Micromite eXtreme Manual Page 4
Introduction
This section provides an introduction for users who are familiar with the Micromite and the Micromite Plus and
need a summary of the extra features in the Micromite eXtreme and Micromite eXtreme64.
The Micromite eXtreme is an extension of the standard Micromite and the Micromite Plus; all features of these
two versions are also in the Micromite eXtreme. This includes features of the BASIC language, input/output,
communications, etc. Some commands have changed slightly (for example the CPU command) but for the main
part Micromite programs will run unchanged on the Micromite eXtreme.
The following summarises the new features in the Micromite eXtreme as compared to the standard Micromite and
the Micromite Plus:
PIC32 MZ Processor
The Micromite eXtreme is based on the Microchip PIC32MZ 32 bit microcontroller. This chip is available in
64, 100 and 144-pin surface mount packages and is up to five times faster and has up to ten times the program
space of the MX series used in the standard Micromite.
High Speed Double Precision Floating Point
The Micromite eXtreme uses the built in hardware floating point capability of the PIC32MZ which is much
faster than floating point on the standard Micromite and uses double precision floating point.
I/O Pins
The 64-pin Micromite eXtreme has 46 free I/O pins with 24 analogue capable. The 100-pin Micromite eXtreme
has up to 71 free I/O pins with 40 analog capable and the 144-pin chip has up to 115 free I/O pins with 50
analogue capable. All analogue pins use a 12-bit analogue to digital conversion rather than 10-bit on the
standard Micromite.
The Micromite eXtreme has two I2C ports, three SPI ports, six PWM channels and up to four serial COM ports.
All serial COM ports are high speed (over 1,000,000 baud).
The Micromite eXtreme64 has one I2C and two SPI ports but is otherwise the same.
High Speed LCD Panels
Like the Micromite Plus the Micromite eXtreme supports ten different sized LCD display panels from 1.44" to
8". In addition it can drive displays using the SSD1963 controller in 16-bit parallel mode to achieve an even
greater display update speed.
VGA Output
The Micromite eXtreme can drive a VGA display in 640 x 480 pixels or 640 x 400 (widescreen) with eight
colours. All the graphics commands and GUI controls available in the Micromite Plus will also work on the
VGA output. This capability is not available on the Micromite eXtreme64.
Mouse Input
The Micromite eXtreme can support a PS2 mouse which can be used to activate on screen GUI controls. This
feature will work with touch sensitive LCD displays (it works in parallel with the touch sensitivity) but it is
especially useful with VGA monitors that do not normally incorporate a touch sensitive surface.
Transparency and BLIT function
On certain LCD display panels or the VGA output the Micromite eXtreme supports transparent text and the
BLIT command. These allow text to be written over a background image or graphic items to be moved over
the background without erasing or damaging the background.
Sound Output
Using the Micromite Plus you can play stereo WAV files stored on the SD card. You can also generate precise
sine waves with selectable frequencies from 1Hz to 20KHz.
