Winter 2012 July/August 2013

INTELLIGENT

UNIQUE ID

LOW-POWER

ENDURANCE

THE CLOUD

July/August 2013

Contents
SHOWCASE DESIGN ARTICLES
15 Choosing the Right Transport Method for Automotive Data 23 Free Legacy Compiler to MPLAB XC Compiler Migration 25 EEPROM Operation and Endurance 27 Decreasing MCU Operating Voltage; Increasing CAN Interfacing Capabilities 29 Hygiene Monitoring System Provides True HACCP Management Capabilities 31 Create Cloud-Connected Devices for the Internet of Things

4 A New World of USB2 Applications

Worlds first programmable USB2 controller hubs also offer simultaneous support for USB2 and HSIC

NEW PRODUCTS
6 More for Less
The PIC32 MX family offers performance, integrated peripherals and memory

7 Add Intelligence to Smart-Energy Designs

PIC16F753 MCU features complementary output generator, op amp and 9-bit DAC

9 Help with CAN Conformance

Latest family of high-speed CAN transceivers are low power and highly robust

10 Who Are You?

New unique ID family of EEPROMs feature unique, pre-programmed 32-bit serial number

FEATURES
12 Product Spotlight

NEW TOOLS
13 Going to the Next Level 14 Targeting Power Savings

The Microchip name and logo, the Microchip logo, dsPIC, FlashFlex, KEELOQ, KEELOQ logo, MPLAB, PIC, PICmicro, PICSTART, PIC32 logo, rfPIC, SST, SST Logo, SuperFlash and UNI/O are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. FilterLab, Hampshire, HI-TECH C, Linear Active Thermistor, MTP, SEEVAL and The Embedded Control Solutions Company are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. Silicon Storage Technology is a registered trademark of Microchip Technology Inc. in other countries. Analog-for-the-Digital Age, Application Maestro, BodyCom, chipKIT, chipKIT logo, CodeGuard, dsPICDEM, dsPICDEM.net, dsPICworks, dsSPEAK, ECAN, ECONOMONITOR, FanSense, HI-TIDE, In Circuit Serial Programming, ICSP, Mindi, MiWi, MPASM, MPF, MPLAB Certified logo, MPLIB, MPLINK, mTouch, Omniscient Code Generation, PICC, PICC-18, PICDEM, PICDEM.net, PICkit, PICtail, REAL ICE, rfLAB, Select Mode, SQI, Serial Quad I/O, Total Endurance, TSHARC, UniWinDriver, WiperLock, ZENA and Z-Scale are trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. SQTP is a service mark of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. GestIC and ULPP are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Germany II GmbH & Co. & KG, a subsidiary of Microchip Technology Inc., in other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are property of their respective companies. 2013, Microchip Technology Incorporated, All Rights Reserved.

EDITORS NOTE

The Competitive Edge

you arent focused on your development efforts, slowing down your products time

n the fast-paced world of embedded design, getting the information you need when you need it is critical to keeping your project on schedule and staying ahead of the competition. Any time you spend searching or waiting for information is time

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to market. Microchip is dedicated to providing you with the resources you need to help you get the job done so that you dont have to spend hours of your valuable time searching for answers. Beginning with the September/October issue of MicroSolutions, a new column will feature the latest information on Microchips technical support and training offerings as well as tips n tricks and answers to frequently-asked questions. Whether you just have a question, need a quick tutorial or are seeking in-depth information, we want to be the one-stop shop for your daily design challenges. We offer a number of ways to learn and get answersfrom our extensive web-based technical support area, to videos on YouTube, to announcements on social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook. In future issues of MicroSolutions well cover topics such as upcoming training classes, MASTERs Conferences, online training resources and more. Wed also like to hear from you as to what type of information and delivery methods work well for you. If you have a few moments, wed really appreciate it if you could take our brief online Training Resources Survey to help us with future planning. Our goal

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A New World of USB2 Applications

Worlds First Programmable USB2 Controller Hubs Also Offer Simultaneous Support for USB2 and HSIC, Low-Power Modes to Support Next-Generation Applications

SHOWCASE

dominant in mobile devices through at least 2015. This continued use of both USB3 and USB2 challenges the designers of PCs and mobile devices to ensure interoperability
Seven New ICs Added to Microchips USB2 Controller Hub Portfolio

hile the PC market is converting to USB3, most market forecasts predict that USB2 will remain pre-

charging modes, such as BC1.2, Apple, SE1 and China charging. For applications that need to communicate over multiple protocols, these UCH2s feature direct I/O bridging to I2C, SPI, UART and general-purpose I/O. They also have the flexibility to support the behaviors of multiple operating systems, such as vendor-specific messaging and FlexConnect for simple port reversals.

while providing new features and maximum battery life. Seven new ICs in our USB2 Controller Hub (UCH2) portfoliowhich was gained from the recent SMSC acquisitionare now available to solve major problems facing developers of PCs and tablets. In a new world where there are multiple operating systems in play and an intense focus on low power for extended battery life, the seven new UCH2 ICs across three families are the worlds first to provide programmability, enabling the developers of PCs and mobile devices to configure their designs without requiring external memory. Additionally, these are our first UCH2s to support both USB2 and USB High Speed Interchip (HSIC) connectivity, maximum battery life via low-power modes such as Link Power Management (LPM), and the ability to replace wall chargers with advanced battery

These are our first UCH2s to support both USB2 and USB High Speed Interchip (HSIC) connectivity.

Competing

USB2

Controller

Hubs only offer limited battery charging and require external memory for configuration. These new UCH2s integrate Quad Page configuration OTP Flash memory, which reserves

space for interoperability and other customizations by the designer, including four separate configuration opportunities. For mainstream USB applications, the USB-IF Certified USB2532-1080AEN, USB25331080AEN and USB2534-1080AEN family of UCH2s for mainstream USB applications are available in 36-pin QFN packages. The USB4624-1080HN and USB4604-1080HN family of UCH2s for HSIC connectivity and I/O bridging USB applications come in 48-pin QFN packages. The USB3813-1080XY and USB3613-1080XY family of UCH2s for mobile
(continued on page 5)

USB applications are offered in 30-pin WLCSP packages. Contact your local Microchip sales office for details on pricing and availability.

SMSC/Microchip E-Services website. Please contact your local Microchip sales office for information on how to register for an E-Services account. To support the development of USB charging designs using the three-member USB253X UCH2 family for mainstream USB2 applications, the USB2534 Evaluation Board (EVB-USB2534) is available for $399 and can be ordered from your Microchip sales representative.

SHOWCASE

Development Support
Our new ProTouch Configuration Editor software tool makes it easy to generate configuration settings and program the OTP memory in the UCHS2 devices. It is bundled with the ProLink programming software and is available via a free download from the

USB2 Controller Hubs Block Diagram

More for Less

The PIC32 MX Family Offers the Performance, Integrated Peripherals and Memory for Low Cost Graphic HumanInterface, Connectivity and Digital Audio Applications

NEW PRODUCT

capacitive touch, and graphic display capabilities as well as USB support, a new family of PIC32MX3/4 microcontrollers (MCUs) is now available in 64/16 KB, 256/64 KB and 512/128
Low-Cost and High-Performance PIC32MX3/MX4 Series of MCUs

f you develop designs in the consumer, appliance, medical or industrial market which require high-quality, low-cost audio,

available in September 2013. These MCUs are offered in 64-pin QFN, 64-pin TQFP;100-pin TQFP; and 124-pin VTLA packages.

