Chapter 2
PIC18F Microcontrollers
PIC is a family of Harvard architecture microcontrollers (except the 32-bit devices) manufactured by Microchip Technology Inc. PIC microcontrollers are available in over 1000 models. Depending upon the data width used, we can classify these microcontrollers in three groups: 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers. Figure 2.1 shows an overview of the PIC series of microcontrollers.
Figure 2.1 PIC microcontroller series
The PIC 10, 12, 16 series are the low-end 8-bit microcontrollers with low speed, low pin count, low cost, small memories, with only 35 instructions, making them easy to learn and program. PIC18 series are medium-end 8-bit microcontrollers with medium speed, higher pin count, large memories, and having over 80 instructions. These microcontrollers include various on-chip modules, such as CAN, USB, SPI, multiple USARTs, several timers, multiplier hardware, and clock speeds up to 40 MHz. These microcontrollers are currently used in most new complex PIC microcontroller projects. PIC24 and dsPIC series are 16-bit high-speed microcontrollers with large memories and peripheral support, designed for time-critical applications where real-time processing is very important. These microcontrollers find applications in digital signal processing (DSP) and in high-speed automatic digital control systems. The architectures of these 16-bit microcontrollers ...
