CHANDLER, Ariz., March 31, 2003 — Microchip Technology Inc, a leader in providing microcontroller and analog semiconductors, announced today the PICkit™ 1 Flash Starter Kit, a low-cost, easy-to-use programmer, evaluation and development kit for the company's 8- and 14-pin Flash-based PIC12F629, PIC12F675, PIC16F630 and PIC16F676 microcontrollers. Available today for $36 (US) through distribution, the low-cost starter kit is ideal for engineers or educational institutions designing with 8-bit Flash microcontrollers. The PICkit 1 Flash Starter Kit gives users the benefits of creating advanced microcontroller designs for a very low price.

Functioning as a development platform, the 3- by 4.5-inch printed circuit board features a USB-powered programming tool for PICmicro® Flash microcontrollers that will run on a personal computer.

The board's evaluation area features:

Microchip PIC Kit 1

• eight LEDs
• one potentiometer
• one switch
• 8-pin PIC12F675 Flash device

The development area features a snap-off prototype board that enables users to connect external circuitry to the microcontroller for quick set-up of an application-specific prototype. Programming the PICmicro Flash microcontroller is provided by the standalone graphical user interface (GUI).

The PICkit 1 Flash Starter Kit includes:

• A PICkit 1 Flash Starter Kit CD-ROM that provides a user's guide with tutorials and example software code
• The MPLAB® Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with HI-TECH PICC Liteâ„¢ C compiler
• Microchip's "Software and Hardware Tips n' Tricks for 8-Pin Microcontrollers"
• USB interface cable.

The MPLAB IDE is a seamless, integrated software development environment that includes:

• Graphic user interface
• MPASMâ„¢ macro assembler
• MPLAB SIM software simulator with symbolic debugger
• color-coded source editor
• project manager
• high-level language debugging
• concurrent support for development tools, including low-cost in-circuit debuggers, full-featured real-time emulators, and programmers.

With its rich feature set, extensive on-line help, and intuitive graphical user interface, MPLAB IDE significantly reduces a designer's learning curve and product development cycle.

The 8-pin PIC12F629 and PIC12F675 devices and the 14-pin PIC16F630 and PIC16F676 devices offer 1792 bytes of Flash program memory, 64 bytes of RAM memory, and 128 bytes of EEPROM memory with 1,000,000 erase/write cycles. The PIC12F675 and PIC16F676  feature a 10-bit analog-to-digital converter (ADC). The microcontrollers offer analog and digital peripherals, including a comparator module, voltage reference and Timer 1 oscillator, to form a cost-effective solution for a variety of applications. Future 8- and 14-pin PICmicro® Flash devices will also be supported by the PICkit 1 tool.

Microchip Technology Inc.
Microchip manufactures the popular PICmicro® field-programmable RISC microcontrollers, which serve 8- and 16-bit embedded control applications, and a broad spectrum of high performance linear and mixed-signal, power management and thermal management devices.  The Company also offers complementary microperipheral products including interface devices; microID® RFID devices; serial EEPROMs; and the patented KEELOQ® security devices.  This synergistic product portfolio targets thousands of applications and a growing demand for high-performance designs in the automotive, communications, computing, consumer and industrial control markets.  The Company's quality systems are ISO 9001 (1994 version) and QS9000 (1998 version) certified. Microchip is headquartered in Chandler, Arizona with design facilities in Mountain View, California, Bangalore, India; and a European Design Center in Lausanne, Switzerland; semiconductor fabrication facilities in Tempe and Chandler, Arizona; Gresham, Oregon; and Puyallup, Washington; and assembly and test operations near Bangkok, Thailand.  Microchip employs approximately 3,350 people worldwide and has sales offices throughout Asia, Europe, Japan and the Americas