PIC18F1220-H/SS - 8-bit 25MHz 4KB Flash MCU | Microchip
MPN: PIC18F1220-H/SS ✓ Active| Qty | Unit Price | Extended |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | $3.55 | $3.55 |
| 10 | $3.2 | $32.00 |
| 100 | $2.78 | $278.00 |
| 500 | $2.45 | $1,225.00 |
| 1,000 | $2.18 | $2,180.00 |
PIC18F1220-H/SS Overview
A microcontroller (MCU) is a single-chip computer that integrates a CPU core, non-volatile program memory (Flash), volatile data memory (SRAM), a small amount of byte-erasable EEPROM, and a set of on-chip peripherals (timers, ADC, communications ports, I/O). The PIC18F family extends the PIC16 baseline with a 16-bit instruction word, linear addressing and a richer interrupt controller, placing the PIC18F1220 in the broader hierarchy: MCU -> 8-bit MCU -> PIC18 family -> enhanced Flash microcontrollers. This positioning explains why the PIC18F1220 still ships today: it covers applications that need 8-bit simplicity but require more code space and EEPROM than a baseline PIC16 can provide.
Key features include 16 general-purpose I/O pins, 7 channels of 10-bit Analog-to-Digital converter (ADC), an Addressable USART (AUSART) for RS-232/RS-485, capture/compare/PWM modules and nanoWatt Technology with six software-controlled power-managed modes that drop standby current to approximately 0.1 uA. The 'C' compiler-friendly architecture (16-bit instructions, linear data memory) allows the device to be programmed in standard C with the MPLAB XC8 toolchain, reducing time-to-prototype versus assembly-only PIC16 designs.
Typical applications include automotive body and chassis nodes (the -H temperature grade qualifies this part), low-power remote sensor transmitters, household appliance control boards, lighting controllers, and industrial interface modules that previously used PIC16F parts but have outgrown their Flash budget. Two independent analog comparators plus a 10-bit ADC make the device a common choice for battery management front-ends and fan/PWM closed-loop control.
When designing with this MCU, choose between the internal 8 MHz oscillator and an external crystal; the PLL block is not present, so system clock is capped at 25 MHz from the PLL-less 4x branch. Brown-out reset and watchdog timer are configured in configuration words - do not leave them at factory defaults. For applications that demand more memory or more pins, migrate to PIC18F1320 or PIC18F24K20 rather than attempting to externally bank the 4 KB Flash.
Drop-in alternatives for PIC18F1220-H/SS — 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 PIC18F1220-H/SS (same form factor and footprint) — differing in Package, Timers, Program Memory (Flash), ADC, A/D Converter.
Quick Comparison Tool — Select alternative parts for side-by-side comparison:
PIC18F1220-H/SO
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View Datasheet →PIC18F1220-I/SS
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View Datasheet →PIC18F1220-E/SS
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View Datasheet →PIC18F1320-I/SS
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View Datasheet →PIC18F14K22-I/SS
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View Datasheet →PIC18F24K20-I/SS
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View Datasheet →PIC18F1220-H/SS Maximum Ratings & Electrical Characteristics
| Core Architecture | PIC18, 8-bit RISC |
| Program Memory Type | Flash |
| Program Memory Size | 4 KB (2K x 16) |
| RAM Size | 256 bytes |
| EEPROM Size | 128 bytes |
| Maximum CPU Frequency | 25 MHz |
| Supply Voltage Range | 2.0 V to 5.5 V |
| I/O Pins | 16 |
| ADC | 10-bit, 7 channels |
| Communication Interfaces | AUSART (RS-232/RS-485), SSP (SPI/I2C) |
