The MPLAB PICkit 5 is connected to the design engineer's computer using a USB Type-C® interface
and can be connected to the target via a Microchip debug 8-pin Single In-Line (SIL) connector.
The connector uses two device I/O pins and the reset line to implement in-circuit debugging and
In-Circuit Serial ProgrammingTM (ICSPTM). An additional microSDHC card slot and the ability to be
self-powered from the target means you can take your code with you and program on the go.
Along with a wider target voltage, the MPLAB PICkit 5 supports advanced interfaces such as 4-wire
JTAG, Serial Wire Debug (SWD), and streaming Data Gateway, while being backward compatible
for demo boards and target systems using 2-wire JTAG and ICSP. The MPLAB PICkit 5 also has a
Programmer-To-Go function with the addition of a microSDHC card slot to hold project code and the
ability to be powered by the target board. Additionally, an MPLAB PTG app may be used to select
and manage code on the microSDHC card and program code into the target.
The debugger system executes code like an actual device because it uses a device with built-in
emulation circuitry, instead of a special debugger chip. All available features of a given device are
accessible interactively and can be set and modified by theMPLAB X IDE interface.