Microchip Technology DM163025-1 Data Sheet

DS30684A-page 28

 2012 Microchip Technology Inc.

The PGC and PGD pins are used for In-Circuit Serial
Programming™ (ICSP™) and debugging purposes. It
is recommended to keep the trace length between the
ICSP connector and the ICSP pins on the device as
short as possible. If the ICSP connector is expected to
experience an ESD event, a series resistor is recom-
mended, with the value in the range of a few tens of
ohms, not to exceed 100Ω. 
Pull-up resistors, series diodes and capacitors on the
PGC and PGD pins are not recommended as they will
interfere with the programmer/debugger communica-
tions to the device. If such discrete components are an
application requirement, they should be removed from
the circuit during programming and debugging. Alter-
natively, refer to the AC/DC characteristics and timing
requirements information in the respective device
Flash programming specification for information on
capacitive loading limits, and pin input voltage high
(V

IH

) and input low (V

IL

) requirements.

For device emulation, ensure that the “Communication
Channel Select” (i.e., PGCx/PGDx pins), programmed
into the device, matches the physical connections for
the ICSP to the Microchip debugger/emulator tool.
For more information on available Microchip
development tools connection requirements, refer to

Many microcontrollers have options for at least two
oscillators: a high-frequency primary oscillator and a
low-frequency secondary oscillator (refer to

 for details). 

The oscillator circuit should be placed on the same
side of the board as the device. Place the oscillator
circuit close to the respective oscillator pins with no
more than 0.5 inch (12 mm) between the circuit
components and the pins. The load capacitors should
be placed next to the oscillator itself, on the same side
of the board. 
Use a grounded copper pour around the oscillator cir-
cuit to isolate it from surrounding circuits. The
grounded copper pour should be routed directly to the
MCU ground. Do not run any signal traces or power
traces inside the ground pour. Also, if using a two-sided
board, avoid any traces on the other side of the board
where the crystal is placed. 
Layout suggestions are shown in Figure 2-4. In-line
packages may be handled with a single-sided layout
that completely encompasses the oscillator pins. With
fine-pitch packages, it is not always possible to com-
pletely surround the pins and components. A suitable
solution is to tie the broken guard sections to a mirrored
ground layer. In all cases, the guard trace(s) must be
returned to ground.
In planning the application’s routing and I/O assign-
ments, ensure that adjacent port pins, and other
signals in close proximity to the oscillator, are benign
(i.e., free of high frequencies, short rise and fall times,
and other similar noise).
For additional information and design guidance on
oscillator circuits, please refer to these Microchip
Application Notes, available at the corporate web site
(www.microchip.com):
• AN826, “Crystal Oscillator Basics and Crystal 

• AN949, “Making Your Oscillator Work”

Unused I/O pins should be configured as outputs and
driven to a logic low state. Alternatively, connect a 1 kΩ
to 10 kΩ resistor to V

SS

 on unused pins and drive the

output to logic low.