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GPIODM-KPLCD GPIO Expander Demo Board

MCHPGPIODM-KPLCD GPIO Expander Demo Board

MPN: GPIODM-KPLCD
Microchip Technology
MCP23xxx - Front Panel Controller, LCD Interface Evaluation Board
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Overview

The GPIODM-KPLCD is an evaluation platform designed to demonstrate the MCP23xxx family of I2C and SPI GPIO expanders in user interface applications. The board features an integrated 8-bit PIC microcontroller that manages communication between the GPIO expanders and the onboard hardware peripherals. It serves as a reference design for implementing tactile keypads and liquid crystal displays using minimal host controller pins.

Why Choose This Part

The board demonstrates how to reduce system pin count by offloading keyboard scanning and display driving to dedicated GPIO expanders. It supports both I2C and SPI interfaces, allowing engineers to evaluate different bus architectures on a single piece of hardware.

Applications

Front Panel Control
Prototyping user interfaces that require multiple tactile switches and status LEDs through a serial interface.
LCD Interfacing
Driving standard character or alphanumeric LCD modules using GPIO expanders to conserve MCU pins.
I2C/SPI GPIO Evaluation
Testing the performance and latency of MCP23xxx series expanders in high-density I/O scenarios.

Key Specifications

Type Interface
Contents Board(s)
Embedded Yes, MCU, 8-Bit
Function Front Panel Controller, LCD
Utilized IC / Part MCP23xxx

Getting Started

To begin evaluation, connect the board to a PC via a USB cable or use the ICSP header for custom firmware development with a PICkit or MPLAB ICD. Microchip provides demo code and documentation for the MCP23S17 (SPI) and MCP23017 (I2C) variants to accelerate software integration.