New DSC accelerates DSP performance for time-critical control applications

Microchip has released a new family of dsPIC33CK 16-bit DSCs which provide system designers with DSP power combined with the design simplicity of an MCU. Created to provide faster deterministic performance in time-critical control applications, the devices have expanded context selected registers to decrease interrupt latency and new, faster instruction execution to accelerate DSP routines. The single-core family complements the recently announced dsPIC33CH dual-core family based on the same core. With 100MIPS performance, the core of the device provides almost double the performance of previous single-core dsPIC DSCs, making it perfectly suited for digital power, motor control and other applications demanding sophisticated algorithms such as automotive sensors and industrial automation. It has been created specifically for controlling multiple sensorless, brushless motors running field-oriented control algorithms and power factor correction. The family features a CAN-FD communication bus to support new automotive communication standards. The device is available in eight package variants which include packages from 28 to 80 pins and as small as 5mm x 5mm. Memory sizes range from 32KB to 256KB of Flash.