The PIC family of MCUs was first introduced in 1976 by General Instrument, using their new CP1600 16-bit CPU. This CPU was nearly compatible with the PDP-11 series of processors with its instruction set.
In 1987, General Instrument spun off its microelectronics division to create Microchip Technology, which became an independent company in 1989. Microchip technology produces new PIC designs to this day. Alongside the evolution of PIC cores and peripherals, on-chip memory technology development yielded the introduction of light tight encapsulated EPROM for on-time programmable and later EEPROM for in-circuit reprogramming capabilities. Like most MCUs, PIC MCUs have a Harvard architecture. Today, PIC designs range from 8-bit to 32-bit, ...
