15-07-2024 | Microchip Technology | Semiconductors
With the launch of its PIC64 portfolio, Microchip Technology expands its computing range to satisfy the rising demands of today's embedded designs. Making the company a single-vendor solution provider for MPUs, the PIC64 family will be designed to support a wide range of markets that need real-time and application-class processing. PIC64GX MPUs, the first of the new product line to be released, allow intelligent edge designs for the industrial, automotive, communications, IoT, aerospace, and defence segments.
"Microchip is a leader in 8- 16- and 32-bit embedded solutions and, as the market evolves, so must our product lines. The addition of our 64-bit MPU portfolio allows us to offer low-, mid- and high-range compute processing solutions," said Ganesh Moorthy, CEO and president of Microchip Technology. "The PIC64GX MPU is the first of several 64-bit MPUs designed to support the intelligent edge and address a broad range of performance requirements across all market segments."
The intelligent edge often needs 64-bit heterogenous compute solutions with asymmetric processing to run Linux, real-time operating systems and bare metal in a single processor cluster with secure boot capabilities. The company's PIC64GX family manages mid-range intelligent edge compute needs using a 64-bit RISC-V quad-core processor with AMP and deterministic latencies. The MPU is the first RISC-V multi-core solution that is AMP capable for mixed-criticality systems. It is designed with a quad-core, Linux-capable CPU cluster, fifth MCU class monitor and 2MB flexible L2 Cache running at 625MHz.
The PIC64GX family provides pin compatibility with the company's PolarFire SoC FPGA devices, giving developers a great deal of flexibility in developing embedded solutions. The 64-bit portfolio will also leverage its easy-to-use ecosystem of tools and supporting software, including a host of powerful processes to help configure, develop, debug, and qualify embedded designs.
The PIC64 High-Performance Spaceflight Computing (PIC64-HPSC) family is also being released as part of the company's first wave of 64-bit offerings. The space-grade, 64-bit multi-core RISC-V MPUs are designed to increase compute performance by more than 100 times while delivering unprecedented radiation and fault tolerance for aerospace and defence applications. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory announced in August 2022 that it had selected the company to develop an HPSC processor as part of its ongoing commercial partnership efforts. The PIC64-HPSC family represents a new era of autonomous space computing for NASA-JPL and the broader defence and commercial aerospace industry.
With the introduction of its PIC64 portfolio, the company has become the only embedded solutions provider actively developing a full spectrum of 8-, 16-, 32- and 64-bit MCUs and MPUs. Future PIC64 families will include devices based on RISC-V or Arm architectures and embedded designers will be able to take advantage of its end-to-end solutions – from silicon to embedded ecosystems – for faster design, debug and verification and a reduced time to market.
The PIC64GX Curiosity Evaluation Kit supports the PIC64GX family and will integrate with the company's MPLAB Extensions for VS Code. The PIC64 MPUs are also supported by Linux4Microchip resources and Linux distributors such as Canonical Ubuntu OS, the Yocto Project, and Buildroot, with support for Zephyr RTOS and associated software stacks.