Development Support
The PIC32MX3/4 family is supported with a comprehensive set of tools and software. These include general software development tools, such as the MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and the MPLAB XC32 C/C++ compiler. Application-specific tools include the Microchip Graphics Display Designer X along with the Microchip Graphics Library, which provide a visual design tool that enables quick and easy creation of graphical user interface (GUI) screens for applications. These MCUs are also supported with a comprehensive set of protocol stacks from Microchip, including TCP/IP, USB Device and Host, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi. For applications in Digital Audio, Microchip provides software for tasks such as sample rate conversion (SRC), audio codecs including MP3 and AAC, as well as software for connecting smart phones and other personal electronic devices. The PIC32MX3/4 family is supported by the PIC32 USB Starter Kit III (DM 320003-3) and PIC32MX450 100-pin USB PIM (MA32002-2) for the Explorer 16 development system.

KB Flash/RAM configurations to help you add a variety of new features to your latest product designs. These new MCUs are coupled with comprehensive software and tools to implement a variety of applications. The MCUs are an expansion to the popular PIC32MX3/4 series. The MCUs are an expansion to the popular PIC32MX3/4 series of high-performance 32-bit microcontrollers. They offer higher RAM memory options and higher integration of peripherals at a lower cost. The PIC32MX3/4 feature 28 x 10-bit ADCs and 5 UARTS, 105 DMIPS performance, serial peripherals, graphic display, capacitive touch, connectivity and digital audio support. The PIC32MX330F064X, PIC32MX350F128X, PIC32MX450F128X, PIC32MX350F256X, and PIC32MX450F256X, are available now. The PIC32MX430F064X is expected to be available in July 2013. The PIC32MX370F512X and PIC32MX470F512X are expected to be

Add Intelligence to Smart-Energy Designs

PIC16F753 MCU Features Complementary Output Generator, Op Amp and 9-bit DAC, Increasing Overall System Capabilities While Reducing Costs

NEW PRODUCT

M
intelligent
PIC16F753 Low-Cost PIC MCU with Intelligent Analog

any designers have already found the PIC16F75X family of 8-bit microcontrollers (MCUs), which incorporates analog and core-independent

50 mA-capable I/Os, enabling you to increase overall system capabilities while reducing costs. With its increased intelligent analog capabilities, the PIC16F753 MCU helps boost system performance and efficiency while reducing system costs, especially for newer LED lighting and smart energy applications. Its offers numerous on-chip general-purpose and specialized peripherals, including the integrated COG, high performance comparators and 50 mA outputs for direct FET drive, to meet the needs of a variety of applications. The high-voltage version incorporates a shunt regulator that allows operation from 2V to an unspecified user-defined

peripherals, to be ideal for general-purpose applications, as well as power supplies, battery charging, LED lighting, power management and power control/smart energy products. Building on the success of the PIC12F752, the new PIC16F753 incorporates all the key features of this popular device, such as the integrated Complementary Output Generator (COG) peripheral that provides non-overlapping, complementary waveforms for inputs such as comparators

With its increased intelligent analog capabilities, the PIC16F753 MCU helps boost system performance and efficiency.

and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) peripherals, while enabling dead-band control, auto shutdown, auto reset, phase control and blanking control. In addition, the PIC16F753 offers an op amp with 3 MHz of Gain Bandwidth Product (GBWP), and a slope compensation circuit to help in Switch Mode Power Supply applications. It also features 3.5 KB of self read-write program memory, 128B of RAM, an on-chip 10-bit ADC, 9-bit DAC, Capture Compare PWM modules, high-performance comparators, and two

maximum voltage level, with less than 2 mA operation current. It is ideal for cost-sensitive applications with high-voltage power rails. Additionally, the 8-channel, 10-bit ADC can be used to implement various sensors and mTouch sensing applications, including capacitive touch. Although its enhancementsincluding the op amp and slope compensation capabilitiesmake the PIC16F753 MCU especially well-suited to enable efficient power conversion
(continued on page 8)

for

LED

lighting

and

power

control

applications, it is also offers a versatile platform to incorporate intelligence into numerous applications. Whether it is used in the automotive, consumer, commercial or industrial markets, the PIC16F753 provides for a smart system infrastructure with increased efficiencies, reduced costs and an enhanced user experience.

Development Support
The PIC16F753 is supported by Microchips standard suite of world-class development tools, including the PICDEM Lab Development Kit (DM163045, $134.99), the PICkit 3 (PG164130, $44.95) and the PICkit Low-Pin Count Demo Board (DM164130-9, $25.99). A free reference design for a high-power LED flashlight is also available.

NEW PRODUCT

Get the latest news from Microchip

PIC16F753 Block Diagram

Visit Our Facebook Page and Find:

New Product Announcements Tips and Tricks Postings Development Tool Specials Videos and Articles

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Help with CAN Conformance

Latest Family of High-Speed CAN Transceivers Are Low Power and Highly Robust, Meeting the Stringent EMC Requirements of Global Automotive OEMs

NEW PRODUCT

performance, lower power consumption and more flexibility while also facing the pressure to reduce costs. Dont worry though. Our new family of High-Speed (HS) CAN transceivers
MCP2561/2 High-Speed CAN Tranceivers

ts no surprise that designers for the automotive and industrial CAN markets are also subject to the demand for higher

Vio pin. The Vio pin can be tied to a secondary supply in order to internally level shift the CAN transceiver digital I/Os for easy microcontroller interfacing. This is beneficial when a system is using a microcontroller at a Vdd less than 5V (for example, 1.8V or 3.3V) and eliminates the need for an external level translator decreasing system costs and complexities. The transceivers have an industry-low standby current consumption (<5 A typical) helping you meet automotive Electronic Control Unit (ECU) low-power budget requirements. Both parts are available in PDIP, SOIC and 3 x 3 mm DFN (leadless) package types allowing for development flexibility and offering alternatives for space limited application boards. They support both the Extended (E): 40C to +125C and High (H): 40C to +150C temperature so you can use one part across various CAN connected applications. Meeting global EMC requirements with up to 14 kV ESD performance and offering an industry low standby current, the MCP2561/2 CAN transceivers are well suited for a wide range of applications in the automotive market including power train, body and convenience, diagnostics, safety and security and the industrial market, including manufacturing, construction and agriculture.

provide you with confidence in CAN conformance and high robustness for your designs, while also increasing your ease of development and system reliability. The MCP2561/2 serve as an interface between a CAN protocol controller and the physical twowire CAN bus. They meet CAN specification requirement GIFT ICT Group Conformance Test Specification V1.0 as verified by C&S Group GmbH in addition to other global automotive Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) requirements such as Hardware Requirements for LIN, CAN and FlexRay Interfaces in Automotive Applications, Version 1.3, May 2012 as verified by IBEE. These new transceivers provide two device options. The MCP2561 is an HS CAN transceiver in an 8-pin package and features a SPLIT pin. The SPLIT pin helps to stabilize common mode in biased split termination schemes. The MCP2562 is also an HS CAN transceiver available in an 8-pin package and features a

Who Are You?

