Re: PIC10F - is there a smaller mcu?

From: Roger Hamlett (rogerspamignored_at_ttelmah.demon.co.uk)
Date: 07/15/04 

Date: Thu, 15 Jul 2004 14:28:32 GMT

"Tim Shoppa" <shoppa@trailing-edge.com> wrote in message
news:bec993c8.0407150348.4d7472f9@posting.google.com...
> "Roger Hamlett" <rogerspamignored@ttelmah.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:<_kiJc.225$847.144@newsfe1-win.ntli.net>...
> > "Tim Shoppa" <shoppa@trailing-edge.com> wrote in message
> > news:bec993c8.0407140805.596ca78e@posting.google.com...
> > > Maybe it's my daily dislike of software UART's :-). All but a few
> > > "big" PIC's have zero or just one hardware UART, and that's just not
> > > good
> > > enough, even for my hobbyist-type-sit-between-two-serial-ports stuff
I
> > > do not want to spend all day dinking around with making my own UART.
> >
> > One chip that is worth mentioning in regard to the lack of UARTs on
the
> > PIC, is the MAX3110. This is a complete UART, and transceiver, with an
SPI
> > interface.
>
> The first thing I can say is "why don't they put a PIC on there too ?
:-)"
Unfortunately, one is Maxim, the other MicroChip. Really, given the common
'charge pump' needed for the RS232, why it isn't a 'dual' unit, would be a
more interesting question - I can think of a lot of places where this
would be really useful!...

> At 28 pins it kinda dwarfs a PIC10F, it probably costs ten times as
> much too (not that I've seen prices for PIC10F's, but the MAX3110 is
> like $7 each). I do appreciate they have the
> charge pump caps onboard, but for my apps I'd also appreciate a version
> that does RS-423 or something differential.
The MAX3110, only costs me £3.20 each in the UK. Maxim is a 'pain' to work
with (long lead times, etc.), but it is 'fairer' to compare it's size with
something like a MAX232 (remember that even if the PIC has RS232 I/O, a
transceiver is still needed, and if you work without handshake pins, the
3110, has a 'dual' transceiver). On this basis, it isn't that large. I'd
love to see a 'mini' version, but it is suprising how many pins are
needed. DIL14, would just about do it.

> Don't take those as complaints... it's a neat gadget. If only I knew
> a place that stocked them.
Don't know in the US.

Best Wishes