PIC16F1508-E/P - 8-Bit 20MHz 7KB Flash MCU 20-PDIP | Microchip
MPN: PIC16F1508-E/P ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $1.92 | $1.92 |
| 10 | $1.73 | $17.30 |
| 100 | $1.53 | $153.00 |
| 500 | $1.34 | $670.00 |
| 1,000 | $1.15 | $1,150.00 |
PIC16F1508-E/P Overview
An 8-bit microcontroller (MCU) is a small, low-power computing core that integrates a CPU, non-volatile program memory (Flash), volatile working memory (RAM), and a configurable set of digital and analog peripherals into a single IC. Within the broader semiconductor taxonomy, an MCU sits under microcontroller -> embedded processor -> digital IC -> integrated circuit. 8-bit MCUs remain dominant in cost-sensitive, deterministic control applications because they offer predictable instruction timing, ultra-low sleep currents, and a mature toolchain compared with 32-bit Cortex-M devices.
Key features of the PIC16F1508 include the Configurable Logic Cell (CLC), Complementary Waveform Generator (CWG), Numerically Controlled Oscillator (NCO), 4-channel 10-bit ADC with computation, and eXtreme Low Power (XLP) sleep modes drawing down to ~20 nA typical. The device supports 2.3 V to 5.5 V single-supply operation and exposes 12 I/O pins plus one dedicated input-only pin on the 20-PDIP footprint. The CWG peripheral allows hardware generation of complementary PWM with dead-band control, eliminating software timing overhead for half-bridge driver stages.
Architecturally, the PIC16F1508 uses the enhanced mid-range core with 49 base instructions, 16-level hardware stack, and 200 ns minimum instruction cycle at 20 MHz. The Flash program memory is partitioned for self-read/write, and the device supports in-circuit serial programming (ICSP) via the PGD/PGC pins plus an external debug header (AC244051/AC244052).
Typical applications include LED lighting controllers, sensor signal conditioning, battery-powered IoT nodes, small appliance control boards, and brushed DC motor drivers. The combination of CWG, NCO and CLC peripherals allows a single PIC16F1508 to replace several discrete analog components in cost-engineered designs.
When designing with this part, prioritize proper decoupling with a 0.1 µF ceramic capacitor adjacent to VDD and verify that the ICSP pins are not bonded to heavy capacitive loads that would prevent programming.
This page synthesizes distributor pricing, drop-in alternatives, and practical design notes that complement the manufacturer datasheet for faster design-in decisions.
Drop-in alternatives for PIC16F1508-E/P — same package, pin-to-pin compatible. Different-package parts requiring PCB rework are excluded.
Variants in this series
Same-series models that are drop-in compatible with PIC16F1508-E/P (same form factor and footprint) — differing in ADC, MSL Level, Mounting Type, Package, I/O Pins.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
PIC16F1508-I/P
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$1.04 / Unit
View Datasheet →PIC16F1509-E/P
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$0.98 / Unit
View Datasheet →PIC16F1509-I/P
✅ Drop-In ⚠️ 参数待验证✓ In Stock
$1.43 / Unit
View Datasheet →PIC16F1503-E/P
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
PIC16F1507-E/P
✅ Drop-In✓ In Stock
$0.91 / Unit
View Datasheet →PIC16F1518-E/P
✅ Drop-In📋 Reference alternative (not in catalog)
PIC16F1508-E/P Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core | PIC16 enhanced mid-range 8-bit |
| Instruction Set | 49 instructions, 16-level hardware stack |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 20 MHz |
| Instruction Cycle Time | 200 ns (min) |
| Flash Program Memory | 7 KB (4K x 14 words) |
| SRAM Data Memory | 256 bytes |
| Supply Voltage (VDD) | 2.3 V to 5.5 V |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +125 °C (E grade) |
| I/O Pins | 12 (plus 1 input-only) |
| ADC | 10-bit, up to 12 channels (with computation) |
| Peripheral Highlights | CLC, CWG, NCO, 10-bit ADC with computation, EUSART, I2C, SPI, XLP |
| Package | 20-Pin PDIP (P) |
| Mounting Type | Through-Hole (THT) |
| MSL Level | 1 (not moisture sensitive) |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
| Programming/Debug | ICSP via PGD/PGC; PICkit 3 / MPLAB ICD 3 / external debug header (AC244051/AC244052) |
| Development Tools | MPLAB X IDE, XC8 compiler, Curiosity Development Board |
PIC16F1508-E/P Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | VDD — Positive supply voltage |
| Pin 2 | RA5 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 3 | RA4 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 4 | RA3/MCLR — Bidirectional I/O / Master Clear (reset) input |
| Pin 5 | RC5 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 6 | RC4 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 7 | RC3 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 8 | RC2 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 9 | RC1 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 10 | RC0 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 11 | RA2 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 12 | RA1 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input / ICSPCLK |
| Pin 13 | RA0 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input / ICSPDAT |
| Pin 14 | VSS — Ground reference |
| Pin 15 | RA7 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 16 | RA6 — Bidirectional I/O |
| Pin 17 | RC7 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 18 | RC6 — Bidirectional I/O / analog input |
| Pin 19 | RB7 — Bidirectional I/O |
| Pin 20 | RB6 — Bidirectional I/O |
Typical Applications
PIC16F1508-E/P is suitable for 6 applications: LED Lighting Controllers, Battery-Powered IoT Sensor Nodes, Small Appliance Control Boards, Brushed DC Motor Drivers, Sensor Signal Conditioning Front-Ends, Educational MCU Trainer Boards.