New Unique ID Family of EEPROMs Feature Unique, Pre-Programmed 32-bit Serial Number EUI-64 Options Added to MAC-Address Family of EEPROMs for Easy and Low-Cost Access to IEEE MAC Addresses

NEW PRODUCT

A
Unique ID Devices for Consumer, Medical, Industrial, Automotive and Networking Markets

n ever-increasing number of medical, consumer, connectivity, networking, automotive and wireless applications

224 Kb of EEPROM to use in their applications. Microchip ensures this 32-bit ID is unique across the entire family of 24AA02UID, 24AA025UID, 11AA02UID, 25AA02UID and 24AA256UID unique ID EEPROM devices. Applications for the new unique ID devices include those in the consumer, medical, industrial, automotive and networking markets. End applications include printers, handheld devices, remote sensor modules, audio headsets, device authentication and identification for medical devices, wireless products and battery-operated products.

are requiring secure keys for both authentication and identification purposes, driving the need for solutions to provide unique IDs and serial numbers. Our new family of serial EEPROM devices features a unique, pre-programmed 32-bit serial number which can be easily implemented to support the authentication or identification requirements of your design. If your application needs an ID that is longer than

These 2 Kb serial EEPROM devices are available in standard buses.

the 32-bit serial number provided, the unique ID can be extended to 48-bit, 64-bit, 96-bit, 128-bit and other lengths by increasing the number of bytes read from memory. Because the 32-bit ID is unique within these devices, any longer bit sequence is also unique. These 2 Kb serial EEPROM devices are available in standard buses, such as I2C, SPI and Microwire, and come with up to 1.5 Kb of memory that can be used as a standard EEPROM. A 256 Kb I2C unique ID device is also available, which, in addition to the 32-bit serial number, also contains the IEEE EUI-48 and IEEE EUI-64 MAC addresses. These IDs are in a write-protected area of the memory, giving users up to

The existing EUI-48 MAC Address portfolio now also includes a family of 2 Kb EEPROM devices with pre-programmed EUI-64 MAC Addresses. They are available in the I2C,SPI and UNI/O bus, which provide easy and inexpensive access to MAC addresses, and feature up to 1.5 Kb of EEPROM that can be used for storing configuration settings, or as a scratchpad area for buffering small amounts of data. The 24AA02E64, 24AA025E64, 11AA02E64 and 25AA02E64 serial EEPROM devices have a built-in 64-bit Extended Unique Identifier (EUI) that is needed to identify the network hardwares physical address. These built-in MAC addresses
(continued on page 10)

10

enable designers to buy addresses only when needed, and also eliminate the need for serialization and programming. EUI-64 networking applications for these new EEPROMs are best suited for those involving Ethernet,

The unique ID devices from Microchip offer you an easy, low-cost, plug-and-play solution for adding a serial number or unique ID to your application. With the unique ID pre-programmed into the EEPROM, you can get started with adding these devices to your design right away.

NEW PRODUCT

Wi-Fi ,

Bluetooth ,

FireWire, ZigBee and Microchips MiWi wireless networking protocol. These devices excel in a broad range of applications, including those in the consumer (wireless radios and printers, Bluetooth headsets, Internetenabled LCD TVs and home automation) and industrial (Ethernet, USB and industrial automation) markets.

Development Support
Microchips unique ID EEPROM devices are supported by the MPLAB Starter Kit for Serial Memory Products (DV243003).

Need Reliable EEPROM?

Custom Endurance Data
Calculate Your Endurance Compute Reliability Statistics Free Software Application Quick and Simple to Use

11

PRODUCT SPOTLIGHT

36V Digital Potentiometers Offer Wide Operating Voltages

The MCP41HV31 and MCP41HV51 are two new volatile, SPI digital potentiometers (digipots) which operate at 10, 12, 18, 24 and 36 volts for systems requiring wide signal swing or high power-supply voltages. These digipots support both 7-bit and 8-bit resistor configurations, and a high terminal/wiper current, including the ability to sink/source up to 25 mA on all terminal pins for driving larger loads. Also featuring an extended temperature range of -40C to +125C, the MCP41HVXX are well suited for a broad range of high-voltage and high-temperature applications, including those in the industrial, automotive and audio markets. More information.

New Op Amps Extend Battery Life with Exceptionally Low Power Consumption
Designers of portable, battery-powered applications are always challenged to lower power consumption and reduce cost and board space without compromising on the robustness and accuracy of their signal chains. The MCP647X/8X/9X family of general-purpose op amps provides low supply current, low leakage current over temperature and low input offset voltage in small packages, which offers one of the industrys best cost-to-performance ratios. In fact, the 1.5 mV offset voltage offers better precision than the industry standard for general-purpose op amps, without the price premium of high-precision op amps. More Information.

Ultra-Low Power, Complete TCP/IP Wi-Fi Module for Battery-Powered Applications

The RN171 is a standalone, complete TCP/IP wireless networking module. Its small form factor and extremely low power consumption make it perfect for mobile wireless applications such as asset monitoring, sensors, and portable battery-operated devices. The RN171 has a full onboard TCP/IP stack (no external drivers required), is compatible with any microcontroller, and is controlled via simple ASCII commands making it incredibly easy to integrate into embedded systems. The module is also fully certified, with certifications extending to the end-product, saving development time and testing cost. More Information.

12

Going to the Next Level

chipKIT Platform Now Offers Prototyping-Friendly PIC32-based Boards from Digilent, FUBAR Labs and Schmalz Haus

NEW TOOLS

academics and professional engineers who want to explore and develop Aurduino-based embedded applications. In a recent expansion to the chipKIT platform, new tools from Digilent,
PIC32MX250F128B Is Available with the Preprogrammed chipKIT USB Bootloader.

he chipKIT development platform is an open-source hardware and software solution intended for use by hobbyists,

Haus, is a small 33 pin prototyping-friendly board. It also provides a great option for Arduino-compatible application development using 32-bit PIC32 MCUs.

Inc., the Fair Use Building and Research (FUBAR) Labs, and Schmalz Haus LLC now provide users with some additional options for getting their applications up and running. These new tools are based on Microchips 32-bit PIC32 microcontrollers (MCUs) in prototyping-friendly, low pin count SOIC or SPDIP packages, which were previously more common in 8-bit MCUs, for the Arduino community. This enables all usersfrom beginner to advancedto benefit from the PIC32s high performance, memory and integrated peripherals while using the basic hobbyist prototyping equipment that is found in most home workshops. Digilents chipKIT DP32 board (TDGL019) is priced at $23.99 and features basic I/O and interface components, expanding the 32-bit chipKIT ecosystem while providing a low-cost, Arduino-compatible development platform with a great out-of-the-box user experience. The chipKIT Fubarino Mini (TCHIP011), developed jointly by FUBAR Labs and Schmalz
chipKIT Fubarino Mini Board

If you choose to build your application without using a development board, our prototyping-friendly PIC32 MCUs in PDIP packages are available with the preprogrammed chipKIT USB Bootloader. Specifically, the preprogrammed PIC32MX250F128B, which comes in a 28-pin package, includes a number of advanced features which include 40 MHz performance, up to 128KB of Flash memory and 32 KB of RAM, along with integrated peripherals for touch sensing, graphics, audio processing, USB and advanced-control applications. So, if you are looking to take your Arduino-based applications to the next level, be sure to visit the chipKIT website to learn more about these latest development tools and explore the other resources available to help successfully implement your projects. .

