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Microchip Unveils Inductive Touch Sensing Analogue Front End (AFE)

Publication date on this website: 10/06/2009

Category: Active Components

Company: Microchip Technology

Summary:

Key Facts:
• An multi-featured companion device for touch-sensitive applications
• A high level of integration ensures greater design simplicity and lower costs
• Works with almost any microcontroller, alongside royalty-free application code

Full Text:
Microchip announces the MCP2036 Analogue Front End (AFE) for inductive touch-sensing applications. Complementing the company´s royalty-free mTouchTM Inductive Touch-Sensing solutions, the MCP2036 AFE works with almost any 8-, 16- or 32-bit PIC® microcontroller (MCU) or dsPIC® Digital Signal Controller (DSC), making it even easier and more cost effective for designers to enhance user interfaces with inductive touch-sensing technology. The inductive-touch AFE includes a multiplexer, a frequency mixer, an amplifier, a driver and a voltage reference; drastically lowering component count, and reducing design size and cost. Inductive touch-sensing fundamental operating principles enable it to work through a range of materials, such as plastic, stainless steel or aluminium, as well as thick gloves and on surfaces where liquids are present. These characteristics make inductive touch sensing suitable for applications in the appliance market, where stainless steel is used for front panels. Its robustness makes inductive touch-sensing suitable for the industrial market, while the ability to create aesthetically appealing designs coupled with a low accidental triggering capability also make it suitable for automotive applications. Microchip´s inductive-touch technology provides unique capabilities that complement its capacitive touch-sensing products, as the company continues to make it easier and less expensive for engineers to make use of these unique features for applications requiring metal finishing and robust operation in wet environments. Designers wanting to learn more about implementing touch sensing into their applications can visit Microchip´s online touch-sensing design centre at www.microchip.com/mtouch. **Ends**

Contact:
Supporting photographs supplied For further information, please contact: David Wright, Microchip Technology. Tel: +44 118 921 5858 E-mail: david.wright@microchip.com Suzy Kenyon, Napier Partnership. Tel: +44 1243 531123 E-mail: suzy@napier.co.uk MC920uk Note: The Microchip name and logo, dsPIC and PIC are registered trademarks of Microchip Technology Incorporated in the U.S.A. and other countries. mTouch is a trademark of Microchip Technology Inc. in the U.S.A. and other countries. All other trademarks mentioned herein are the property of their respective companies.