Introduction 8-Bit PIC Microcontroller

PIC Microcontrollers are roughly classified into three groups: Baseline, Mid-Range, and High-Performance. The first two digits of the device number specifies the family/group of the device. However, the sub-classification not strict as some overlapping is there. Like, PIC16X family belongs to the Baseline group and others designates the Mid-Range.

Baseline PIC microcontroller represents the 8-bit microcontroller family. Microchip’s Baseline Architecture, these PIC microcontrollers utilize a 12-bit program word. The Baseline family ranges from pin numbers, peripherals and digital functionality.

8-Bit PIC Architecture

Details about the 8-bit PIC Architecture
● Instructions and data are on separate buses, increasing speed and overall performance
● While fetching an instruction on the program bus, data can be read or written on the data bus
● Data bus is 8-bits wide

● Program Memory bus optimized to any widths that fit within the design goals of the microcontroller

● Wider busses allow more information to be transferred from memory to the CPU, enabling many instructions to be executed in a single clock cycle
● 12-bit (Baseline), 14-bit (Midrange) and 16-bit (PIC18) instructions are upward compatible and maximize processing efficiency

8-bit PIC Microcontrollers with incorporated features

The PIC10F200, PIC10F202, PIC12F508, PIC12F509 and PIC16F505 offer base digital functionality, scaling from 6 pins to 14 pins. These products are pure digital with a 4 MHz internal oscillator and are the simplest of the baseline portfolio, providing the most inexpensive method of integrating digital intelligence into your application.

The PIC10F204, PIC10F206, PIC10F220, PIC10F222, PIC12F510 and the PIC16F506 provide an increased level of functionality with integrated analog peripherals.

The PIC10F204 and PIC10F206 both provide a 4 MHz internal oscillator in addition to an integrated analog comparator.

The PIC10F220 and PIC10F222 provide an 8-bit ADC, an increased internal oscillator operating frequency of 8 MHz, as well as an enhanced Device Reset Timer (DRT) with 1.125 ms start-up.

The 8-pin PIC12F510, provides a single comparator as well as an 8-bit ADC, 8 MHz internal oscillator and the enhanced DRT.

The 14-pin PIC16F506 offers two comparators in addition to the 8-bit ADC.

The PIC16F54, PIC16F57, and PIC16F59 offer simple digital capabilities with an increased number of available I/O’s in with pin-counts ranging from 18 to 40 pins.