13

Targeting Power Savings

MPLAB REAL ICE Power Monitor Module Provides Unsurpassed Current Measurement; Optimizes Software for Lowest Possible Power Consumption

NEW TOOLS

E
MPLAB REAL ICE Power Monitor Module

mbedded designers continue to seek new ways to optimize power consumption for both extended battery life and

The

Power

Monitor

Module

provides

programmable power to the target, as well as sampling intervals, enabling users to run at specific voltage levels and see tailored measurements. You can also set a current break threshold level that breaks when exceeded, allowing you to pinpoint the code causing the spike and debug it. All of these measurements can be displayed graphically, via the Current Profile Graphing feature, enabling you to better understand which sections of your code are consuming higher current.

greater line-power efficiency. Since hardware power consumption has generally been greatly reduced by using devices such as Microchips eXtreme Low Power (XLP) PIC MCUs with

their 9 nA sleep and 30 A/MHz active current consumption, application software is the next place for engineers to target for power savings. If you looking for a way to identify and eliminate

Measure, graphically profile and optimize code power consumption of PIC microcontrollers.

code that consumes high current in your in portable, power supply, motor control or meter design, the new MPLAB REAL ICE Power Monitor Module (AC244008), combined with the MPLAB REAL ICE in-circuit emulator and MPLAB X IDE, will allow you to measure, graphically profile and optimize code power consumption for all of our more than 1,000 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers. It also offers unsurpassed micro-Amp current measurement, with an overall dynamic range up to 1 Amp, and a voltage range of 1.25V to 5.5V.

At a list price of $379.99, the Power Monitor Module is significantly more cost-effective than similar tools, making it ideal for a broad range of battery-powered, digital power-supply, motor-control and metering applications. When used in combination with our XLP PIC MCUs for battery-powered applications, and our MCUs and dsPIC digital signal controllers for digital power conversion, motor control and metering, the MPLAB REAL ICE Power Monitor can help you squeeze every last drop of power efficiency out of your code.

14

Choosing the Right Transport Method for Automotive Data

backbone in vehicles, and Ethernet, the standard used for the IT infrastructure in the consumer/ commercial world. However, in reality, there is no need to make a hard choice between these two technologies. In fact, when they are used in combination you can develop a system that effectively uses the advantages of each technology while avoiding the limitations each can have. A car is made up of subsystems that may need to communicate with each other but have very different requirements for the data transports that they use. For example, a simple button to lower and raise a window has very low data communications requirements and is extremely cost sensitive. A full TCP/IP stack or even a Controller Area Network (CAN) controller will not be necessary to keep track of the window. Instead, many car designers use an inexpensive serial bus called Local Interconnect Network (LIN) that uses a single wire for communication. CAN also provides many useful functions in the vehicle and, though more complex than LIN, it is easy to implement in a variety of automotive microcontrollers. Many diagnostics functions as well as body and engine control communications flow over CAN, which uses a message-based protocol and is optimized to send relatively small amounts of information. As the amount of data that needs to be transported increases, faster and more complex networks are needed. These networks require significantly more processing power than the ones previously described and also use orders of magnitude more bandwidth due to the amount of data that needs to be moved from one place to another. In the late 1990s, the automotive industry developed MOST to fulfill its audio and video communications needs. The network was conceived from the beginning to send continuously-flowing time-sensitive data to various devices, with the primary intention of simplifying automotive information and entertainment systems. There are now over 130 car models with MOST networks in them, according to the MOST Cooperation, the association of carmakers and their suppliers that is the caretaker of the standard. There are over 100 million devices that implement the technology, with some high end cars incorporating up to 15 devices in one vehicle.
(continued on page 16)

here has been a significant amount of discussion lately in the media about high speed networking in the car. Many times, the situation is presented as a battle between Media Oriented Systems Transport (MOST), the de facto standard used as the infotainment

DESIGN ARTICLE
15

In recent years, the Internet Protocol (IP) has grown in importance with the increasing need to connect the car to the outside world. Most of the traffic in the IT world uses various protocols geared around IP packets and many applications rely on this standard to process the information that can be flowing in and out of the car to reach all the way around the world. Despite often being portrayed as

a diagnostics interface or over a cellular modem, will likely be put in individual packets with a source and destination address along with other information designed to control how the data travels from point A to point B. This type of transmission is very useful for things such as e-mail, web browsing and moving data that is not time critical or time sensitive. In addition, the widespread use of Ethernet has resulted in a wide variety of applications that use IP packets that are the mainstay of this type of communication. These can be transmitted via the wired IEEE 802.3 Ethernet physical layer or other mechanisms, such as IEEE 802.11 wireless LAN or cellular communications. Having an Ethernet-based medium in the car makes it easy to use these applications with little change from their non-automotive forms. The fundamental architecture of Ethernet is based on Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detect (CSMA/CD). This means that all devices in the network can sense when the transmission medium is busy and try to transmit when it is not. If multiple transmitters start to transmit, a collision occurs and is detected. All transmitters then back off and try again after a random timeout. Since it is impossible to predict when there will be a collision, as more devices participate, the more timeand thus bandwidthis wasted as they back off and try again. The system is non-deterministic and there can be wide variations in latency. In fact, some studies have shown that bandwidth utilization can be less than 50% in heavily loaded networks, with the rest of the time used to arbitrate and get control of the physical medium. The nodes that compete with each other are said to be in the same collision domain.
(continued on page 17)

adversarieswhere one should prevail as the clear winner in the automotive worldMOST and Ethernet each have specific advantages and there is a lot of synergy between them.

The Case for Ethernet: Packet Transmission

When Ethernet was developed in the 1970s, the objective was to connect computing systems that could be widely separated and might not have reliable connections between them. A very simple physical connection was needed to send packets of information over long distances and along a path that could change as links between the locations changed. Each packet had to be encapsulated with addressing and control information so that it could be rerouted at will, through computer systems that could join and leave the network at any time. This is akin to putting a letter in an envelope and sending it to a recipient in another country. The exact routing can change, but the important thing is that the information gets to the destination, even if you cant predict the exact time it will get there and if that time varies from transmission to transmission. Because the external connection is unreliable, any data exchanged with entities outside of the vehicle, whether over

16

DESIGN ARTICLE

This is not an issue for data without hard real-time requirements. If some part of a web page is painted a few hundred milliseconds faster or slower than another part, the user wont even notice the delay. An e-mail can take a few seconds more to make its way around the world without any catastrophic effects. The simplicity and low cost of the overall worldwide system make it attractive. However, the problem manifests itself with audio and video and any other application where a continuously flowing stream of data cant afford to be interrupted or a control message has to absolutely arrive within a predetermined timeframe. Buffering can help, but it introduces delays that are unacceptable for applications like cameras or other driver-assist functions where latency is a safety issue. Enter switches. Switches keep track of where the sources and destinations of various packets are located. They learn the network as traffic flows through it. They separate collision domains and eliminate many of the bottlenecks that exist with Ethernets basic CSMA/CD technology. Traffic is only sent out to the port with the path to the destination and other devices never see it. The trade-off is that you need additional hardware, and buffering and determinism is only a statistic rather than a hard real-time feature. Switches are added to the basic network interfaces located in each device that uses the network. These switches can be centralized or a three port switch can be added to each device so they can all be daisy chained. However, all network interfaces need to connect to a switch if they are to avoid colliding with other devices, adding hardware and cost beyond the actual Ethernet transceiver in each device. If devices share the physical medium without a switch, they go back to the CSMA/CD mechanisms.

