Microchip has announced two new multi-core 64-bit MPUs operating on the RISC-V ISA to advance edge computing. The new MPUs join Microchip’s existing line of 8- to 32-bit MPUs and give designers new flexibility to choose the processor to best meet their needs.
Microchip’s newest MPUs provide versatile multi-core, 64-bit processing capabilities in a pin-compatible package to allow for an easy edge device design experience.
As the number of IoT and edge computing applications increases, designers can benefit from additional flexibility not only when choosing an MPU but also when adapting an ecosystem to fit a variety of needs. To learn more about the new MPUs, we spoke with two Microchip representatives—Shakeel Peera (VP of marketing, strategy, and business operation) and Venki Narayanan (senior director of systems architecture and embedded solutions).
“If you look at any leadership statement about microprocessors or microcontrollers in the low-end to mid-range, Microchip’s name is there. But there was something we were missing,” Peera said. “We were missing this.”
Uniting and Dividing the CPU Cluster
With the higher demand for embedded compute, developers face a tradeoff.
“Data processing, specifically as it relates to autonomy, artificial intelligence, machine learning, is moving to nodes specifically focused on post-sensor processing,” Peera said.
In such processing applications, an embedded MCU-like processor can improve real-time performance. However, adding support for a common OS like Linux can shift more focus to software development. Microchip’s new MPUs provide an alternative to relying on multiple processors for the task.
Designers can configure each of the four cores in the PIC64GX to dedicate more or less resources to time-sensitive processes.
With the PIC64GX and PIC64HPSC, designers can now distribute computing resources as needed without redeveloping the hardware. Within the multi-core processors, developers can accomplish both deterministic and non-deterministic compute tasks in a single chip, with the added advantage of diverting resources on a per-app basis. If, for example, a project requires more throughput for real-time processing, developers can make this decision and allocate cores to accomplish the task.
“A system designer determines the throughput for host functions: what is the throughput I want for a real-time workload? How much memory do I need?” Narayanan said. “With these MPUs, designers can actually make that decision and partition. It’s configurable that way.”
High-Speed RISC-V Performance
Microchip built both the PIC64GX and PIC64HPSC on the RISC-V ISA, giving them scalable levels of performance. The move to RISC-V not only improves the ecosystem of RISC-V MPUs but also leverages the ISA’s recent advancements to provide designers with better compute performance.
While the PIC64GX and PIC64HPSC have some similarities, they are built to accommodate different environments. The PIC64GX provides better compute performance on Earth, while the PIC64HPSC targets extraterrestrial environments.
The PIC64GX and PIC64HPSC were designed to bring versatile edge computing to different applications.
“The key takeaway here is that the PIC64GX has asymmetric multi-processing capability in a homogenous architecture—that’s a large, flexible memory subsystem,” said Narayanan. “ It has exceptional security, natively doing secure boot, and has key storage within the chip with advanced interconnects doing 4 x 1 PCIe Gen2 host functions, in addition to gigabit Ethernet and USB host.”
The PIC64HPSC includes additional cores, interfacing options, and built-in vector processing to accelerate AI/ML applications and maintain the strict requirements of space-grade devices. This release follows NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s selection of Microchip to develop an HPSC processor for autonomous space computing.
The two new MPUs provide an easy method of scaling from 8-bit to 64-bit processing thanks to the common MPLAB IDE development experience. The PIC64 devices are pin-compatible with Microchip FPGAs, enabling even more flexibility and performance.
“We made it to be compatible, so if you need a GX plus additional features, you can always go to a qualified SoC that has an FPGA fabric implemented,” Narayanan said.
Microchip Offers the Full Spectrum of MPUs/MCUs
With this new 64-bit family, Microchip is now a single-vendor MPU provider, offering a broad range of low-, mid-, and high-range compute solutions for both application-class and real-time processing. The company is the only embedded solutions manufacturer to actively offer the full spectrum of 8-, 16-, 32-, and 64-bit MPUs and MCUs.
“From 2016 to 2024, we took our time to develop this family. With our Microsemi acquisition, we brought in higher payload processing—and here we are. This is what we’re introducing. We believe this might be seen as fairly momentous for the industry,” Peera said.
All images used courtesy of Microchip.