LED Lighting Controllers
The PIC16F1508-E/P fits LED lighting controllers thanks to its CWG (Complementary Waveform Generator) and NCO (Numerically Controlled Oscillator) peripherals plus 20 MHz CPU in a 20-PDIP through-hole package that simplifies hand-soldered prototyping of retrofit lamp drivers. The CWG generates complementary PWM with programmable dead-band, directly driving half-bridge MOSFET stages for non-isolated LED buck topologies without external timing logic. The NCO produces fine-frequency tone injection for color-mixing applications down to sub-Hz resolution. With XLP sleep current of ~20 nA, the part keeps standby power below 0.1 mW on dimmer-ready wall fixtures. Compared with discrete 555-timer designs, the PIC16F1508 reduces BOM line count by 4-6 components while enabling firmware-tunable dimming curves, thermal foldback, and DMX-style input protocols over the same 12 I/O pins.
Recommended
Battery-Powered IoT Sensor Nodes
The PIC16F1508-E/P is well suited to battery-powered IoT sensor nodes due to its XLP (eXtreme Low Power) sleep current of ~20 nA typical, 2.3 V to 5.5 V single-cell operation, and CLC peripheral that off-loads simple logic operations while the CPU sleeps. The 7 KB Flash is sufficient for periodic sensor reading, BLE/Wi-Fi co-processor command framing, and adaptive sleep algorithms running on the 16-level hardware stack. The 20-PDIP package is ideal for hand-soldered prototype enclosures and educational IoT kits, while remaining RoHS-compliant for consumer products. With the 10-bit ADC handling up to 12 channels, temperature, humidity, voltage, and motion sensors can be polled without external muxes. Compared with ATmega328P, the PIC16F1508 typically yields 2-3× longer battery life in duty-cycled duty at the same coin-cell capacity.
Recommended
Small Appliance Control Boards
The PIC16F1508-E/P suits small appliance control boards such as coffee makers, blenders, fans, and sous-vide cookers where its 20-PDIP package is convenient for through-hole wave-solder assembly and field-serviceable repair. The CWG peripheral provides hardware-complementary PWM with dead-band control, directly driving low-side MOSFET pairs for brushed DC motors and heating elements without software timing overhead. The NCO can synthesize a precision 32 kHz timebase for capacitive-touch scan routines, while the CLC off-loads zero-crossing detection logic that would otherwise tie up the CPU. With the 10-bit ADC monitoring NTC thermistors, motor current, and supply rail, a single PIC16F1508 replaces legacy 8-pin MCU + 555 timer designs with one part. The extended -40 °C to +125 °C temperature grade supports appliance interiors where ambient temperatures regularly exceed +85 °C.
Recommended
Brushed DC Motor Drivers
The PIC16F1508-E/P drives brushed DC motors in toy, hobby, and small-pump applications thanks to its CWG complementary PWM with dead-band, 10-bit ADC for current sensing, and NCO for fine-resolution speed synthesis down to 0.1 % duty-cycle increments. The 20-PDIP package enables retrofit boards with through-hole headers, easing field replacement in legacy designs. With 12 I/O pins and an input-only pin, the MCU simultaneously handles H-bridge direction, current sense, tachometer feedback, and a serial command interface over EUSART. The CLC peripheral implements hardware overcurrent latching within 100 ns, faster than any interrupt-driven response, while the XLP sleep mode keeps quiescent draw below 1 µA when the motor is parked. Compared with discrete op-amp + 555 circuits, the PIC16F1508 replaces 4-5 active components per motor channel.
Recommended
Sensor Signal Conditioning Front-Ends
The PIC16F1508-E/P works well in sensor signal-conditioning front-ends because its 10-bit ADC with computation (ADC2) performs hardware-averaged oversampling, automated threshold comparison, and accumulator post-processing without CPU intervention. The CLC peripheral implements programmable analog-front-end digital filtering such as moving-average windows and pulse-width discriminators in hardware, freeing CPU cycles for higher-level housekeeping. The NCO synthesizes precision excitation frequencies for ratiometric sensor bridges, while the EUSART streams conditioned readings to a host MCU at up to 250 kbps. With 12 I/O pins on the 20-PDIP package, multiple sensor channels can be muxed through external FET switches. The XLP sleep current of ~20 nA makes this part a fit for energy-harvested sensors where the conditioning stage must sip microamps between wake events.
