The underlying annual growth of 4 to 5% for these devices is driving significant investment in new products and process technologies. Innovation in analog and core-independent peripherals is improving the performance of these chips, enabling the controllers to be used in many more applications without increasing their complexity.
But this means that continuity of supply can be a problem. Many 8-bit microcontrollers are typically built using legacy silicon process technologies, which are also facing increasing demand. Microchip has a market advantage because it manufactures its chips in its own factories in Tempe, Arizona; Gresham, Oregon; and Colorado Springs, Colorado. This provides greater control over supply and allows it to adjust capacity to meet customer needs.
Owning its factories also allows Microchip to better support its customer-driven obsolescence policy. This policy allows customers to purchase components for as long as they need them and as long as all submaterials are available from Microchip.
Innovation with on-chip analog peripherals and core-independent peripherals allows for the implementation of custom, user-designed functions at the periphery while the 8-bit core handles other functions or remains in sleep mode. This is increasingly important for all types of security applications, as it allows for monitoring systems for critical events to ensure proper operation.
The use of 8-bit devices for system management, voltage and temperature monitoring, and sensor filtering is experiencing tremendous growth. Adding a tiny controller with just a few pins to a board to provide monitoring is an increasingly popular design approach, avoiding the need for a complex board redesign.
A key example is the multi-voltage I/O (MVIO) of the AVR DD family, which helps reduce board size. Integrating the logic level switch on the chip to support both 5V and 1.8V power supplies eliminates the need for an external discrete device. While that external level switch costs only pennies, the 8-bit microcontroller can achieve a 10% savings in the bill of materials, reduce the number of components (and supply chain complexity), and decrease board design complexity. In consumer and automotive application development, reducing supply chain and board complexity is a critical objective.
On a larger printed circuit board with a 32-bit microcontroller, such as in industrial or data center designs, adding small 8-bit microcontrollers around the board is a simple way to monitor temperature, voltage, and current. Their on-chip I2C interfaces feed information to the main system controller, providing greater visibility into board performance and increasing reliability.
Similarly, the analog-to-digital converter (ADCC) blocks with processing capabilities in the latest devices reduce the need for external filtering components. Adding processing to the ADCC allows for independent signal averaging, resulting in higher-quality output in a smaller area of the board.
All these factors are driving Microchip to invest in three factories for its 8-bit AVR and PIC microcontrollers, as well as in-house assembly in Thailand and testing in Thailand and the Philippines. This control over the entire supply chain helps avoid the problems posed by third-party assembly and testing companies.
Microchip continues to invest in the core architectures of both PIC and AVR microcontrollers, as well as in many new features and innovations for both architectures. There are design synergies, shared peripherals, and process technologies, so some peripherals from the AVR family can be transferred to the PIC family, and others from PIC to AVR. Developers experienced with one core or the other can choose the appropriate architecture for their application and the tools they are comfortable with. For example, an AVR might be better suited for protocol stacks in communications systems, while PIC devices might be better for low-level I/O applications.
The two families are joined by a comprehensive ecosystem of development tools to simplify designs with 8-bit devices. The MPLAB X and MPLAB Xpress integrated development environments (IDEs), along with the MPLAB Code Configurator (MCC), provide an intuitive graphical interface for quickly and easily generating production-ready configuration and application code, regardless of the driver family used. Microchip Studio remains available and supported for those more familiar with the traditional AVR development environment.
The chip shortage has demonstrated that companies need to control their own destiny, and chip manufacturers are no exception. Having control over a key aspect of the supply chain—from IP and controller core design to the manufacturing process, testing, and assembly—is a definite advantage for low-cost, high-volume devices. Ensuring their availability is a huge responsibility that shouldn't be taken lightly.
AUTHOR: By Greg Robinson, Associate Vice President - MCU08 Marketing.