Switches used in the automobile also need to be more specialized than the typical switch in an office application because they need to include hardware features for bridging audio and video. Ethernet AVB includes extra hardware to distribute clocks, provide timestamps for each packet that is transmitted, and provides mechanisms for bandwidth reservation and packet prioritization. The bottom line, though, is that Ethernet is widely used and just about all data entering and leaving a vehicle is likely to ultimately make its way to an Ethernet network of some kind.

The Case for MOST: Stream Transmission

While the addressing information used in IP packets is needed when packets are going over long distances and over uncertain and varying paths, it results in significant amounts of overhead when the main purpose is to get large amounts of data between a well determined source and a well determined sink that are in relatively close proximity, and in a relatively fixed configuration, such as within the vehicle. When an A/V stream is sent between its fixed source and one or more fixed renderers, a significant amount of data flows for a prolonged period of time. Adding addressing information and breaking up the data into packets that then need to be examined every time they go through a device along the route results in a lot of wasted bandwidth. In addition, the processing of information becomes more complicated as packets may not always move through the system with exact latency and determinism. Packets also need to be unpacked and the data joined into a continuous stream for the various audio and video decoders to process it.
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DESIGN ARTICLE

For these transmissions, the streaming and isochronous channels of MOST offer a distinct advantage. A control channel is used to set up where the data is going to be placed within a frame, and where a renderer can pick up the data it needs. Once this setup is completed, only actual audio or video data is transmitted, without any overhead for addressing or timing information. Figure 1 shows the structure of a typical Ethernet frame. A total of 210 bits of miscellaneous information (preamble, start-of-frame delimiter, destination and source addresses, etc.) is needed for every single packet of information. This doesnt include any bits needed by protocols such as Audio/Video Bridging (AVB). When you consider that a CD quality stereo audio sample is only 32 bits, this is a huge amount of overhead. It is true that you could combine several audio samples into a larger data payload, but the larger you make this packet, the worse the audio drops are if a packet is lost, and the larger the buffers need to be to allow for software-based error detection, correction, and retransmission. Latency becomes an issue when you have to buffer information. This is critical for driver assistance applications. Using the smallest payload in Ethernet (46 bytes or 368 bits), the 210 bits of administrative information represent over 36% of the number of bits transmitted in each frame. This doesnt even include the time needed for arbitration of the channel. If you dont have enough data to fill 46 bytes, the overhead is

even worse. A single audio sample is only about 5% of the bits transmitted in a minimal payload Ethernet frame. Almost 95% of the bits are overhead. Also, if you combine samples into big packets, small but time-critical control information has to wait on those packets should one arrive just a bit time earlier than the important control information. This makes real-time control over Ethernet difficult. The whole MOST network is synchronous, with all participants deriving their clock from a single timing master. This eliminates the need for buffering and simplifies even isochronous transmissions where the data clock is different than the network clock. Streaming channels are set up once, and then only actual data is transmitted without additional overhead. In a MOST network, each network interface has a deterministic time in the order of microseconds for data to traverse it. Applications can know exactly how long it will take for data to move from one place to the other without the need for time-stamping and processing of each packet to know where it came from and where it is going. Applications know exactly how fast data will be consumed and can place it or take it off the network just-in-time. MOST also has a dedicated control channel so time-critical control messages are not affected by other traffic on the network.
(continued on page 19)

Figure 1 - Ethernet Frame Structure

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DESIGN ARTICLE

The Ethernet network uses best effort delivery. It does not guarantee delivery and instead requires higher layer protocols, such as TCP/IP, to establish and maintain reliable data connections. This means that there is significant software overhead, with the related processing power, needed at each node that connects to the network. Even within a car, where the likelihood of packet loss is low, you still need all the processing power to implement standard Ethernet protocols. An Ethernet PHY may be inexpensive, but you need a capable processor to implement the required software stack. MOST, in contrast, allows for remote control of Intelligent Network Interface Controllers (INICs). For simple applicationsfor example an active speaker with just an INIC and a Digital to Analog Converter (DAC) with an amplifierno additional processing power is required at the remote node. On the other hand, as more data by default is already packetized and flowing between consumer applications that use IP communications, sending such data over synchronous or isochronous MOST channels requires additional processing to put the data into different and then back to the original formats. Some of this processing can be wasteful when the applications already expect to process information in its native format. If you have a PC browsing the web over an LTE connection, it would be simplest if the data reached the PC in its IP format. The bottom line is that MOST is very efficient for transporting the streaming data usually required by infotainment and driver assistance systems.

protocol. This channel can take a standard Ethernet packet without requiring any special processing by the higher levels of the Ethernet network management stacks and send it over the MOST network. MOST150 INICs even have Ethernet-style MAC addresses so the Ethernet packets can be extracted at the right location and passed on to other standard Ethernet devices. This eliminates the need for central switch hubs and additional hardware in the system. Streaming data, such as audio and video programs, can then be sent in parallel, using MOST mechanisms to attain better efficiency in the use the available bandwidth. In fact, even if an application called for just IP-based transmission, a MOST150 network could allocate 100% of its bandwidth just to the Ethernet channel. Thus, a proven automotive physical layer is already available for Ethernet transmissions in the car. MOST150 provides a single physical layer that supports the advantages that each technology brings to the vehicle. The International Standard Organization (ISO) has developed an Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) reference model for network communications. The Ethernet model is shown in Figure 2 on the next page. To use the same model over MOST150, you simply change the lower two layers and replace them with MOST. You can then run additional MOST layers in parallel, as shown in Figure 3 on the next page: All higher layers remain unchanged. Only the data link and physical layers need to change for Ethernet communications, without needing any changes to the actual consumer-facing applications. The MOST packet channels have their own network stack that can run in parallel and independently from the Ethernet stacks.
(continued on page 20)

Putting It All Together

MOST150, the latest generation of MOST, has a dedicated Ethernet channel within its frame. There is no need to force all data into a particular format to fit a single transmission

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DESIGN ARTICLE

Figure 2 - ISO Open Systems Interconnect Reference Model for Ethernet

Figure 3 - Modified OSI Reference Model that includes MOST and Ethernet

While there are many IT related stacks for IP communications, the automotive industry has developed its own communication stacks that include many features specific to automotive applications, such as system management and control functions, and gateways to other automotive networks, such as CAN. Such a stack is not geared to run over standard Ethernet, but is already available for MOST. Combining Ethernet and MOST on a single Data Link and Physical Layer speeds up the development effort required as it is no longer necessary to reinvent the wheel to manage automotive information and entertainment systems.

