MPLAB® ICD 2 In-Circuit Debugger/Programmer

Traditionally, embedded systems engineers use in-circuit emulators (ICE) to develop and debug their designs and then programmers to transfer the code to the devices. The in-circuit debugging logic, when implemented, is part of the actual microcontroller silicon and provides a low-cost alternative to a more expensive ICE. In-circuit debugging offers these benefits:
· Low cost
· Minimum of extra hardware
· Expensive sockets or adapters are not needed
· Debugging and programming a production line board is possible

However, it has the following trade-offs:
· Use of some target system resources such as I/O pins, program memory, data memory, and stack space. As a result, some portions of an embedded application may not be debugged.
· Triggering and breakpointing are limited to the built-in capabilities of the in-circuit debugging logic.
· The target chip must be running with a clock and a supply voltage. Often an emulator probe can run without external hardware.

The MPLAB ICD 2 (In-Circuit Debugger 2)
allows debugging and programming of PIC®and dsPIC®Flash microcontrollers using the powerful graphical user interface of the MPLAB Integrated Development Environment (IDE), included with each kit. The MPLAB ICD 2 is connected to the design engineer's PC using USB or RS-232 interface and can be connected to the target via an ICD connector. The connector uses two device I/O pins that are shared between in-circuit debugging and In-Circuit Serial Programming™.

Host System Requirements
· PC-compatible system with a Intel Pentium®class or higher processor, or equivalent
· A minimum of 32 MB RAM
· A minimum of 40 MB available hard drive space
· CD-ROM drive (for use with the accompanying CD)
· Available USB or RS-232 port
· Microsoft®Windows®98, Windows NT®4.0, Windows 2000 or Windows XP. USB support may be limited by the Windows operating system, particularly Windows 98/NT.

Features
· USB (Full Speed 2 Mbits/s) and RS-232 interface to host PC
· Real-time execution
· MPLAB IDE compatible (free copy included)
· Built-in over voltage/short circuit monitor
· Firmware upgradeable from PC/web download
· Totally enclosed
· Supports low voltage to 2.0 volts (2.0 to 6.0 range)
· Diagnostic LED's (Power, Busy, Error)
· Read/Write program and data memory of microcontroller
· Erase of program memory space with verification
· Freeze-peripherals at breakpoint

Products Supported
The MPLAB ICD 2 currently supports most PIC and dsPIC Flash microcontrollers. Flash PICmicro MCU’s not supported are PIC16F72/73/74/76/77/83/84A.
The MPLAB ICD 2 firmware is continually being updated to add support for new devices. A review of the README file located in MPLAB IDE is recommended for the most current list of supported parts. As new device firmware becomes available, free downloads are available at
www.microchip.com.