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Chapter t
INTRODUCTION

TO

PIC MICROCONTROLLERS

ABSTRACT

Microcontrollers play a vital role in day-to-day walk of

life. Their use in embedded systems is indeed

remarkable. Keeping these facts in view point the first

chapter deals with an introduction to microcontrollers.

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1.1 Introduction

Microprocessors have already brought in a revolutionary change in our

everyday lives. The visible examples are: Desktop computer systems and the Internet.

At present, microprocessors are being replaced by powerful microcontrollers, which

are widely used in electronic systems such as: smart instruments, domestic appliances,

communication equipment, robotics etc., under the name: Embedded systems /

Embedded controllers.

Microcontrollers are becoming an integral part of engineering design process.

The design includes major portion of the hardware and entire software incorporated

on a single chip. This indeed optimizes the space and makes the software

independent of the system controller [1,2].

1.2 PIC microcontrollers

PIC microcontrollers are the popular microcontrollers from Microchip

Technology. PIC is the name for the Microchip microcontroller family, which stands

for “Peripheral Interface Controller”. Further, PIC microcontrollers are easily

programmable cheap microcontrollers [3].

The general architecture of PIC microcontrollers consists of a microprocessor,

I/O ports, timer(s) and other internal integrated hardware. These Microchip

microcontrollers have electrically erasable reprogrammable memory and are

described as having “ FLASH” program memory. Flash is the technology where

blocks of memory are erased and then reprogrammed simultaneously. The Microchip

parts have the facility of changing (including erasing) any instruction address without

affecting other addresses.

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PIC microcontrollers play an useful role in the scenario of embedded

information processing [4]. Embedded means ‘hidden’ or ‘buried’. The embedded

information is truly hidden inside the device/product that is in use. In the commonly

used appliances such as washing machine, the embedded software adjusts the water

level basing on the load and adjusts the washing cycle basing on the dirtiness of the

water. One more example for embedded software is a car security system, which

blocks the motion of a car when an unauthorized entry takes place.

The revolution in embedded intelligence is driven by microcontrollers. The

use of simple microprocessors in embedded intelligence has gradually decreased and

the use of microcontrollers in such an environment has not only increased but also

brought in a revolutionary change. For many years, the embedded intelligence is

driven by 4-bit microcontrollers. The 4-bit microcontroller means the microcontroller

that handles 4-bit data at a time. High-end embedded systems use 8-bit and 16-bit

microcontrollers.

The embedded intelligence can be found in five broad areas. The first is the

consumer segment, which includes home appliances and entertainment equipment.

The second is in automobile, wherein a modem car has nearly 50 microcontrollers

providing intelligence and control (keyless entry, antilock braking etc.,). The third

market is office automation, which includes PCs, keyboards, copiers and printers.

The fourth area, telecommunications, includes cellular phones, pagers and answering

machines. The fifth area encompasses industrial products such as door locks,

automatic faucets and industrial machinery.

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1.3 Reasons for the popularity of PIC microcontrollers

In all the above-mentioned products, one can find the wide usage of PIC

microcontrollers. The factors that account for the popularity of PIC microcontrollers

are:

• Speed: When operated at its maximum clock rate, a PIC executes most

of its instructions in 0,2 gs or five instructions per microsecond.

• Instruction set simplicity: The instruction set consists of just 35

instructions.

• Integration of operational features: PIC microcontrollers have the Power-

On-Reset and Brown-Out protection features which operate the chip only

when the supply voltage is within the specification. PIC microcontrollers

also have watchdog timer, which resets the PIC whenever the chip either

malfunctions or deviates from its normal operation. In PIC

microcontrollers, four clock options are supported in which a low-cost

RC (Resistor- Capacitor) oscillator and a high accuracy crystal oscillator

are included. A variety of low power options are also supported.

• Programmable timer options: Three versatile timers can characterize

inputs, controls output and provide internal timing for program execution.

• Interrupt control: PIC family has up to 14 interrupt sources. They can

control the Central Processing Unit when it is dealing with each source.

• Powerful output pin control: A single instruction can select and drive a

single output pin high or low in its 0.2 ps instruction execution time. The

pin can drive a load of up to 25 mA.

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• I/O port expansion: The built in serial peripheral interface can make use

of standard 16-pin shift register parts to add any number of I/O pins.

The introduction presented above gives an idea regarding the role of

microcontroller in embedded systems. Keeping this in view point, a PIC

microcontroller (PIC 16F877) is chosen to develop certain interfaces. But before

going to know the details of interfaces it is worthwhile to acquaint with the

microcontroller used in the present work. In this direction, the architectural details

and the method of software handling are included in the next chapter.
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REFERENCES

1. Muhammad Ali Mazidi, Janice Gillispie Mazidi “ The 8051

Microcontroller and Embedded Systems”, Prentice Hall India Private

Limited, New Delhi (2005)

2. Ajay V Deshmukh “Microcontrollers (Theory and Applications)”, Tata

McGraw Hill Publishing company Limited, New Delhi (2005)

3. www .microchip.com

4. John B.Peatman “Design with PIC microcontrollers” Pearson Edu.

(Singapore) Pte, Ltd, Indian Branch, New Delhi (2001)