Microchip Technology ARD00385 Data Sheet

Page of 570
PIC18F87K90 FAMILY
DS39957D-page 442
 2009-2011 Microchip Technology Inc.
28.3
On-Chip Voltage Regulator
All of the PIC18F87K90 family devices power their core
digital logic at a nominal 3.3V. For designs that are
required to operate at a higher typical voltage, such as
5V, all family devices incorporate two on-chip regula-
tors that allow the device to run its core logic from V
DD
.
Those regulators are:
• Normal On-Chip Regulator
• Ultra Low-Power, On-Chip Regulator
The hardware configuration of these regulators is the
same and is explained in 
. The regulators’ only
differences relate to when the device enters Sleep, as
explained in 
.
28.3.1
REGULATOR ENABLE/DISABLE BY 
HARDWARE
The regulator can be enabled or disabled only by
hardware. The regulator is controlled by the ENVREG
pin and the V
DDCORE
/V
CAP
 pin.
28.3.1.1
Regulator Enable Mode 
Tying V
DD
 to the pin enables the regulator, which in turn,
provides power to the core from the other V
DD
 pins.
When the regulator is enabled, a low-ESR filter capac-
itor must be connected to the V
DDCORE
/V
CAP
 pin (see
). This helps maintain the regulator’s
stability. The recommended value for the filter capacitor
is given in 
 DC Characteristics
.
28.3.1.2
Regulator Disable Mode 
If ENVREG is tied to V
SS
, the regulator is disabled. In
this case, a 0.1 
F capacitor should be connected to
the V
DDCORE
/V
CAP
 pin (see 
).
When the regulator is being used, the overall voltage
budget is very tight. The regulator should operate the
device down to 1.8V. When V
DD
 drops below 3.3V, the
regulator no longer regulates, but the output voltage fol-
lows the input until V
DD
 reaches 1.8V. Below this voltage,
the output of the regulator output may drop to 0V.
FIGURE 28-2:
CONNECTIONS FOR THE 
ON-CHIP REGULATOR
V
DD
ENVREG
V
DDCORE
/V
CAP
V
SS
C
F
5V
Regulator Enabled (ENVREG tied to V
DD
):
Regulator Disabled (ENVREG tied to V
SS
):
Note
1:
These are typical operating voltages. For the 
full operating ranges of V
DD
 and V
DDCORE
 “DC Characteristics”
.
PIC18F87K90
V
DD
ENVREG
V
DDCORE
/V
CAP
 
V
SS
3.3V
(1)
PIC18F87K90
0.1 
F