Did you know that the ENC28J60 is Microchip’s first incursion into the Ethernet controller field? Well, some of the interesting features of the ENC28J60 are included:

• MAC & PHY IEEE 802.3 10BaseT functions,

• 8KB of dual access RAM packet buffer,

• A SPI serial interface.

It only takes just few components to get the ENC28J60 up, running and connect to a host microprocessor/microcontroller with support.

Today’s project is implementing the ENC28J60 Ethernet Controller with PIC18F4620 8-bit microcontroller through the Microchip’s free TCP/IP stack.

The PIC18F4620 with 40-pin is definitely the suitable microcontroller to be used in the project, due to its additional program and RAM memory space. Since the ENC has 3.3V Vdd supply, one of the best alternatives is to use a 5V Vdd for the MCU. In this case, the level conversion is required for at least the signals from the ENC to the MCU, no conversion is necessary on the other way, as the ENC inputs are 5V tolerant but a small resistor in series is highly recommended to reduce undershoots problem.

Hence, for the project, you’ll need to use a dual power supply, 5V for the MCU and a 3.3V regulator for the ENC. Plus, a 10MHz can oscillator with HS-PLL enabled for a MCU clock speed of 40MHz as well.