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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 1
Introduction to PIC Programming
Baseline and Mid-range Architecture

by David Meiklejohn, Gooligum Electronics

Lesson 0: Recommended Training Environment

About PICs
PIC refers to an extensive family of microcontrollers manufactured by Microchip Technology Inc. see
www.microchip.com.
A microcontroller is a microprocessor which has I/O circuitry and peripherals built-in, allowing it to
interface more or less directly with real-world devices such as lights, switches, sensors and motors. They
simplify the design of logic and control systems, allowing complex (or simple!) behaviours to be designed
into a piece of electronic or electromechanical equipment. They represent an approach which draws on
both electronic design and programming skills; an intersection of what was once two disciplines, and is
now called embedded design.
Modern microcontrollers make it very easy to get started. They are very forgiving and often need little
external circuitry.

Among the most accessible are the PIC microcontrollers.
The range of PICs available is very broad from tiny 6-pin 8-bit devices with just 16 bytes (!) of data
memory which can perform only basic digital I/O, to 100-pin 32-bit devices with 512 kilobytes of memory
and many integrated peripherals for communications, data acquisition and control.

One of the more confusing aspects of PIC programming for newcomers is that the low-end devices have
entirely separate address and data buses for data and program instructions. When a PIC is described as
being 8- or 16-bit, this refers to the amount of data that can processed at once: the width of the data
memory (registers in Microchip terminology) and ALU (arithmetic and logic unit).
The low-end PICs, which operate on data 8-bits at a time, are divided into four architectural families:
Baseline (12-bit instructions)
These PICs are based on the original PIC architecture, going back to the 1970s and General
Instruments Peripheral Interface Controller. They are quite limited, but, within their
limitations (such as having no interrupts), they are simple to work with.
Modern examples include the 6-pin 10F200, the 8-pin 12F509 and the 14-pin 16F506
Mid-Range (14-bit instructions)
This is an extension of the baseline architecture, adding support for interrupts, more memory and
peripherals, including PWM (pulse width modulation) for motor control, support for serial, I
2
C
and SPI interfaces and LCD (liquid crystal display) controllers.
Modern examples include the 8-pin 12F629, the 20-pin 16F690 and the 40-pin 16F887
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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 2
Enhanced Mid-Range (14-bit instructions)
As the name suggests, this is an enhancement of the mid-range architecture quite similar, but
with additional instructions, simplified memory access (optimised for C compilers), and more
memory, peripherals and speed.
Examples include the 8-pin 12F1822, the 14-pin 16F1823, and the 64-pin 16F1526.
High-end (16-bit instructions)
Otherwise known as the 18F series, this architecture overcomes some of the limitations of the
mid-range devices, providing for more memory (up to 128k program memory and almost 4k data
memory) and advanced peripherals, including USB, Ethernet and CAN (controller area network)
connectivity.
Examples include the 18-pin 18F1220, the 28-pin 18F2455 and the 80-pin 18F8520.

This can be a little confusing; the PIC18F series has 16-bit program instructions which operate on data 8
bits at a time, and is considered to be an 8-bit chip.

The Gooligum Baseline and Mid-Range PIC Tutorials
These tutorials introduce the baseline and mid-range 8-bit PIC architectures, explaining the devices
internal structure, their ports (the pins used to interface with the real world) and common peripherals such
as timers and analog-to-digital converters, using assembly language and C.
The tutorials are divided into four series:
Baseline Architecture and Assembly Language
Programming Baseline PICs in C
Mid-Range Architecture and Assembly Language
Programming Mid-Range PICs in C
This is also the recommended order, although, if you have no interest in using C, you can of course skip
the C tutorials.
Some PIC tutorials focus on a single device, usually something fairly high-end, so that, by the end of the
tutorials, you will have learned that device thoroughly and be well placed to learn other similar (or
simpler) PICs easily, by studying the data sheets. And some tutorials note that most professional
microcontroller development these days is done using C, so you might as well start by learning C.
While those approaches are perfectly valid, the philosophy behind the Gooligum tutorials is that its
easiest to learn by starting with the simplest PICs first, without being distracted by a massive set of
options (which will mostly be ignored at first), or having to say do this, and well explain why later.
And, for a thorough understanding of the PIC architecture, it is best to start by learning assembly
language, because its closer to the hardware you can see exactly what is happening.
Thus, the baseline assembly language series includes the most basic explanation, and although the baseline
C series recaps the explanation, it does not go into much detail mostly just showing how the concepts
from each assembly language lesson can be implemented in C.
Similarly, the mid-range assembly language lessons begin by recapping material from the baseline
tutorials, with a focus on highlighting the differences and whats new.
So, although its possible to dive into the mid-range C tutorials and learn how to program mid-range PICs
in C, you will gain a better, deeper understanding by starting with baseline assembly, and working your
way up.
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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 3
Training / Development Environment
For PIC development, youll need:
A desktop or laptop PC, with a spare USB port.
Windows XP or 7 (32- or 64-bit is ok) is preferable, because Microchips mature development
environment, MPLAB 8, is a Windows application. However, Linux or Mac OS X is ok, if you
will only use the newer MPLAB X environment, or if you are comfortable with running MPLAB
8.xx within a Windows emulator or virtual machine.
Development software, including assembler and editor, preferably bundled in an integrated
development environment (IDE) such as MPLAB.
A PIC programmer, to load your program into your PIC
A prototyping environment, such as the Gooligum Baseline and Mid-range PIC Training and
Development Board, or simply a prototyping breadboard and your own supply of components, to
allow you to build the example circuits in the tutorials.
And optionally:
A C compiler.
These tutorials use the free CCS compiler bundled with MPLAB 8.xx, and Microchips XC8
compiler (running in Free mode) but you may still find the lessons helpful if you are using a
different compiler.
A hardware debugger (see below)

