Microchip Technology MA180025 Data Sheet

Microchip Human Interface Solutions

Microchip offers a variety of PIC MCUs enabling you to 

dedicate an MCU for touch function or integrate touch 

sensing with other application functions onto a single MCU:

   

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8, 16 and 32-bit PIC MCUs for touch sensing

   

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6-pin to over 100-pin devices

   

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Up to 512 KB Flash memory

   

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High noise immunity and low emissions: IEC61000, EFT, BCI

   

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On-chip integration options include USB, CAN, IrDA, 

wireless protocol stack, segmented LCD and graphics 

accelerator and LCD driver for TFT/STN displays

   

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Up to 32 capacitive touch channels

   

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No external components needed

The capacitive touch sensor is a copper pad area, that 

is capacitively coupled to grounds located elsewhere in 

the system creating a parasitic capacitance. A covering 

plate material such as glass is used to provide the 

user touch surface. The introduction of the user’s finger 

then produces an increase in capacitance which will be 

detected by the system.

Expanding beyond the consumer market, touch sensing 

is now taking hold in medical, industrial and automotive 

applications. Examples include:

   

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Battery applications: automotive, cell phones, medical 

devices, remote controls and thermostats

   

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Line-powered applications: home appliances, printers, 

set top boxes, smart energy monitors and television 

Microchip offers a broad portfolio of low power, low cost 

and flexible solutions to enable two types of touch-

sensitive interfaces:

   

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Keys and sliders

   

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Touch screen controllers

Touch sensing 

technology gives 

the freedom to be 

more creative with 

various design 

elements including 

shape and style. It 

allows translating 

mechanical push 

button features into 

features such as 

keys and sliders. Therefore, higher reliability, due to lesser 

moving parts, will come with a lower cost. Other features 

such as proximity sensing and gesture recognition can easily 

be implemented. Time to market is also faster for the Touch 

system due to lower design complexity & minimal stack ups.
Microchip’s mTouch sensing solutions enable designers to 

easily design and integrate touch technologies into their 

applications. The mTouch sensing solutions are proven and 

used in many applications worldwide due to its superior 

noise robustness, no additional external component 

requirements, ease of implementation and the range of 

products that can be used to implement touch sensing. Our 

unique open philosophy gives customers a proven software 

library that allows easy integration of their application.

mTouch solutions offer longer battery life and lower 

standby current. Using award-winning eXtreme Low Power 

technology, mTouch solutions bring you the industry’s 

lowest power consumption for touch-sensing.

   

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Capacitive sensing in less than 5 μA

   

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Proximity sensing down to 1 μA

   

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MCU Sleep current down to 9 nA

   

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MCU Active current down to 50 μA/MHz

   

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MCU Real-time Clock down to 470 nA