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Difference between PIC and ARM

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Prerequisite – Difference between Micro-controller (µC) and Microprocessor (µP) Micro-controller is a single Integrated Circuit (IC) which is comparable to a little stand alone computer and it is designed to govern a specific operation in an embedded system. A micro-controller contains processing unit and small amount of memory (ROM, RAM etc.), few I/O ports for peripherals, timer etc. We can say it is a small and low-cost microcomputer. ARM and PIC comes under the family of micro-controller. PIC micro-controller and ARM micro-controller differs from each other in terms of different architecture and different sets of instruction, speed, cast, Memory, Power Consumption, Bus Width etc. Now let’s understand in detail how they differs from each other. 1. PIC micro-controller : PIC micro-controller was initially referred as Peripheral Interface Controller and now it is referred as Programmable Intelligent Computer. It comes under the family of micro-controllers made by Microchip Technology. It was originally developed by General Instrument’s Microelectronics in the year 1993. It can be programmed to carry out a vast range of tasks. PIC micro-controllers are available in 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit. It is based on RISC Instruction Set Architecture and Harvard memory architecture. 2. ARM micro-controller : ARM micro-controller is Advanced RISC Machine which was introduced by Acron computer organization and is manufactured by the companies Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Motorola, ST Microelectronics, Samsung Electronics, and TI etc. ARM processor belongs to the family of CPUs which are based on Reduced Instruction Set Computer (RISC) and ARM microprocessor with RAM, ROM and other peripherals in one single chip, we get an ARM micro-controller. LPC2148 is an example of ARM micro-controller. It is based on RISC Instruction set Architecture (ISA). It is cost sensitive and high performance devices and used in a wide range of embedded application such as  industrial  instrument control systems etc. 
Difference between PIC and ARM :

S.No. PIC ARM
01. PIC micro-controller refers to Peripheral Interface Controller. ARM micro-controller refers to Advanced RISC Machine.
02. PIC micro-controllers are available in 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit. ARM micro-controllers are available in 32-bit mostly also available in 64-bit.
03. It supports PIC, UART, USART, CAN, LIN, Ethernet, SPI, I2S communication protocol. It supports UART, USART, SPI, CAN, LIN, I2C,  Ethernet, I2S, DSP, SAI communication protocol.
04. It has an effective instruction rate of 4 clock cycles per instruction. It has an effective instruction rate of 1 clock cycles per instruction.
05. It uses SRAM, Flash memory. It uses Flash, SDRAM, EEPROM memory.
06. It is based on some feature of RISC. It is based on RISC instruction set architecture.
07. It is based on Harvard memory architecture. It is based on modified Harvard architecture.
08. PIC micro-controller family includes PIC16, PIC17, PIC18, PIC24, PIC32. ARM micro-controller family includes ARMv4, 5, 6, 7 and series.
09. It has a very good community support. It has a vast community support.
10. Its manufacturer is Microchip. Its manufacturers are Apple, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and TI etc.
11. It is available with an average cost as compared to the features. It is available with a low cost as compared to the features.
12. Popular micro-controllers include PIC18fXX8, PIC16f88X, PIC32MXX. Popular micro-controllers include LPC2148, ARM Cortex-M0 to ARM Cortex-M7, etc.

Last Updated : 07 Nov, 2022
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