The whole automotive network management infrastructure currently in place can be leveraged when adding Ethernet capabilities to the vehicle. Complete tool chains geared for automotive development and manufacturing systems already exist and would little effort would be required to add Ethernet capabilities to the current set of MOST functions. The MOST streaming channels do not require separate processing stacks. Data can just be pumped down into the network as shown in Figure 4.
(continued on page 21)

Figure 4 - MOST Streaming Channels

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DESIGN ARTICLE

This

provides

very

low

latency

provide control channels that are used for that purpose. The function blocks for the INIC and MOST NetBlock are built into the hardware so the network can come up as an independent entity, without having to wait for the individual devices to boot up and present the application functions blocks. Those application function blocks can register themselves after each device finishes its startup procedure and tells the network what functions it provides. Figure 5 illustrates this concept.

transmissions that are well suited for driver assist functions. End-to-End delays, including compression and decompression, are just a few milliseconds long. Finally, control information needs to be sent across the network with deterministic delays and low latency. This control information is also used to set up the streaming communications previously described. The MOST INICs

Figure 5 - Control Channel Reference Model

All the stacks presented in Figures 2-5 can run together in the latest generation of MOST150 vehicles. From a technical perspective, theres no need to argue what kind of infrastructure the vehicle needs. Both packet and stream transmissions can be accommodated, allowing you to take advantage of the best solutions for your design challenges.

dpm, almost 3 orders of magnitude less than the rates guaranteed by AEC-Q100. Therefore, these stress tests are not sufficient to designate a part as Automotive Grade. They are performed once during the qualification of the part and cannot monitor quality levels during the rest of production or throughout the products life. Microchips TrueAuto Quality process goes well beyond the minimum AEC-Q100 requirements. Automotive environments are also very demanding in terms of electromagnetic emissions. Many car makers have tested standard Ethernet components and realized they cannot really take advantage of many widely-available products. There are some proprietary solutions on the market, but the automotive industry is better off using a standard that they actually control rather than relying on products from the consumer electronics industry, that
(continued on page 22)

Automotive Quality
Automotive Quality is a very important issue for car makers. Published by the Automotive Engineering Council, the AEC-Q100 quality specification requires a set of stress tests that must be run to ensure some minimal level of reliability of automotive IC components. This is only a very small part of an overall automotive quality plan, though. The sample sizes specified by AEC-Q100 can only statistically guarantee just under 1,000 defects per million (dpm) rates. Most car makers want single-digit

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DESIGN ARTICLE

may or may not comply with automotive requirements at any given time. Ethernet, MOST or any other network must be adapted to the automotive world. Suppliers need to be deeply ingrained in the automotive quality mindset in order to react as quickly and as thoroughly as expected by the carmaker. Also, standard Ethernet cabling is not well suited for an automotive wiring harness. The harness is the third heaviest and one of the most expensive components in a vehicle. Typical CAT5 cabling, with 4 twisted pairs, is too thick. Using the existing optical fiber or electrical MOST infrastructure to also distribute Ethernet around the car is an easy way to take advantage of an automotive grade physical layer, whether the need is for MOST, Ethernet or a combination of the two.

several different data transport mechanisms. The Ethernet channel of MOST150 was developed to be able to use IP communications within and outside the vehicle, while at the same time reaping the benefits of the efficient synchronous, streaming mechanisms of MOST that are already in place. It includes all the software layers needed for the car industry and does not require new automotive network management stacks. It can take advantage of over a decade of automotive networking experience of the members of the MOST Cooperation and of hundreds of millions of nodes already on the road. The silicon and physical infrastructure required to implement these systems has been well proven in automotive applications, and the automotive specifications needed to implement automotive networking systems are all available today. The tools chain needed for every stage of the automotive production cycle, from design and development, through manufacturing and service in the field, are already in place. Visit Microchips Automotive Products page for more information about implementing MOST technology in automotive designs.

Conclusion
After taking a close look at the various networking technologies available today, the carmakers that run the MOST Cooperation have found the advantages that each offers and have come up with a solution to take the best from each one. MOST can multiplex

22

Limited Offer: Free Legacy Compiler to MPLAB XC Compiler Migration

ust in case you might have missed it, we wanted to remind you of our offer to migrate from either the HI-TECH or MPLAB C compiler to the latest MPLAB XC Compiler absolutely free*.

Microchips MPLAB XC compilers were named by EDN Magazine as Hot 100 products for 2012 in the Boards & Development Tools category. According to EDN, The MPLAB XC8, XC16 and XC32 compilers offer reduced complexity for 8, 16 and 32-bit designers, with three cost-effective optimization levelsFree, Standard and Pro; the Pro editions can be evaluated for free for 60 days. Additionally, MPLAB XC provides support for the Linux, Mac OS, and Windows operating systems, enabling designers to use their platform of choice for embedded development. For more information on this award, please visit EDN 2012 Hot 100. The MPLAB XC compilers offer more features and greater code optimization than the legacy compilers, even in the free versions. With the evaluation option found in the MPLAB XC compilers, code migration testing can be completed before committing to purchasing a compiler or migrating an existing legacy compiler. Even after migration to MLAB XC, the existing legacy compilers remain intact so current projects can continue while exploring the advanced features of MPLAB XC. In addition, the MPLAB XC compilers support all of Microchips 8-, 16-, and 32-bit PIC microcontrollers and dsPIC DSCs. Migrating a legacy compiler is easy with the step-by-step instructions found in our compiler design center under Compiler Migration. See the table on the next page which illustrates the legacy compiler to MPLAB XC compiler correspondence. The free migration will not last forever and legacy compilers are no longer sold or supported**. Theres no reason why you shouldnt upgrade today.
*HI-TECH compilers require an active HPA to migrate. **MPLAB C18 compilers are still sold, as code migration is not optimal at this time.

DESIGN ARTICLE
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DESIGN ARTICLE

Description MPLAB C Compiler for PIC18 devices MPLAB C Compiler for PIC24, dsPIC30F, dsPIC33F devices MPLAB C Compiler for dsPIC30F, dsPIC33F DSC MPLAB C Compiler for PIC24 MCU MPLAB C Compiler for PIC32 devices HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC10/12/16 MCUs - Standard HI-TECH C Compiler Enterprise Edition HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC18 MCUs - PRO HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC18 MCUs - Standard HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC24 MCUs and dsPIC DSCs Standard HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC10/12/16 MCUs - PRO HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC32 MCUs - PRO HI-TECH C Compiler for PIC32 MCUs - Standard

Existing Part # SW006011 SW006012 SW006013 SW006014 SW006015 SW500005 SW500006 SW500007 SW500008 SW500009 SW500010 SW500011 SW500012

Migrates to: MPLAB XC8 PRO MPLAB XC16 PRO MPLAB XC16 PRO MPLAB XC16 PRO MPLAB XC32 PRO MPLAB XC8 Standard

Part Number SW006021-2 SW006022-2 SW006022-2 SW006022-2 SW006023-2 SW006021-1

Contact: swlicensing@microchip.com MPLAB XC8 PRO MPLAB XC8 Standard MPLAB XC16 Standard MPLAB XC8 PRO MPLAB XC32 PRO MPLAB XC32 Standard SW006021-2 SW006021-1 SW006022-1 SW006021-2 SW006023-2 SW006023-1

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24

EEPROM Operation and Endurance

ne key advantage of serial EEPROMs is that they can be written and re-written millions of times. This characteristic, called endurance, is the number of programming cycles that a memory device can tolerate before it fails to read back the proper data.

How do EEPROMs handle so many programming cycles? An EEPROM cell is a modified transistor with two gates, as shown in Figure 1 below. The upper gate is referred to as the control gate and is connected to a voltage source like a traditional transistor gate. The other gate is the floating gate, which is electrically isolated by an oxide layer and hence floating. The charge of the floating gate raises or lowers the Vt of the transistor, and is how data is stored. Data is read by applying a fixed bias voltage to the control gate. The charge on the floating gate will determine if the transistor passes current and indicate the data stored.

