Microchip Technology Inc. has released microcontroller units (MCUs) that it says set a new benchmark for low power consumption, enabling extended battery life and higher-speed computations than existing MCUs on the market. The new 8-bit PIC MCUs "set the industry benchmark for low-power microcontrollers and peripheral integration.  These new MCUs feature active currents of less than 50 µA/MHz and sleep currents down to 20 nA," says Steve Drehobl, vice president of security for the company's microcontroller and technology development division.

The PIC12F182X MCUs extend the company's Enhanced Mid-Range 8-bit core product line into the 8-pin segment, and include capacitive touch-sensing and communications peripherals.The PIC16F19XX MCUs feature a broad range of peripherals, such as a capacitive touch-sensing module, an drive, multiple communications, and more pulse width modulator (PWM) peripherals. Drehobl says the current-efficient MCUs are suitable for such medical applications as smart pills, pacemakers, and neurostimulation products.

According to the company, nanoWatt XLP technology remains the standard for battery-friendly MCUs, which, combined with the extremely low active-current consumption of these new MCUs, improves overall energy efficiency to levels currently not readily available. The company's 8-bit architecture provides an increase in performance up to 50%, says Drehobl, noting that it also offers 14 new instructions that result in up to 40% better code execution over previous-generation 8-bit PIC16 MCUs.