Extreme Low Power Microcontrollers

Welcome to Microchip’s eXtreme Low Power System Design Center. In this site you will find information, tools and collateral related to extreme low power microcontrollers; PIC MCUs featuring nanoWatt XLP Technology that are useful in designing embedded applications with extremely low power consumption. Benefits of nanoWatt XLP Technology include:

• Sleep / Power-down current down to 20 nA
• Brown-out Reset down to 45 nA
• Watch-dog Timer down to 400 nA
• Real-time Clock/Calendar down to 500 nA

Getting Started is Easy!

1. Compare Electrical Specifications
2. Read Application Notes, Tips ‘n Tricks & Technical Documentation
3. Find Products
4. Get training on Low Power Modes and design techniques
5. Evaluate Development Tools

As more electronic applications require low power or battery power, energy conservation becomes paramount. Today’s applications must consume little power, and in extreme cases, last for up to 15-20 years, while running from a single battery. To enable applications like these, Microchip has introduced nanoWatt XLP Technology. Extreme low power microcontrollers featuring nanoWatt XLP Technology offer the industry’s lowest currents for Sleep, where extreme low power applications spend 90%-99% of their time.

Example Applications
Example applications for products featuring nanoWatt XLP Technology include:

• Battery Applications & Portable Devices: Utility Metering, Asset Tracking, Electronic Locks, Portable Medical, Smoke/CO2 Detectors, Irrigation Systems, Security Systems/ Sensors,
• Remote Keyless Entry,
• Green Initiatives: Compliance with Regulations, Appliances, Home Electronics
• Energy Harvesting: Wireless Switches, Battery-less Sensors, Condition-based maintenance & a variety of applications based on energy harvested from mechanical vibrations, solar cell etc.

Low Power Integration
Many of today’s low power products need advanced peripherals. Microchip offers low power devices with peripherals like USB, LCD, RTCC and mTouch™ capacitive sensing. This eliminates the need for additional parts in the application, saving cost, current and complexity.

Low Power Safety
In addition to peripherals, products with nanoWatt XLP have system supervisory circuits specially designed for battery powered products:

• The Deep Sleep Brown-out Reset protects applications when batteries are depleted or changed, yet consumes a tiny 45 nA of current
• The Real-time Clock Calendar module can provide precise timekeeping for less than 500 nA
• Using a dedicated on-chip oscillator, the WDT provides protection against system failure for less than 400 nA