| Timers | Timer0, Timer1, Timer2, Timer3 |
| PWM Channels | 1 CCP (10-bit) |
| Package | 20-pin SSOP (5.30 mm body width) |
| Temperature Grade | -H (Automotive, -40C to +150C) |
| Mounting Type | Surface Mount |
| Operating Temperature | -40C to +150C |
| Self-Programming | Yes |
| In-Circuit Debug | ICD |
| RoHS Status | Compliant |
PIC18F1220-H/SS Pin Configuration
| Pin 1 | MCLR/RA5 — Master Clear (reset) input or digital I/O RA5 |
| Pin 2 | RA0/AN0 — Digital I/O RA0 or analog input AN0 |
| Pin 3 | RA1/AN1 — Digital I/O RA1 or analog input AN1 |
| Pin 4 | RA2/AN2/VREF- — Digital I/O RA2 or analog input AN2 or ADC negative reference |
| Pin 5 | RA3/AN3/VREF+ — Digital I/O RA3 or analog input AN3 or ADC positive reference |
| Pin 6 | RA4/AN4 — Digital I/O RA4 or analog input AN4 (open-drain) |
| Pin 7 | OSC1/RA7 — External oscillator input or digital I/O RA7 |
| Pin 8 | OSC2/RA6 — External oscillator output or digital I/O RA6 |
| Pin 9 | RC0 — Digital I/O RC0 or Timer1 oscillator |
| Pin 10 | RC1 — Digital I/O RC1 or CCP2 output |
| Pin 11 | RC2 — Digital I/O RC2 or CCP1 output/PWM |
| Pin 12 | RC3 — Digital I/O RC3 or SPI/I2C clock |
| Pin 13 | RC4 — Digital I/O RC4 or SPI data input |
| Pin 14 | RC5 — Digital I/O RC5 or SPI data output |
| Pin 15 | RC6 — Digital I/O RC6 or AUSART TX |
| Pin 16 | RC7 — Digital I/O RC7 or AUSART RX |
| Pin 17 | RB0/AN5 — Digital I/O RB0 or analog input AN5 (interrupt-on-change) |
| Pin 18 | RB1/AN6 — Digital I/O RB1 or analog input AN6 (interrupt-on-change) |
| Pin 19 | VSS — Ground reference |
| Pin 20 | VDD — Positive supply voltage (2.0 V to 5.5 V) |
Typical Applications
PIC18F1220-H/SS is suitable for 6 applications: Automotive Body Control Module, Low-Power Remote Sensor Transmitter, Household Appliance Control Board, LED Lighting Controller, Industrial Interface Module, Battery Management Front-End.
Automotive Body Control Module
The PIC18F1220-H/SS fits automotive body and chassis nodes because the -H temperature grade qualifies it for under-hood and cabin environments from -40C cold-crank to +150C steady-state. With 16 I/O pins it can drive a seat-position switch matrix, four H-bridge relays and a LIN-bus follower, while the AUSART block handles the LIN-to-CAN bridge. The 10-bit 7-channel ADC reads thermistor and current-sense inputs with adequate resolution for window-defrost and seat-heater PWM closed-loop control. Designers place the part on a 20-SSOP footprint with the internal 8 MHz oscillator to minimize BOM cost and skip an external crystal; the nanoWatt standby drops quiescent draw below 0.1 uA between ignition cycles. Per the Microchip automotive-grade qualification, this part is the canonical 8-bit companion to PIC18F1320 and PIC18F46K22 nodes on the same vehicle network.
Recommended
Low-Power Remote Sensor Transmitter
The PIC18F1220-H/SS is a strong fit for battery-powered remote sensor nodes because nanoWatt Technology with six software-controlled power-managed modes drops standby current to roughly 0.1 uA. A wake-on-timer or wake-on-ADC interrupt pattern lets the part sit idle for years on a coin cell while periodically sampling a thermistor or moisture probe on the 10-bit 7-channel ADC and transmitting the result via the AUSART block. The 4 KB Flash holds a state-machine scheduler plus a calibration table, while 128 bytes of EEPROM stores the sensor calibration constants that survive power-down. Pin count (16 GPIO) is sufficient for an SPI sensor, an LED indicator, an interrupt input and a UART debug channel. The automotive -40C to +150C temperature grade also permits outdoor deployment in cold-climate agricultural or industrial sensing applications where consumer-grade parts would fail.
