Microchip Expands dsPIC33A Family to Power High-Precision, Secure, Real-Time Embedded Applications

As real-time embedded applications grow in complexity and safety and security demands tighten across industries, developers need advanced digital control solutions that offer high reliability, precision, and compliance with strict standards. Addressing these evolving needs, Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP) has unveiled new additions to its dsPIC33A digital signal controller (DSC) portfolio: the dsPIC33AK512MPS512 and dsPIC33AK512MC510 series.

Designed for applications requiring compute-intensive control algorithms—such as motor control, AI server power supplies, energy storage systems, and complex sensor signal processing—these devices enhance efficiency through machine learning-based inference.

“With the growth of AI servers and data centers, efficient power conversion is more critical than ever,” said Joe Thomsen, Vice President of Microchip’s Digital Signal Controller Business Unit. “The dsPIC33AK512MPS family offers specialized peripherals and a high-performance core that allow engineers to reduce energy consumption and minimize power system footprints. These new DSCs are packed with features ideal for modern power, motion, and sensing applications.”

The dsPIC33AK512MPS series integrates industry-leading 78 ps high-resolution PWM and 40 Msps low-latency ADCs, enabling rapid, accurate control loops—crucial for optimizing SiC and GaN-based DC-DC converters. The series also includes advanced safety features, built-in touch controller support, and up to 128 I/O pins for high-pin-count applications.

Meanwhile, the dsPIC33AK512MC series is optimized for multi-motor control and other complex embedded systems, offering 1.25 ns PWM resolution, high-speed ADCs, and cost-effective control capabilities.

Both DSC families support up to 512 KB of flash memory, incorporate a dual-precision floating-point unit (FPU) for accelerated computations, and are built on a 32-bit architecture that supports model-based design integration. Their enhanced DSP instruction set, single-cycle MAC operations, and 200 MHz CPU frequency ensure efficient execution of real-time control tasks.

For machine learning use cases, Microchip’s MPLAB® Machine Learning Development Suite streamlines firmware conversion by automating data preparation, feature extraction, model training, and validation.

“The dsPIC33A DSC brings the reliability and performance required for automotive ECUs,” said Norbert Weiss, Managing Director at Lauterbach GmbH. “Our TRACE32® tools help customers accelerate development with powerful debugging and tracing from day one.”

Security is another core strength of the dsPIC33AK512MPS/MC series. These DSCs meet ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 functional safety standards and offer integrated hardware cryptographic accelerators and a flash security module. This supports a secure root of trust, secure boot, firmware updates, and debugging protection.

“Combining dsPIC33A DSCs with our pre-certified SAFE RTOS® streamlines development for critical safety applications,” said Andrew Longhurst, Managing Director of WITTENSTEIN High Integrity Systems (WHIS). “This system-level solution enables customers to meet stringent industrial and automotive safety standards with confidence.”

With their comprehensive feature set, advanced security, and development ecosystem support, the new dsPIC33A DSCs empower engineers to create efficient, scalable, and safe embedded systems for the next generation of smart applications.