Do you know this old datasheet? It is from 1977!

PIC 16F5X is very similar to this. The instruction set is almost the same, if not identical.

So this is a hint how outdated 16F84, 16F630 etc. really are.

But this is not the purpose of the thread.

Simply, I guess maybe some people don't know this old datasheet.

http://pic.hitechworld.org/data/pic16xx.pdf

When I say "outdated", I do not mean these chips should not be used. They can have advantages. For instance easy configuration.

I just mean users should be aware that more modern PICs do exist. And often they are even cheaper. I am talking about 18F.

But if people take action, remove this old 16F84 stuff, rebuild it for 18F, it won't be a wrong thing to do. Myself I have rebuilt many of my circuits, sometimes 6 or 7 times, and even more times. All this effort in order to increase level of technology.

I also regularily search the web for PIC circuits. When I do this, I always encounter new blogs that I did not notice before. There must be some 100s out there, at least.

But I rarely ever see people abandoning old prototypes, rebuilding them, and trying to increase level of technology.

 

Microchip took over the microelectronics division from General Instrument. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Instrument
Most of the cores used in 8 bit controllers date back to the golden age around mid 1970s But I agree. I also do a sigh then I see people using 16F84 or the 741 type opamp in new designs

 

Interesting datasheet. I like the current setting for the output pins, if that could be done in code it would be a handy feature today.

 

I used to work with a man that had worked for GI on the PIC's.
The original PIC was built up using TTL logic to simulate it.
It took a good few amps !!
He said PIC stood for peripheral interface chip.