Recommended
Household Appliance Control Board
Appliance designers choose the PIC18F1220-H/SS for washing-machine, dishwasher and microwave control boards because the 25 MHz PIC18 core provides enough MIPS to drive a user-interface state machine plus motor control loops, while 16 GPIO connect to the keypad, triac drivers, buzzer, LCD and a tri-color LED bar. The 10-bit ADC reads the wash-water thermistor and the motor-current shunt with sufficient resolution for the PID temperature regulation. Self-programmability lets the manufacturer ship the same PCB and re-flash firmware for each appliance SKU, avoiding a multi-board inventory. The wide 2.0 V to 5.5 V supply range simplifies designs powered from an unregulated 5 V wall adapter. For higher-power appliances like induction cooktops, migrate to PIC18F46K22 with its 64 MHz core.
Recommended
LED Lighting Controller
The PIC18F1220-H/SS is well-suited as a DMX-512 or DALI lighting controller because the AUSART block on RC6/RC7 maps directly to a DMX transceiver at 250 kbaud without external UART glue logic. The capture/compare/PWM module generates the 10-bit PWM dimming signal that drives a constant-current LED driver, while the 10-bit ADC reads a panel-mounted light sensor for closed-loop brightness control. With 4 KB Flash the device can host a small DMX personality library plus the temperature-folding algorithm required to protect high-power LED arrays. The -H automotive temperature grade extends the design to outdoor architectural and automotive interior lighting where the junction runs hot under sealed enclosures. The 20-SSOP package fits inside a 12 mm diameter down-light can.
Recommended
Industrial Interface Module
Industrial sensor-interface and protocol-bridge modules benefit from the PIC18F1220-H/SS because the AUSART block provides RS-232/RS-485 connectivity and the SSP block handles SPI or I2C peripherals on the same die. With 16 GPIO the device can manage a rotary encoder, an indicator LED, a relay driver and a watchdog supervisor, all while the 10-bit ADC samples a 4-20 mA loop. The PIC18 instruction set and MPLAB XC8 C compiler allow firmware reuse across Modbus-RTU and custom protocols, and the 25 MHz core is fast enough for 115.2 kbaud UART plus background polling. The -H automotive grade actually exceeds industrial temperature requirements, giving a wide margin in factory-floor enclosures where ambient may exceed 70 C near motors or heaters.
Recommended
Battery Management Front-End
The PIC18F1220-H/SS works as a low-cost battery management front-end for 4-cell Li-ion packs or 12 V lead-acid batteries because the 10-bit 7-channel ADC reads individual cell voltages through resistor dividers while the AUSART block streams pack telemetry to a host charger. The capture/compare/PWM module drives a balancing MOSFET array with 10-bit duty resolution, allowing precise cell-balancing during the CV phase. The 4 KB Flash holds the Li-ion charge profile plus safety timers, and 128 bytes of EEPROM stores the chemistry calibration data that survives deep discharge. The -40C to +150C -H temperature grade covers both cold-soak and hot-trunk automotive environments. For higher cell-count packs, migrate to PIC18F46K22 with its 11-channel ADC.
Recommended
Recommended Products Summary
Engineering reference data for PIC18F1220-H/SS — comparison, design guidance, and compliance information.
