates in the background without interrupting program execution. Once the software update is installed and validated, the device can be rebooted and start memory execution from the new scheduled panel.
This feature allows you to troubleshoot an entire set of software problems in the field without interrupting service, while keeping the last known section of good software on a dashboard at all times. The advantages that this innovation brings are far-reaching; service calls are minimized, service interruptions can be completely avoided, and software failures could be resolved in near “real time”.
The other innovation that tries to improve memory interfacing is the addition of an SQI port. SQI (Serial Quad Interface) is a high-speed memory interface protocol that uses up to four wires, unlike more common interfaces like SPI or I2X that use only one pin for data exchange. The SQI interface uses a multiplexed bus to access 4 bits – also called nibbles or half-bytes – of memory at the same time when accessing SQI-compliant memory devices, while also maintaining compatibility with SPI.
The microAptiv core used in the PIC32MZ features a Memory Management Unit (MMU) and instruction and data caches, up to 2048KB of onboard Flash and up to 512KB of SRAM, capable of supporting multiple stacks. of protocols that work simultaneously, as well as a buffer space for audio processing and frame buffers for displays with resolutions up to WQVGA without the need for an external graphics circuit.
design support
As the new PIC32MZ family has been developed for high-end communications oriented applications that require enhanced graphics, faster real-time performance and increased security, it is supported by a suite of development kits that provide full access to its advanced peripherals and encryption engines (for those family members that add the encryption engine as an option).
These are powered by the multimedia expansion board (Multimedia Expansion Board II), an adapter (Starter Kit Adapter) and a plug-in module (Plug-In) compatible with the Explore 16 modular development board.
The latest addition to Microchip's family of 32-bit microcontrollers takes performance, connectivity and security to new levels within embedded devices. With capabilities that triple the raw performance of the processor, the incorporation of 159 DSP specific instructions and the innovative memory subsystem, the PIC32MZ is well positioned to bring a new generation of embedded devices to life.
