MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEMS

Lesson 1: INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR AND BASIC CONCEPTS

MICROPROCESSOR
 a programmable electronic chip that has computing and decision-making
capabilities
 defined as an entire central processing unit of a computer constructed on a single
piece of silicon chip that performs general-purpose processing tasks
 the brain of a computer system executing instructions, performing arithmetic
and logic operations, and managing data flow

 The microprocessor concept was developed in 1969 by INTEL engineers Ted Hoff and
Stan Mazor but its implementation was undertaken by INTEL process engineer
Federico Faggin in a chip set that became to be known as the INTEL 4000 family.

 The INTEL 4004 version was followed by the 8 bit 8008 in 1972 and an improved
version called the 8080 in 1974.

 Similar chips to the 8080 were developed by Motorola (MC 6800) and Zilog (Z-80).
These chips had 8-bit data bus widths, and 16-bit address buses.

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Figure 1. Evolution of the Intel Microprocessors

Nowadays, microprocessors can be seen in almost all types of electronic devices

like mobile phones, printers, washing machines, etc. They are also used in advanced
applications like radars, satellites, and flights. Due to the rapid advancements in
electronic industry and large scale integration of devices results in a significant cost
reduction and increase application of microprocessors and their derivatives.

TERMINOLOGIES IN MICROPROCESSOR SYSTEM:

 Bit: A bit is a single binary digit.

 Nibble: A nibble is four binary digits or equivalent to a single hexadecimal digit.

 Byte: A byte is eight binary digits or twice of a nibble.

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 Word: A word refers to the basic data size or bit size that can be processed by the
arithmetic logic unit of the processor. A 16-bit binary number is called a word in a
16-bit processor.

 Bus: A bus is a group of wires/lines that carry similar information.

 System Bus: The system bus is a group of wires/lines used for communication
between the microprocessor and peripherals.

 Memory Word: The number of bits that can be stored in a register or memory
element is called a memory word.

 Address Bus: The address bus carries the address, which is a unique binary pattern
used to identify a memory location or an I/O port. For example, an 8-bit address
bus has eight lines and thus, it can address 28 = 256 different locations. The locations
in hexadecimal format can be written as 00H – FFH.

 Data Bus: The data bus is used to transfer data between memory and processor or
between I/O device and processor. For example, an 8-bit processor will generally
have an 8-bit data bus and a 16-bit processor will have 16-bit data bus.

 Control Bus: The control bus carries control signals, which consists of signals for
selection of memory or I/O device from the given address, direction of data transfer
and synchronization of data transfer in case of slow devices.

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TYPES OF MICROPROCESSORS:
1.) Intel x86
 commonly used in personal computers, known for high performance

2.) ARM
 prevalent in mobile devices and embedded systems, efficient power usage

3.) AMD Ryzen

 competitor to Intel x86, known for offering strong performance

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Lesson 2: MICROPROCESSOR vs. MICROCONTROLLER

MICROCONTROLLER
 a microprocessor with an on-chip memory and input/output (I/O) capability
 a compact integrated circuit that contains a processor core, memory, and
peripherals, all on a single chip
 typically designed into embedded systems with a “canned program” or a program
that never changes
 designed for specific control-oriented tasks and commonly used in applications
where real-time control and compact sizes are crucial

 Modern microcontrollers allow reprogramming in the field to fit specific customer

requirements. Popular applications are in HVAC, car controls, and consumer
appliances.

KEY FEATURES OF MICROCONTROLLER:

1.) Parts-Integration
2.) Task-Specific
3.) Reduced External Components
4.) Low Power Consumption

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COMPARISON BETWEEN MICROPROCESSOR AND MICROCONTROLLER:

MICROPROCESSOR MICROCONTROLLER

 It is a general-purpose computer
 It is a microcomputer itself.
CPU.

 Memory, I/O ports, timers, and

 All are integrated inside the
interrupts are not available inside
microcontroller chip.
the chip.

 This must have many additional

 Can function as a microcomputer
digital components to perform its
without any additional components.
operation.

 Systems become bulkier and  Make the system simple, economic

expensive. and compact.

 Not capable of handling Boolean  Capable of handling Boolean

functions. functions.

 Higher accessing time required.  Low accessing time.

 Very few pins are programmable.  Most of the pins are programmable.

 Very few number of bit handling

 Many bit handling instructions.
instructions.

 Widely used in modern PCs and  Widely used in small control

laptops. systems.

