The scalable MEC14XX family of devices is one of the first to support both Intel® Corporation's new eSPI (Enhanced Serial Peripheral Interface) and existing LPC (Low Pin Count) interfaces. To facilitate the mobile computing industry's transition to the new interface and lower-voltage designs, Microchip's MEC14XX family also offers a flexible layout that allows for multiple I/O signals to be configured to operate at either 3.3V or 1.8V, thereby reducing the system's bill of materials cost by eliminating the need for external voltage translators.
These features of the MEC14XX family also enable complete reuse of intellectual property (IP) across multiple x86 computing platform architectures, such as Intel Atom™, Intel iCore™, and AMD-based systems. This is also Microchip's first family of embedded controllers targeting general-purpose x86 computing to incorporate support for Microchip's award-winning MPLAB® development tool.
The MEC14XX devices ship with 128 KB, 160 KB, or 192 KB of tightly coupled SRAM for code and data loaded from SPI-flash. Designers can leverage the host's SPI-flash (used for BIOS storage) for non-volatile EC firmware storage as a cost-effective system solution. The added option of MEC140X devices with an LPC interface or the MEC1418, which supports both LPC and eSPI interfaces, allows designers to select the most cost-effective device for a given platform and provides manufacturers with the ability to protect their investments against industry changes. All members of the Microchip MEC14XX family have compatible pinouts and registers.
Each member of the MEC14XX family is based on Microchip's 32-bit PIC® microcontroller architecture and is supported by Microchip's development tools. Examples include the MPLAB® XC compilers, the MPLAB REAL ICE™ in-circuit emulator (DV244005) priced at $499.98, the MPLAB ICD 3 in-circuit debugger (DV164035) priced at $199.95, and the PICkit™ 3 starter kit (DV164130) priced at $64.95.
The MEC1404 (128 KB SRAM) and MEC1408 (192 KB SRAM) embedded controllers, compatible with Intel's LPC interface, are now available for sampling and volume production. The MEC1418 (192 KB SRAM) embedded controller, compatible with both Intel's LPC and eSPI interfaces, is also now available for sampling and volume production. All MEC14XX devices are currently supplied in a 128-VTQFP package.