PIC Programmers and Debuggers
There are many PIC programmers available, including some that you can build yourself.
Once upon a time, PICs could only be erased by shining UV light through a window on the chip (except
for parts without a window, which could only be programmed once), and programmed by placing them
into a special programmer.
These days, PICs use electrically erasable flash memory. They can be programmed without having to be
taken out of the prototyping (or even production) environment, through a protocol called In-Circuit Serial
Programming (ICSP). But instead of worrying about designing your circuit to accommodate the ICSP
protocol, it can easier (especially for small PICs, where you may not have spare pins available to dedicate
to the programming function) to remove the PIC from your circuit and place it into a development board
or programming adapter connected to an ICSP programmer. A programming adapter is simply a minimal
circuit which allows a PIC to be programmed by an ICSP programmer.
Its a really good idea to buy an ICSP
programmer; you can use it with a development
board or a programming adapter, while keeping
the option of later using it with your own
circuitry when youre ready for that.

An excellent PIC programmer to start with is
Microchips PICkit 2, shown on the right.
Although there are cheaper equivalents
available, the PICkit 2 is not expensive, available
for around US$35. And being a Microchip
product, you can be sure that it will work with
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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 4
Microchips development tools, and (importantly!) PICs.

Another suitable choice is the similar, newer PICkit 3. It is a little more expensive (around US$45), and in
some ways less flexible than the PICkit 2, but the PICkit 3 can program newer PICs that the PICkit 2
cannot. And the PICkit 3 will have more support from Microchip, in future, while the PICkit 2 will be
increasingly left behind. But both are perfectly suitable for use with the baseline and mid-range PICs
covered in these tutorials.

The PICkit 2 and PICkit 3 can also work as debuggers, as long as the PIC you are using supports hardware
debugging (meaning that it has special debug circuitry built in). Although these tutorials dont cover
hardware debugging, it is a very useful facility to have available as you develop your own projects it
allows you to see exactly what the PIC is doing by stepping through your code an instruction at a time, or
stopping at a particular location (a breakpoint), and being able to see the contents of the PICs internal
registers and your programs variables. A hardware debugger is great for figuring out what on Earth is
that PIC doing? And the great thing about buying a PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 as a programmer is that you get
a capable hardware debugger as well, because they do that, too.
When you become more experienced, and/or work on bigger PICs, you may want to step up to a more
capable (and of course more expensive) debugger, such as Microchips ICD 3 or REAL ICE. But to start
with, a PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 is ideal.

Development Software
Every PIC developer should have a copy of Microchips MPLAB integrated development environment
(IDE) even if you primarily use a third-party tool chain (a set of development tools that work together).
It includes Microchips assembler (MPASM), an editor, and a software simulator, which allows you to
debug your application before committing it to the chip. Not long ago, a development environment as
sophisticated as this would have cost thousands. But MPLAB is free, including support from Microchip,
so there is no reason not to have it. Download it from www.microchip.com.
MPLAB directly supports the PICkit 2 and PICkit 3 as programmers for most of the modern baseline and
midrange PICs. It is also useful to have the standalone programming software that comes with both the
PICkit 2 and PICkit 3. It comes on CD with the programmer, but you should always download the latest
version from www.microchip.com, as each new release adds support for more PICs.

Microchip provides and supports two different MPLAB products.
For many years, MPLAB had been a Windows application, and the latest versions are numbered 8.xx the
most recent at the time of writing (February 2012) is v8.83. We can refer to this as MPLAB 8. Its very
stable, easy to use, and has all the features we need.
However, Microchip has found it difficult to add additional features to MPLAB, or to meet requests to
have it run on platforms other than Windows. Therefore, Microchip has developed a next generation
replacement, called MPLAB X, which also runs on Linux and Mac OS X. In future, MPLAB 8 will be
retired, while all new development, including support for new tools, compilers and PICs, will be for
MPLAB X.
Therefore, these tutorials describe both MPLAB 8 and MPLAB X.

