MCU Introduction

Depending on the device family, PIC32 devices are a complex System-on-Chip (SoC), which are based on the microAptiv™ microprocessor core or the M-Class microprocessor core from MIPS^®.

The microAptiv microprocessor core is a superset of the MIPS^® M14KE™ and M14KEc™ microprocessor cores. These cores are state of the art, 32-bit, low-power, RISC processor cores with the enhanced MIPS32® Release 2 Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). 

The M-Class microprocessor core is a superset of the microAptiv microprocessor core. This 32-bit, low-power, RISC processor core uses the enhanced MIPS32 Release 5 Instruction Set Architecture (ISA). 

You are encouraged to visit the following links to learn more about these microprocessor cores and to download the user's guides and data sheets.

References:

• "Microchip PIC32MZ CPU Reference Manual"
• "MIPS microAptiv™ Microprocessor Cores"
• "MIPS M-Class M51xx Microprocessor Cores"
• "MIPS32® Architecture"
• See MIPs Run by Dominic Sweetman
• Computer Organization and Design by Henessey and Patterson