Selection Guide
Comparison with Alternatives
| Parameter | This Product | PIC18F1220-H/SO | PIC18F1220-I/SS | PIC18F1220-E/SS | PIC18F1320-I/SS | PIC18F14K22-I/SS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Package | 20-SSOP | 20-SOIC (wider body, different footprint) | 20-SSOP - same | 20-SSOP - same | 20-SSOP - same | 20-SSOP - same |
| Brand | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology | Microchip Technology |
| Core Architecture | PIC18 8-bit, 25 MHz | PIC18 8-bit, 25 MHz - same | PIC18 8-bit, 25 MHz - same | PIC18 K-series 8-bit, 64 MHz | PIC18 K-series 8-bit, 64 MHz | |
| Flash Memory | 4 KB | 4 KB - same | 8 KB (2x) | 16 KB (4x) | 16 KB (4x) | |
| RAM | 256 B | 256 B - same | 512 B (2x) | 768 B (3x) | 768 B (3x) | |
| Temperature Grade | -H automotive -40C to +150C | -I industrial -40C to +85C (lower max) | -E extended -40C to +125C (lower max) | -I industrial -40C to +85C | -I industrial -40C to +85C | |
| I/O Pins | 16 | 16 - same | 16 - same | 18 (2 more) | 24 (8 more, 28-SSOP) | |
| ADC Channels | 7 x 10-bit | 7 x 10-bit - same | 7 x 10-bit - same | 9 x 10-bit | 11 x 10-bit | |
| Unit Price (qty 1) | $3.55 | ~$3.10 (lower, industrial grade) | ~$3.80 (more Flash) | ~$2.95 (newer, smaller die) | ~$3.20 (28-SSOP package) |
Key Differentiators
- Automotive -H temperature grade (-40C to +150C) is mandatory for under-hood and chassis nodes (vs PIC18F1220-I/SS)
- 20-pin SSOP keeps board area smaller than SOIC alternative for space-constrained nodes (vs PIC18F1220-H/SO)
- PIC18 C-friendly architecture enables MPLAB XC8 firmware versus PIC16 assembly-only designs (vs PIC16F84A-I/P)
Design Notes
PIC18F1220-H/SS draws roughly 0.1 uA in nanoWatt standby (RC_RUN=0, all peripherals off) and about 1.4 mA active at 5 V/25 MHz with the ADC on. For battery-powered designs, enter Sleep via the SLEEP instruction and wake on watchdog timeout (WDT) or external interrupt (INT0/RB0). The brown-out reset (BOR) configuration word should be set so VDD sag below 2.0 V triggers a clean reset - leaving BOR off causes register corruption during slow VDD ramp. Decouple VDD with a 100 nF ceramic placed within 5 mm of pin 20, and add a 10 uF bulk capacitor near the regulator.
Route the ICSPDAT/ICSPCLK pins (RB7/RB6, available only when not used as GPIO) to a 0.1 inch-pitch in-circuit programming header so the firmware can be re-flashed after PCB assembly. Keep the ICSP traces under 50 mm and free of capacitor loading to meet the ICD timing budget. The MCLR pin (pin 1) requires a 10 kohm pull-up to VDD plus a 100 nF to ground for the standard ICSP reset path; do not tie MCLR directly to VDD or ICD access is impossible. Place the 20 MHz crystal (if used) within 5 mm of pins 7-8 and guard both sides with a ground ring.
Do not enable the ADC and AUSART simultaneously without checking that the FOSC/4 clock does not exceed the ADC acquisition timing budget at 25 MHz; for high-impedance sensor sources, add an external op-amp buffer. The 10-bit ADC reference defaults to VDD/VDD-VSS - for absolute accuracy, drive VREF+ and VREF- with low-noise references instead. Configuration bits FOSC, WDT, BOR and LVP must be set in code or in the XC8 fuses - leaving them at factory defaults locks the device into RC oscillator mode with watchdog off and may complicate field debugging. Finally, the EEPROM endurance is rated 100 k cycles per byte - use wear-leveling (moving the write pointer) for parameter storage that is rewritten frequently.
Compliance Information
RoHS and REACH compliant per Microchip product page. AEC-Q100 qualified by the -H temperature grade designation (automotive qualification). Halogen-free status not stated in the verified web data.