Recommended
Educational MCU Trainer Boards
The PIC16F1508-E/P is an excellent core for educational MCU trainer boards and STEM classroom kits because the 20-PDIP package is hand-solderable and breadboard-friendly, allowing students to socket the device and replace it cheaply if pin damage occurs. The 7 KB Flash and 256 B SRAM comfortably hold introductory C/asm lessons covering GPIO, timers, ADC, PWM, I2C, SPI, and UART peripherals. The XLP sleep mode demonstrations introduce low-power design concepts without exotic hardware, while the CLC/CWG/NCO peripherals showcase modern configurable-logic and waveform-generation techniques that distinguish PIC16 XLP from older PIC16F baselines. With MPLAB X IDE + XC8 compiler + Curiosity Development Board support, instructors get a free, vendor-supported toolchain that scales from 8th-grade Maker clubs to university embedded-systems courses. Per-unit cost under USD 2 keeps classroom sets of 25-40 students affordable.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for PIC16F1508-E/P — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | PIC16F1508-I/P | PIC16F1509-E/P | PIC16F1509-I/P | PIC16F1503-E/P | PIC16F1507-E/P | PIC16F1518-E/P |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Package | 20-PDIP (P) | 20-PDIP (P) - same | 20-PDIP (P) - same | 20-PDIP (P) - same | 20-PDIP (P) - same | 20-PDIP (P) - same | 20-PDIP (P) - same |
| Flash Program Memory | 7 KB | 7 KB | 14 KB | 14 KB | 4 KB | 4 KB | 14 KB |
| SRAM | 256 bytes | 256 bytes | 512 bytes | 512 bytes | 128 bytes | 128 bytes | 512 bytes |
| Operating Temperature | -40 °C to +125 °C (E) | -40 °C to +85 °C (I) | -40 °C to +125 °C (E) | -40 °C to +85 °C (I) | -40 °C to +125 °C (E) | -40 °C to +125 °C (E) | -40 °C to +125 °C (E) |
| Supply Voltage | 2.3 V to 5.5 V | 2.3 V to 5.5 V | 2.3 V to 5.5 V | 2.3 V to 5.5 V | 2.3 V to 5.5 V | 2.3 V to 5.5 V | 2.3 V to 5.5 V |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 20 MHz | 20 MHz | 20 MHz | 20 MHz | 20 MHz | 20 MHz | 20 MHz |
| Peripheral Set (CLC/CWG/NCO) | All three | All three | All three | All three | No NCO | All three | All three |
| XLP Sleep Current (typ) | ~20 nA | ~20 nA | ~20 nA | ~20 nA | ~50 nA | ~20 nA | ~20 nA |
Key Differentiators
- Extended temperature range to +125 °C (vs PIC16F1508-I/P)
- Doubled Flash and SRAM (vs PIC16F1508 vs PIC16F1509-E/P)
- CLC/CWG/NCO peripheral integration (vs PIC16F1503-E/P)
- 20-PDIP through-hole package (vs PIC16F1508-E/SS (SOIC-20))
Design Notes
Estimated: at 20 MHz CPU and 5 V VDD, the PIC16F1508-E/P core draws approximately 6 mA active (per Microchip datasheet typical curves). Add 0.5-1 mA per enabled peripheral and I/O load. The XLP sleep current of ~20 nA is achieved only with the watchdog timer disabled and the secondary 32 kHz oscillator gated off; otherwise expect 300-500 nA. Place a 0.1 µF ceramic decoupling capacitor within 5 mm of the VDD pin (pin 1) and a 10 µF bulk capacitor on the same rail for battery applications where the source impedance varies with charge state.
Route the ICSP signals PGD (RA0, pin 13) and PGC (RA1, pin 12) so that no more than 30 pF of stray capacitance is attached to each pin, since long traces or capacitive loads can prevent programming via PICkit 3. For the 20-PDIP package, keep a clear annular pad around the ICSP connector so that a 6-pin header can be added for in-circuit debugging. The CWG complementary outputs (typically on RC2/RC3 for PIC16F1508) should be routed as matched-length differential pairs to the half-bridge driver stage to maintain dead-band timing.
Do not leave the MCLR/RA3 pin (pin 4) floating - it must be tied to VDD through a 10 kΩ pull-up for normal operation. The PIC16F1508's CLC peripheral requires explicit configuration in firmware; simply enabling CLC output without setting the input multiplexer results in a floating output that can damage downstream logic. When migrating firmware from PIC16F88 or PIC16F876A, watch for the changed ADC channel mapping (PIC16F1508 uses ANSELA/ANSELC registers rather than the legacy CMCON/ADCON1). The NCO overflow interrupt flag must be cleared in software or it will retrigger immediately.
Compliance Information
RoHS compliant per Microchip product page; Pb-free matte-tin finish on PDIP leads; halogen-free BOM. Not AEC-Q100 qualified - this is a general-purpose 8-bit MCU without automotive qualification. For automotive designs consider PIC16F1508-E/P with external qualification review.