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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 5
MPLAB 8 includes a free copy of CCSs PCB C compiler for Windows, which supports most baseline
PICs, including those used in these tutorials. Although its now a little dated (at the time of writing, the
version bundled with MPLAB was 4.073, while the latest commercially available version was 4.135), it
remains useful and is used in the baseline C tutorials.
The Microchip XC8 C compiler can be downloaded from www.microchip.com. It supports all of the
baseline and mid-range PICs, and is available for Windows, Linux and OS X. It can be used for free,
when running in Free mode, but with most optimisations disabled meaning that it generates much
larger code than the paid-for commercial versions. However, code size doesnt matter much for the small
example programs in these tutorials, so the free version of XC8 is used in both the baseline and mid-range
C tutorials, allowing us to compare and contrast the two compilers (for the baseline PICs, at least).

Prototyping
If you use an ICSP programmer, then youll need a way to connect your PIC to it, for programming. You
also need to be able to test your PIC in a real circuit, before building the final design.

One solution, satisfying both these purposes, is Microchips Low Pin Count (LPC) Demo Board,
designed to be used with the PICkit 2 or PICkit 3. It is available for around US$26, including a
PIC12F617, PIC16F1823 and PIC18F14K22. Or you can buy a PICkit 2 Starter Kit bundle, including a
PICkit 2 programmer, LPC Demo Board and PIC16F690, for around US$50. Thats excellent value;
given that the MPLAB software is free, thats everything you need to get started, including a programmer,
demo board and PIC chip, for only US$50!
It includes four LEDs, a pushbutton switch and a trimpot (variable resistor). Above this, a prototyping
area is provided. The IC socket supports all of the modern (flash memory based) 8-, 14- and 20-pin
baseline and mid-range PICs. Note that it does not support the 6-pin 10F PICs, even when they are in 8-
pin DIP package.
Most of the I/O lines are brought out to the 14-pin header on the side of the board, allowing it to be
connected to another circuit.
For example, a prototype circuit can be constructed on a breadboard and the power and signal lines
connected back to the header on the LPC Demo Board. This arrangement allows you to develop a
complex circuit with no need to remove the PIC from its socket for programming; the PICkit 2 can remain
plugged into the LPC Demo Board during development.

Unfortunately, the LEDs on the LPC Demo Board can only be used with 14- and 20-pin PICs, not the 8-
pin devices. To overcome this, another two LEDs have been added, as shown. The board also doesnt
come with jumpers installed; its a good idea to add them, so that the LEDs and trimpot can be selectively
disconnected, to avoid interference with the rest of your circuit.

Many of the tutorial lessons require the use of parts not included on the LPC Demo Board, such as
photocells, crystal-driven oscillator circuits, and 7-segment LED displays. Although it is possible to build
all of these circuits on a breadboard, connected to the LPC Demo Board, it is a little cumbersome to do so,
for some of the more complex circuits.
And of course you need to obtain all the necessary parts.
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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 6
To avoid these problems, we have developed a training and development board, specifically for use with
the baseline and mid-range tutorials, as shown below.
It works with a PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 programmer, and supports all 8- and 14-pin baseline and mid-range
PICs, as well as all 6-pin 10F devices (in an 8-pin DIP package). It is fully configurable using the
provided jumpers, and comes with all of the hardware needed for the baseline and mid-range tutorials,
including all the required PICs.
Every PIC pin is brought out to the header at the bottom of the board, allowing the easy prototyping on the
breadboard of circuits not covered by the onboard components, including circuits which require more than
the 20 mA that a PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 can deliver, through the use of an external regulated DC power
supply.
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Introduction to PIC Programming, Lesson 0: Recommended Development Environment Page 7
A number of other prototyping boards are available from a number of sources, including Microchip.
Some of these include more advanced peripherals, such as LCD displays, while others are intended to be
an introduction to mechatronics (microcontroller-controlled robotics), and include motors, gears, etc.
And some are intended to be general development boards, offering as much flexibility and expansion as
possible. Most of these boards can of course be adapted for use with these tutorials.
However, the examples in these tutorials are intended to be used directly, without modification with the
Gooligum Baseline and Mid-range PIC Training and Development Board and the PIC devices and
components supplied with it.

Recommendation
To make a start in PIC development, its difficult to do better than the low-cost combination of:
PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 programmer
Gooligum Baseline and Mid-Range PIC Training and Development Board
MPLAB integrated development environment (version 8.xx, if still available)

These tutorials assume that you are using a PICkit 2 or PICkit 3 programmer, with the Gooligum baseline
and mid-range training board, and MPLAB 8 or MPLAB X.
Most of the lesson content is of course applicable to other development environments, including the
Microchip Low Pin Count Demo Board, but you may need to modify the examples to work correctly in
those environments.

Other than a PC (preferably running Windows, so that you can easily use MPLAB 8, and the free version
of the CCS PCB C compiler), the only other thing you need is a PIC!
If you purchase the Gooligum training board, it will come with all the necessary PICs.
Otherwise, to follow all the lessons exactly, you will need one each of:
PIC10F200 or PIC12F508
PIC12F509
PIC16F506
PIC12F629
PIC16F684

It is possible to adapt the lessons to other baseline and mid-range PICs by reading the data sheets, but of
course its easier to work with those listed here.

Good luck!!