This powerful (200 nanosecond instruction execution) yet easy-to-program (only 35 single word instructions) CMOS FLASH-based 8-bit microcontroller packs Microchip's powerful PIC? architecture into an 28-pin package and is upwards compatible with the PIC16C5X, PIC12CXXX and PIC16C7X devices. The PIC16F873A features 128 bytes of EEPROM data memory, self programming, an ICD, 2 Comparators, 5 channels of 10-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter, the synchronous serial port can be configured as either 3-wire Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI?) or the 2-wire Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C?) bus and a Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (USART). All of these features make it ideal for more advanced level A/D applications in automotive, industrial, appliances and consumer applications.