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3 KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN MICROPROCESSOR AND MICROCONTROLLER:

1.) COST
Generally speaking, microcontrollers tend to cost less than microprocessors.
Microprocessors are typically manufactured for use with more expensive devices that
will leverage external peripherals to drive performance. They are also significantly
more complex, as they are meant to perform a variety of computational tasks while
microcontrollers usually perform a dedicated function. This is another reason why
microprocessors require a robust external memory source - to support more complex
computational tasks.

With a microcontroller, engineers write and compile the code intended for the
specific application and upload it into the microcontroller, which internally houses all
of the necessary computing features and components to execute the code. Due to their
narrow individual applications, microcontrollers frequently require less memory, less
computing power, and less overall complexity than microprocessors, hence the lower
cost.

2.) SPEED
When it comes to overall clock speed, there is a significant difference between
industry-leading microprocessor chips and high-quality microcontrollers. This relates
back to the idea that microcontrollers are meant to handle a specific task or
application, while a microprocessor is meant for more complex, robust, and
unpredictable computing tasks.

One of the key design advantages associated with microcontrollers is that they
can be optimized to run the code for a specific task. That means using just the right
amount of speed and power to get the job done - no more and no less. As a result, many
microprocessors are clocking speeds of up to 4 GHz while microcontrollers can operate
with much lower speeds of 200 MHz or less.

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At the same time, the close proximity of on-chip components can help
microcontrollers perform functions quickly despite their slower clock speed.
Microprocessors can sometimes operate more slowly because of their dependence on
communicating with external peripherals.

3.) POWER CONSUMPTION

One of the key advantages associated with microcontrollers is their low power
consumption. A computer processor that performs a dedicated task requires less speed,
and therefore less power, than a processor with robust computational capacity. Power
consumption plays an important role in implementation design: a processor that
consumes a lot of power may need to be plugged in or supported by an external power
supply, whereas a processor that consumes limited power could be powered for a long
time by just a small battery.

For tasks that require low computational power, it can be much more cost
effective to implement a microcontroller versus a microprocessor that consumes much
more power for the same output.

TYPES OF MICROCONTROLLERS:
1.) Atmel AVR
 widely used in hobbyist projects, known for simplicity and low power
consumption

2.) PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller)

 developed by Microchip Technology, popular in embedded systems

3.) STM32 (ARM Cortex-M)

 powerful microcontrollers with a broad range of applications

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Lesson 3: STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS OF THE MICROPROCESSOR

Figure 2. Microprocessor Architecture

1.) CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

 primarily for data processing

2.) ARITHMETIC-LOGIC UNIT (ALU)

 carries out arithmetic and logic operations on the operands in computer
instruction words
 arithmetic operations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, and
division
 logic operations such as OR, AND, NOT, NOR, NAND, XOR and XNOR

3.) CONTROL UNIT (CU)

 controls the instructions and generates the signals to operate the other
components

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 receive signals from the CPU, which instructs the control unit to move data
from microprocessor to another microprocessor
 directs the ALU
 consist of multiple components such as decoder, clock and control logic circuits

4.) REGISTERS
 temporary data holding places
 maintain data, such as computer instructions, storage addresses, characters
and other data.
Examples of Registers:
 instruction register
 program counter
 accumulator
 memory address register

Types of Registers:
a.) GENERAL–PURPOSE REGISTERS
 used by the programmer to store arbitrary data

b.) RESERVED REGISTERS

 not used by the programmer to store arbitrary data

5.) INPUT–OUTPUT (I/O) DEVICES

 transfer data between microcomputers and external devices
Examples of I/O Devices:
 monitor
 speaker
 keyboard

6.) BUSES
 classifications of wiring that have specific tasks and functions

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Examples of Buses:
 address bus
 control bus
 data bus

7.) MEMORY CACHE

 retain the last data used by the CPU
 speed up the computing process because the CPU does not have to go to the
slower RAM (random access memory) to retrieve data

5 GENERATIONS OF MICROPROCESSORS:
1.) FIRST–GENERATION MICROPROCESSORS
 4–bit microprocessors introduced in 1971–1972

2.) SECOND–GENERATION MICROPROCESSORS

 8–bit microprocessors introduced in 1973

3.) THIRD–GENERATION MICROPROCESSORS

 16–bit microprocessors introduced in 1978

4.) FOURTH–GENERATION MICROPROCESSORS

 32–bit microprocessors

5.) FIFTH–GENERATION MICROPROCESSORS

 64–bit microprocessors

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