Arm PIC MCUs ease BLE connectivity

Wireless connectivity, while mandatory for many products, increases both cost and complexity of system design. Microchip Technology unveiled its first family of Arm Cortex-M4F-based PIC microcontrollers (MCUs) with built in Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) functionality.

Designed to simplify bringing wireless applications to market, the family of PIC MCUs offer a low-cost solution that eliminates complexity and regulatory certification challenges.

Users can choose between system-on-chips (SoCs) and global regulatory-certified, RF-ready modules. The PIC32CX1012BZ25048 is an AEC-Q100 Grade 1-qualified (125°C) SoC for use in tough environments. The family’s WBZ451PE is a global regulatory-certified, RF-ready module featuring an onboard PCB antenna for specialized antenna placement.

(Source: Microchip Technology)

The devices and modules support standard MCU peripherals including analog-to-digital converter (ADC), serial peripheral interface (SPI), inter-integrated circuit (I2C), quad I/O serial peripheral interface (QSPI), universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter (UART), and serial wire debug (SWD). Other features include 1 MB of flash memory that supports large application codes, multiprotocol wireless stacks, and over-the-air (OTA) updates. Connectivity standards compliance includes Bluetooth v5.2, IEEE 802.15.4, Zigbee 3.0, ETSI EN 300 328, EN 300 440 Class 2, FCC CFR47 Part 15, and ARIB STD-T66.

Microchip’s MPLAB Harmony 32-bit embedded software development framework simplifies development. The MPLAB Code Configurator integration enables rapid prototyping using drag-and-drop auto code generation. For those with little to no RF expertise the WBZ451 modules are pre-certified to multiple global regulations. GitHub demo applications and documentation, and wireless design check services also help developers ease the application development process. The family is supported by a preconfigured PIC32CX-BZ2 and WBZ451 Curiosity Development Board for easy evaluation.

The PIC32CX-ZB2 family is currently available. The SoCs are housed in 7 × 7 mm 48 quad-flat no-leads (QFN) packages and the WBZ451PE-I and the WBZ451UE-I modules come with an on-board PCB antenna and a U.FL connector for external antenna, respectively.