RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc, the global distributor for engineers, announced availability of the new MPLAB ICD 4 in-circuit debugger from Microchip. The MPLAB ICD 4 is an In-Circuit programming and Debugging (ICD) development tool for PIC microcontrollers, including the latest PIC32C MCUs, and Microchip’s portfolio of dsPIC digital signal controllers, via the MPLAB X Integrated Development Environment (IDE).

This latest version of the MPLAB ICD includes not only all the features of the ICD 3 debugger, including support for all the headers of the ICD 3, but also delivers enhanced capabilities such as higher speed via a faster processor and increased RAM.

The MPLAB ICD 4’s significant improvement in speed is accomplished through a 32-bit MCU running at 300 MHz. Faster processing, together with an increased buffer memory of 2 MB, results in a product that is up to twice as fast as its predecessor.

The MPLAB ICD 4 is housed in a durable black case that is shaped like an ice-hockey-puck. The case has a brushed aluminium top that also includes an LED light strip to show the device’s debugging status. Major features of the new ICD 4 include: a wide target voltage range, from 1.2 to 5.5V; an optional 1A external power supply; a selectable pull up/pull down option to the target interface; data-integrity check; programmable adjustment of debugging speed for optimised programming; and JTAG debugging capability.

In addition to the MPLAB ICD 4 in-circuit debugger module, the kit includes a USB cable, a 6-inch RJ-11 modular cable and an interface test module. The MPLAB ICD is connected to a PC via a high-speed USB 3.0-compatible interface and to the target via the RJ-11 connector, which is also compatible with the MPLAB ICD 3 and the MPLAB REAL ICE systems. Supporting Windows, OSX and Linux operating systems, the MPLAB X IDE has a powerful and easy-to-use graphical user interface, simplifying designs for customers when they migrate from one PIC microcontroller to another.

The Microchip MPLAB ICD 4 in-circuit debugger is shipping now from RS in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions.