Microchip’s 16-bit product line is designed to rival many 32-bit controllers in performance, with the ease of use typically associated with the 8-bit product lines. The common architecture makes it easy to optimize a design for cost and to reduce risk by providing speed, memory and peripheral upgrade paths. This allows you to utilize a device with 64K of Flash and switch from a low-cost MCU to a high-performance DSC for specific applications requiring additional performance. Where possible, the devices in the four families share peripheral and pin-compatibility. Additionally, code libraries take advantage of the architecture to ease the transition between devices. All devices in Microchip’s 16-bit product line use the same MPLAB® Integrated Development Environment (IDE) and MPLAB ICD 2 development tool chain shared by Microchip’s 8-bit products. Should a customer have to move from a 16 MIPS PIC24F MCU to a higher performance dsPIC33 DSC, the tool set would not change. In fact, many of the tools already purchased for our 8-bit products will also work for Microchip’s 16-bit products. Microchip’s 16-bit families allow 8-bit ease-of-use, providing the only 16-bit architecture that bridges the MCU and DSC worlds.