5 March 2023

PIC Vs ARM | Difference | Comparison

What's the difference between PIC Vs ARM? What distinguishes them? Can PIC use in a ARM? Get all of the answers right here. Let's look at the difference between PIC and ARM and how to tell them apart.

Learn more about Features of ARM Processor

What is a PIC microcontroller?

The PIC microcontroller was originally known as the peripheral interface controller, but it is now known as the programmable intelligent pc. It is a subset of the microcontroller family, developed by semiconductor unit technology. It was created by general instrument electronics in the year 1993. It is programmed to carry out a wide range of tasks. PIC microcontrollers are available in 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit versions

What is an ARM microcontroller?

The ARM microcontroller was invented by the Acorn computer organization and is now manufactured by Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Motorola, ST microelectronics, Samsung electronics, and TI, among others. It is an advanced RISC microcontroller that is based on the RISC instruction set architecture (ISA). It is the most widely used microcontroller, and most industries use it for embedded systems because it has a wide range of features and is good for producing visually appealing devices.

PIC Vs ARM | Difference between PIC and ARM

  • PIC microcontroller refers to peripheral interface controller, while ARM microcontroller refers to advanced RISC machine.
  • PIC microcontrollers are available in 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit. ARM microcontrollers are available in 32-bit and mostly also available in 64-bit.
  • PIC uses SRAM, and FLASH memory, Whereas ARM uses Flash, SDRAM, and EEPROM memory.
  • PIC supports PIC, UART, USART, CAN, LIN, Ethernet, SPI, and I2S communication protocols. On the other hand, ARM supports UART, USART, SPI, CAN, LIN, I2S, DSP, and SAI communication protocol.
  • PIC has an effective instruction rate of 4 clock cycles per instruction. While ARM has an effective instruction rate of 1 clock cycle per instruction.
  • The PIC microcontroller family includes PIC16, PIC17, PIC18, PIC24, and PIC32 and the ARM microcontroller family includes ARM 4,5,6,7, and series.
  • PIC has very good community support, and ARM has vast community support.
  • PIC is based on some features of RISC. But ARM is based on RISC instruction set architecture.
  • PIC is based on Harvard memory architecture. On the other hand, ARM is based on modified Harvard architecture.
  • PIC manufacturer is a microchip. While ARM manufacturers are apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, TI, etc.
  • PIC is available with an average cost as compared to the features. whereas ARM is available at a low cost as compared to the features.
  • PIC is a popular microcontroller including PIC8fXXX. ARM popular microcontrollers include LPC2148, ARM cortex-M0 to ARM cortex-m7, etc.

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