4.1.4 PDID Feature Use Cases

This section lists the typical use cases where the PDID feature of 8-bit PIC microcontrollers is advantageous.

  • OTP Flash: Once the PDID feature is enabled (ICSPDIS = 0), it cannot be disabled again, thus making the PIC device OTP. The OTP feature of the device makes it ideal for storing sensitive data, such as encryption keys, because it cannot be reprogrammed or erased, which increases the reliability against code/data corruption.

  • Immutable Bootloader: With the ICSP disable feature, the firmware/software updates on a microcontroller can be possible through a secure and immutable bootloader that the user has implemented.