4 MPLAB® X MCC

MPLAB® X MCC comes with a driver for the OPAMP module allowing for easy configuration of the module. The MCC module comes with nine predefined configurations as well as a custom mode.

Figure 4-1. MCC Global and Hardware Settings
Under the “OPAMP SYSTEM” banner, as seen in Figure   1, there are several global options that can be set for the module, such as enabling the module, enabling the module in debug mode, and selecting the input range. Under “Hardware Settings”, the select mode option is used to select if the op amp should be configured separately or be combined into multi op amp configurations. All op amps can be configured to any of the single op amp configurations, but some of the multi op amp configurations are only available using specific op amps. For an overview of possible combinations, see Table   1.
Table 4-1. Multi Op Amp Configurations
Op Amp CombinationsPosible Configurations
OP1-OP2Differential Amplifier, Cascaded (Two) Non-Inverting PGA, Cascading (Two) Inverting PGA
OP2-OP1Differential Amplifier, Cascaded (Two) Non-Inverting PGA, Cascading (Tow) Inverting PGA
OP2-OP0Differential Amplifier, Cascading (Two) Inverting PGA
OP0-OP1-OP2Instrumentation Amplifier, Cascaded (Three) Non-Inverting PGA, Cascaded (Three) Inverting PGA
OP1-OP2-OP0Instrumentation Amplifier, Cascaded (Three) Inverting PGA
OP2-OP0-OP1Instrumentation Amplifier, Cascaded (Three) Inverting PGA

If the Single OPAMPs option is selected, each op amp can be enabled and configured separately, as seen in Figure   1. If the Dual and Single OPAMPs or Triple OPAMPs option is selected, the configuration of the dual or triple configuration can be selected. The configuration of the single op amp, if any, and how the op amps should be connected, is shown in Figure   2.

Figure 4-2. Dual and Single OPAMPs Configurations

After selecting the global options and hardware settings, there is one banner for each enabled op amp where the op amp specific options can be selected. For each configuration, there is an accompanying picture to show how the configuration looks. The “OP0 Hardware Settings” will have different fields grayed out depending on the configurations. The grayed-out field cannot be changed as that would break the configuration, but they are visible to show how the op amp is configured. The other field can be changed as normal and typically change the input or the gain of the configuration.

Figure 4-3. OPn Hardware Settings

The last options are under “OPn Advanced Hardware” Settings. By default, they are configured as always on and in normal output mode. This way, the op amp works as soon as it is initialized. The settle time is set to the maximum, as this is the recommended value for an unknown load.