CE324:

MICROPROCESSOR
I N T E R FA C I N G

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Objectives
After completing this chapter of the book, you would be able to:
Compare the microprocessors and microcontrollers
Describe the advantages of the microcontrollers for some applications
Explain the concept of embedded systems
Discuss the criteria for considering a microcontroller
Explain the variations of speed, packaging, memory and cost per unit
and how these effect the choice of a microcontroller
Compare the various members of the 8051 family
Compare 8051 microcontrollers offered by various manufacturers

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Outlines
Microcontrollers and embedded processors
Differences between microcontrollers and
microprocessors
Embedded processors: microprocessors targeted
towards embedded market
Criteria for choosing a microcontroller
Overview of the 8051 family
Various versions of 8051 family being offered by
different manufacturers

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Microcontrollers and
embedded processor

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Microcontroller vs General purpose
microprocessor

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Microcontroller vs General purpose
microprocessor (Contd)

Observe all peripherals integrated on

a single chip in microcontrollers
while the same peripherals are
external to a microprocessor.

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 Microcontroller vs General Purpose
Microprocessor (Contd)
A designer using general purpose microprocessor e.g. the Pentium, needs to add
the peripherals externally to make them useful
Although adding peripherals makes the systems bulkier and more expensive, but
they are versatile i.e. ROM, RAM etc added as per requirements
In comparison, these peripherals inbuilt on a single chip in microcontrollers so
the designer cannot add any external I/O, memory or timer to it
Fixed amount of on-chip ROM, RAM and I/O ports however, make
microcontrollers ideal for applications in which cost and space are critical e.g. in
TV remote, we do not need the power of an 8086 microprocessor
In many applications, the space, power consumed and price per unit are more
critical than the processing power
Some manufacturers have even got ADCs and other peripherals integrated into
the microcontrollers

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Microcontrollers for embedded systems

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Microcontrollers for embedded systems (Contd)
Some embedded products using microcontrollers

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x86 PC embedded applications
Although microcontrollers are the preferred choice for many applications,
sometimes a microcontroller is inadequate for the task
For this reason, many manufactures of general-purpose microprocessors
have targeted their microprocessor for the high-end of the embedded
market
When a company targets a general-purpose microprocessor for the
embedded market, it optimizes the processor used for embedded systems
For this reason, these processors are sometimes called high-end
embedded processors
Very often, the terms embedded processor and microcontroller are used
interchangeably
x86 used to denote the microprocessor family based on the Intel 8086 and
8088 microprocessors

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 x86 PC embedded applications (Contd)
One of the most critical needs of an embedded system is to reduce
power consumption and space requirement
In high-performance embedded processors, the trend is to integrate
more functions on CPU chip (thus reducing power & space utilization)
& let designer decide which features need to be used
The trend has invaded PC design with a chip containing the entire
PC apart from some components e.g. DRAMs, i.e. computer on a chip
In many cases (due to MS-DOS & Windows standardization) using
x86 PCs for the high-end embedded applications offers benefits:
Vast library of SW already written for the DOS and Windows platforms
Windows widely used & understood platform so developing windows-
based embedded product reduces cost & shortens development time

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Choosing a microcontroller
Four major 8-bit microcontrollers i.e. most available
operations are limited to 8 bits
Motorola’s 6811
Intel’s 8051
Zilog’s Z8
Microchip’s PIC

Each one having its own instruction and register set and
are thus, not compatible with each other i.e. a program
written for one will not run on others
There are also 16-bit and 32-bit microcontrollers made by
various chip makers

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Microcontroller choice criteria
Three basic criteria used to select among
the available microcontrollers
Meeting the computing needs of the task at hand
efficiently and cost effectively
Availability of software development tools, such as
compilers, assemblers, and debuggers
Wide availability and reliable sources of the
microcontroller according to needs both for now and
for future

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Criteria (Contd)
Meeting the computing needs of the task at hand
efficiently and cost effectively
Speed: Max speed that the microcontroller supports
Packaging: 40-pin DIP (dual inline package) or a QFP (quad flat
package) or some other package as is important in terms of space,
assembling and prototyping the end product
Power consumption: Especially important for battery-powered
products
The amount of RAM and ROM on chip
The number of I/O pins and the timer on chip
How easy to upgrade to higher-performance or lower power-
consumption versions?
Cost per unit: Important in terms of the cost of the final product

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 Criteria (Contd)
Availability of software development tools, such as code-
efficient C language compilers, assemblers, debuggers, emulator,
technical support and both in house and outside expertise
Wide availability and reliable sources of the microcontroller
The 8051 family has the largest number of diversified suppliers

Intel (Original) Infineon (formerly Siemens)

Atmel Matra
Philps/Signetics Dallas Semiconductor/Maxim
AMD

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Overview of the 8051
family

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8051 microcontroller

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The 8051 microcontroller (Contd)

System bus connects all

devices to the CPU
System bus:
8-bit data bus
16-bit address bus
Bus control signals

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The 8051 family

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Various 8051 microcontrollers
Although the 8051 is the most popular member of the 8051
family, you won’t see “8051” in the part number
This is because the 8051 is available in various memory
types, all of which having different part numbers
UV-EPROM:
To erase data stored in the transistor arrays, UV light is directed onto the die
Flash ROM:
Flash memory is an EEPROM (electronically erasable programmable ROM)
form of computer memory and thus, does not require a power source to
retain the data
NV-RAM (Non volatile-Random Access Memory):
RAM that retains data without applied power.

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8051: UV-EPROM
8751 microcontroller
Only 4kBytes of on-chip UV-EPROM
Using this chip for development requires access to a
PROM burner as well as UV-EPROM eraser to erase the
contents of UV-EPROM before it can be programmed
again.
UV-EPROM takes around 20mins to erase 8751 before it
can be programmed again
This has led many manufacturers to introduce flash and
NV-RAM versions of 8051

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8051: Flash memory
AT89C51 from Atmel corporation
Ideal for development since flash memory can be erased in seconds unlike
the 20mins or more needed for 8751
Development using AT89C51 needs a ROM burner that supports erasing the
flash memory as well thus, eliminating the need of a separate ROM eraser
In flash memory, the ROM contents MUST BE erased completely before it
can be programmed again

DS89C4x0 from Dallas Semiconductor, now part of Maxim Corp.

Again Flash memory but PROM burner (of AT89C51) not required
Comes with on-chip loader, loading program to the on-chip flash via serial PC
COM port
This in-system program loading makes it an ideal home development system

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8051: NV-RAM and OTP
DS5000 from Dallas Semiconductor
The advantage of NV-RAM is the ability to change ROM components one
byte at a time
The DS5000 also comes with a loader, allowing it to be programmed through
the PC’s COM port

One-time programmable (OTP) versions of 8051

UV-PROM and Flash versions typically used for product development
When a product is developed and absolutely finalized, the OTP version of the
8051 is used for mass production due to being cheaper in terms of price/unit

8051 family from Philips

Many features e.g. ADC, DAC, extended I/Os and both flash and OTP

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 Summary
Role and importance of microcontrollers in everyday life
were discussed
Microprocessors and microcontrollers were contrasted
Use of microcontrollers in the embedded market was
discussed as well
The criteria for microcontroller selection and an
overview of the various versions of the 8051
microcontroller was also considered

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Next time

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