Figure 1 - Cross Section of an EEPROM Cell

To increase the charge on the floating gate, a voltage is applied to the control gate and the drain remains grounded. The resulting electric field causes electrons to move from the substrate to the insulated floating gate. Reversing the voltage moves the electrons the other way. Electrons move between the two gates by a quantum-mechanical process known as Fowler-Nordheim tunneling, where the electrons do not move through the oxide but instead appear on the other side, causing minimal disturbance to the oxide. Heisenbergs Uncertainty Principle shows that an electrons position and energy cannot be precisely determined and is approximated by a wave function. Solving the function with the electric field present, there is a probability that the
(continued on page 26)

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DESIGN ARTICLE

electron is on the floating gate. Based on this principle, electrons accumulate on the floating gate over time. There is a probability that an electron is in the oxide, but the majority of these electrons dissipate. Those which do not dissipate remain trapped in the oxide layer and at some pointtypically after millions of programming cyclesthere are sufficient electrons to make it more difficult to tunnel through the oxide layer. This reduces the number of electrons transferred to the floating gate and their effect on the transistor Vt. The reduction in change of the transistor Vt makes it progressively more difficult to distinguish between 1 and 0. When the trapped electrons prevent the correct data from being read back after programming, the cell is regarded as worn out. In addition, the trapped electrons may allow charge to bleed off from the floating gate causing the cell to forget over time. The loss of charge over time directly affects data retention since the data is stored as this charge.

Producing high quality EEPROM devices requires careful control of fab processes to ensure the oxide layers are uniform and free from defects. Despite tight fabrication process controls, all devices cannot be assumed to be perfect and detailed tests are required to identify imperfect memory cells. Microchip Technology has over 25 years of experience manufacturing high-quality non-volatile memory and has compiled this experience into a detailed statistical model of serial EEPROM wear mechanisms. This model powers the Microchip Total Endurance software tool, available as a free download from Microchips website, which allows the easy calculation of expected endurance for specific applications. The graphical user interface makes it simple to enter the expected operating conditions and usage style of the application. Quality statistics such as Fit rates and MTBF are available along with the estimated PPM failure rate by time.

Figure 2 - Total Endurance Software Tool

26

Decreasing MCU Operating Voltage; Increasing CAN Interfacing Capabilities

This is seen by all levels of the embedded solution market: OEMs, tier suppliers, distributors, component suppliers, and others. Semiconductor component suppliers recognize this customer challenge and work to lower the cost of their devices while maximizing feature sets and overall quality. To achieve this, semiconductor manufacturers continuously develop and support next generation technologies on smaller geometry processes. Some benefits to smaller geometry processes include smaller die area, greater available die real estate, and lower power. One of the challenges with smaller geometries is the breakdown voltage of the smaller transistor structures leads to a lower device operating voltage. Although this is a key component to reducing device power consumption, it can lead to an end system redesign. When it comes to CAN, approximately 80% of the market is automotive. Automotive CAN networking systems have historically supported a 5V supply voltage for physical layer transceivers in addition to other circuitry within the application. It is widely known that there are no plans to get rid of this 5V rail in the foreseeable future, however, in the efforts to reduce power and benefit from lower cost components, system designs are pushed to use a lower operating voltage and newer microcontroller (MCU) devices. The creation of a new supply rail to support the new MCU operating voltage not only leads to a new voltage regulation in the system but also leads to the requirement for valid digital voltage levels to interface to the MCU digital I/Os. One way of solving the challenge of interfacing the CAN transceiver to the MCU is to use a level translator. The level translator is tied to both the 5V rail and the secondary rail (1.8V or 3.3V for example). Based on the secondary supply, the level translator then shifts the input voltage to a valid Voh and Vol that would be recognized by the MCU and transceiver devices. Some downsides to this method are the cost of the level translation device, board space and increased manufacturing costs. See Figure 1 on the next page.
(continued on page 28)

he ever-growing CAN market serves as a networking solution across many major markets including automotive, industrial and medical applications. Whatever the market, competitive price positioning of the end product is a key component to long-term revenue growth.

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High-Speed CAN Transceivers MCP2561/2

Figure 1 - Interfacing to MCU with Vdd Less Than 5V Using Level Translator for Both RX and TX

A second alternative for solving the interfacing challenge is to introduce MCUs that are 5V tolerant. This means you can have a lower voltage MCU (1.8V or 3.3V) and can receive valid Vih and Vil levels (based on a 5V transceiver) in to the MCU without damage or data corruption. Although, this saves channels on the level translator it still requires translation for the transmission of MCU data to the 5V

physical layer transceiver. CAN transceiver Vih datasheet specifications are typically 0.8 Vdd or 0.8*5V = 4V, so even a 3.3V signal is not guaranteed to be a valid Vih. There are similar downsides as discussed above related to cost of the level translation device, board space and increased manufacturing costs. See Figure 2 below.

Enabling 1.8V MCU Connectivity

Figure 2 - Interfacing to MCU with Vdd Less Than 5V Using 5V Tolerant MCU and Level Translator TX

A third alternative for solving the interface challenge is to use a physical layer transceiver with an internal level translator. The MCP2562 includes a Vdd pin which is tied to the main 5V supply and a Vio pin which is tied to the MCU 1.8V or 3.3V supply. The

device then internally shifts the voltage to a correct level as biased off of the secondary Vio supply. The MCP2562 Vio pin has capabilities from 1.8V to 5V. This is the lowest level on the market today, allowing designs to use lower operating voltage MCUs in
(continued on page 29)

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DESIGN ARTICLE

their system. Since the level translation is done internally, applications benefit from greater cost effectiveness due to a decrease in external level shifting components, use of less board space and a decrease in board manufacturing costs. Another benefit of using a device

like the MCP2562 is quality. 5V physical layer transceivers meet CAN conformance requirements and enable easy interoperability and communication with other industry-standard 5V CAN transceivers in the same network. See Figure 3 below.

Figure 3 - Interfacing to MCU with Vdd Less Than 5V Using Microchip MCP2562 Transceiver with Internal Level Translator

In addition to helping solve the MCU digital I/O interfacing, devices in automotive, industrial and medical applications must meet high quality standards in EMC and power budgets. The application board must ensure high EMC performance with high noise immunity, low RF emissions and high ESD performance in addition to other criteria. The MCP2561/2 family of devices meets stringent automotive requirements including ESD levels up to 14 kV (IEC). This can help assure the long-term reliability and lower maintenance costs of an application. The new family of devices also helps to meet

system power budgets with power down mode currents less than 5 A (typical). It is yet to be determined if the automotive industry will ever adopt 3.3V only supply and get rid of the 5V rail currently used for CAN physical layer transceivers and other application circuitry. Thus, there will continue to be design considerations for the best way to easily interface physical layer transceivers to lower than 5V MCUs while maintaining CAN conformance requirements. Visit the Microchip CAN Design Center for more information.

