August 4, 2006 -- Microchip Technology, Inc. has introduced the four-member PIC18F4685 family of high-performance, low-power 8-bit Controller Area Network (CAN) microcontrollers with 80 or 96kBytes of Flash and integrated EEPROM memory to accommodate the growing complexity of CAN applications. This is the largest amount of program memory available on any PIC18 microcontroller with an onboard ECAN module for CAN connectivity. In addition, automotive and industrial designers can benefit from the small 28- and 44-pin package sizes of this family for space-constrained applications.

Industry-standard CAN protocols are growing in size, often leaving little code space for the application program. The PIC18F4685 offers enough code space for both the CAN protocol and advanced applications. Each microcontroller in this family features Microchip's ECAN module, an easy-to-use scalable CAN 2.0B solution with the ability to switch between standard CAN operations and FIFO mode.

A broad range of applications can take advantage of the reliable, highly noise immune CAN protocol via the PIC18F4685 family, including automotive (suspension, steering, airbags, climate control, collision avoidance/backup warning systems, infotainment, wireless receiver modules) and industrial (remote sensors and actuators).

Key features of the PIC18F4685/4682/2685/2682 CAN microcontrollers include:

Pricing and Availability

The PIC18F4685/4682/2685/2682 microcontrollers are available now for general sampling at http://sample.microchip.com and volume-production ordering at www.microchipdirect.com. The PIC18F4685/4682 come in 44-pin TQFP and 40-pin PDIP packages, and the PIC18F2685/2682 are available in 28-pin SOIC and PDIP packages, all of which are RoHS-compliant. Prices start at $5.26 each in 10,000 unit quantities.