>
>Just out of curiosity, are these bondout versions of PICs available to the
>general public (for homemade ICEs), or is this something that you have to
>special order in quantities of a zillion?

No.  They are provided under NDA  (non-disclosure agreement) and a 3rd
party agreement.  It does not require zillion piece orders, but does
require a working 3rd party relationship with Microchip.

>I haven't seen this even
>mentioned as an option on any of the PIC device datasheets I've read, or
>anywhere on Microchip's website.
>        Jason Harper
>

You won't.  They are not available for general sale.

IMHO, this is due to several reasons:
1. They are of insignificant volume compared to production packaged
devices. They are produced as a 'necessary evil'.  They do not make money
on the bondouts but still must produce them so that users can buy high
powered development tools (so they will design-in production chips).
2. They require additional information (under NDA) to understand how to
implement them.
3. Tech support would be impossible for Microchip - the normal FAEs and
support personnel have no reason to be knowledgeable about these
applications.  Only Microchip's own ICE group and 3rd party ICE developers
would really need to be familiar with the nuances of implementing ICE
functions.  By limiting access to these devices and the associated
documentation, Microchip limits their support exposure to their production
parts.


Jerry Merrill

jerrym@tech-tools.com
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