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Hygiene Monitoring System Provides True HACCP Management Capabilities

roper sanitation is critical in the food processing

industry, so companies that manufacture or prepare food products implement hazard analysis

AUTHORIZED

and critical control points (HACCP) monitoring programs to address food safety. Visual inspection of surfaces is inadequate to ensure cleanliness, and microbiological testing methods take up to seven days to provide essential information. Therefore, the most widely-applied method of hygiene monitoring in this industry is to use bioluminescence to detect ATP, a molecule found in all living cells, including bacteria, yeast, and mold. When detected in food manufacturing or preparation areas, ATP can indicate the presence of potentially dangerous bacteria. Glacier River Design, a development firm that specializes in embedded software development of both consumer and medical devices and a Microchip design partner, recently completed the development of a hygiene monitoring system sold by BioControl System Inc, located in Bellevue, Washington. The BioControl LIGHTNING MVP ICON uses proprietary technology to detect ATP bioluminescence. The device can also be used to measure the pH, concentration, and temperature of products used to clean the monitored surfaces. The entire interface is created and managed by a PIC32MX695F512L microprocessor. The firmware and analysis software was designed and implemented by Glacier River Design. A partner, Pensar Development, designed the electronics, industrial design and mechanicals.
(continued on page 31)

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To measure bioluminescence, the ICON uses a patent pending algorithm to count the photons emitted by the bacterial ATP reacting to a special re-agent. The user swabs the surface and then inserts the pen-like swab into the tightly sealed measurement chamber. The ICON displays Relative Light Units (RLUs) as well as the Pass/Warn/Fail result on its color LCD display. The ICON incorporates a handy sample plan feature which allows the quality administrator to load the device with a list of plant locations to be tested daily. These plans can be randomized as necessary. The unit uses a color LCD with resistive touch overlay. There are no physical buttons except On/Off. When data entry is needed, the unit pops up a large keypad on the display. The UI is responsive and easy to use for people with large hands or wearing latex gloves. The device stores test results in an onboard EEPROM database for later uploading via USB to a PC for facility-wide data analysis. The PC-based analysis software stores the data from multiple devices and performs extensive graphing and facility analysis to ensure optimal hygiene is maintained. Both the device and associated software support five languages. The PIC32MX695F512L microprocessor was selected because of its parallel port interface to LCD controller chips, USB, and full complement of standard peripherals. The memory footprint was sufficient with 512K of Flash and 128K of RAM. An external SPI bus based 4 Mb EEPROM stores the data, test point definitions, device calibrations, and other information. For this project, the PIC32 uses almost all of its considerable list of peripherals to support the device functions which include the graphical user interface, touch screen, optical measurement, precision sensor control loops, battery

charge monitoring, USB communications, time and date tagging, and database management. Additionally, a bootloader architecture facilitates in-the-field firmware updates. The PIC32 was also chosen because of the availability of rich graphical, USB and bootloader libraries. The graphical library provided the developers with out-of-the box functional widget and menu-based graphical interface libraries. The design incorporates custom buttons, menus, images and other widgets, which the libraries readily supported. All of this made the user interface highly functional, intuitive, and attractive. The USB library provided a drop in HID interface and the associated Windows driver to deliver a full end-to-end solution for communications with a PC. The pseudo random number generator from Microchips TCP/IP stack was used to randomize the technicians daily sample plan, an end-user favorite that was quickly implemented with the help of Microchips product-ready libraries. The well-thought-out architecture of the libraries supported and survived substantial customization to deliver solid performance in the end product. A few sensor issues emerged as R&D progressed. Each solution demanded more speed from the PIC32MX695F512L than was originally anticipated. However, despite these challenges, the device still met or exceeded performance specs. It also delivered low sleep power even with a relatively loaded board. For more information contact: Glacier River Design, LLC PO Box 550 Carnation, WA 98014 425-829-4151 or 425-788-5450 info@GlacierRiver.com

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Create Cloud-Connected Devices for the Internet of Things

concepts are becoming understood by the marketplace, the term Internet of Things (IoT) is also becoming more commonly used to describe systems that not only communicate to one another, but also communicate to the rest of the world. These IoT systems are M2M devices/systems that are connected to each other, and to their users, over the Internet. Until the past few years, Internet connectivity was not widely available. Today, up to 80% of households worldwide use Wi-Fi depending on the region, and cellular coverage is available in almost every corner of the globefor example, Verizons native network covers 90% of the US population). Due to these highly-available Internet connections, traditional products are being re-invented to join the IoT. Everythingfrom mousetraps to microwavesis being connected to the cloud, and there has never been a better time than now to design your own IoT product. An IoT product consists of at least three components: 1. The physical device 2. A connection to the Internet 3. Server software in the cloud
(continued on page 33)

he

market

for

Machine

to

Machine

E M B E D D E D C LO U D

(M2M) products is emerging from the cottage-industry stage. As M2M connectivity

Figure 1 - Devices and Applications Interact with an IoT Data Platform

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The physical device (a client) interacts with its environment and uses its Internet connection to send and receive data with server-based software (a data platform) in the cloud. The data platform works on the data (stores it, transforms it, analyzes it, creates alerts based on it), and makes it available to other authenticated applications so users and other devices can interact with it (handheld app, web-app, ERP system, Twitter, dashboards, etc.).

By following the Quick Start Guide for the Wi-Fi G Demo Board, you can get connected to your device via the cloud in just a few minutes. Once connected, the web-dashboard interface makes it easy to quickly connect all of your Microchip-powered projects. By creating custom dashboards and extending the data sets from the demo, you can make a system that interacts with multiple devices simultaneously in whatever real-word scenario you have in mind. The user administration panel allows you to share your dashboards and data sets with other users, while the Scripting interface gives you a full-blown cloud-processing environment to carry out complex data analysis and event/ alert algorithms.

Wi-Fi G
With Feature Packed 32-bit MCU Demo Board

FCC/IC/ETSI certified radio Full featured TCP/IP stack WEP, WPA and WPA2 security I/O for application expansion

IoT Starter Kit

It is easy to get started on your own IoT project. Visit microchipDIRECT to get a Wi-Fi G Demo Board, and sign up at https://microchip. exosite.com today! If you have any questions on how to design with Microchip and Exosite while working on your own cloud-connected project, visit the Support Page or send an email to support@exosite.com.

Microchip has collaborated with Exosite to bring cloud connectivity to PIC32s via the new MRF24WG0MA Wi-Fi module on the Wi-Fi G Demo Board (DV102412). Full source code for the PIC32 is provided that uses Exosites TCP/IP-based APIs to communicate with the cloud-based data platform.

Exosites Cloud Device Platform

33

Integrate Touch Sensing Quickly and Easily

With Microchips Range of Low Power, Low Cost Solutions

Microchips mTouch Sensing Solutions offers a broad portfolio of low power, low cost and flexible solutions for keys/sliders, proximity and touch screen and touch pad controllers. Get to market faster using our easy GUI-based tools, free source code and low-cost development tools. Capacitive Touch Keys, Sliders and Proximity Touch Screen and Touch Pad Controllers

GETTING STARTED IS EASY

Visit www.microchip.com/mtouch for source code, App notes, turnkey solutions and development tools

Easy path to system integration Projected Capacitive technology Turnkey products for fast time to Multi-touch enabling gestures market Low cost MCU implementation Leverage Microchips PIC MCU Wide operating voltage: 1.8-5.5V portfolio Low operating current 1.5 mA at 5V High noise immunity and low emissions typical Turnkey PCap Touch Controller Extend battery life with eXtreme Low MTCH6301 with multi-touch and Power MCUs Proximity sensing in less than 1 A gestures Proximity sensing up to 10 inches With Metal Over Cap technology you Analog Resistive technology can: Lowest system cost, easy integration Use polished or brushed metal Universal 4, 5 & 8-wire solution with surfaces including stainless steel and on-chip calibration aluminum Low power touch to wake-up feature Sense through gloves Create waterproof designs Deploy Braille-friendly interfaces

Enhanced mTouch Capacitive Evaluation Kit (DM183026-2) (For keys & sliders)

PIC32 GUI Development Board with Projected Capacitive Touch (DM320015)

Analog Resistive Touch Screen Development Kit (DV102011)

Analog Resistive with USB AR1100 Development Kit (DV102012)