Microcontrollers

Concepts and Fundamentals

Objectives
To know and understand the concepts and fundamentals related to the study of microcontrollers

Microcontrollers

Contents
Review of a microcomputer system Central processing unit, CPU CPU cycles Definition of buses PIC microcontroller architecture

Microcontrollers

A Typical Microcomputer System

Microcontrollers

A Typical Microcomputer System

The operation of the whole system is under control of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) There is support for bidirectional human interface (I/O) I/O ports for interaction with the outside world (peripheral) Primary memory for program and data Secondary memory for mass storage and data backup Auxiliary memory for graphics processing

Microcontrollers

Central Processing Unit (CPU)

WRITE

4 8
LD_IR
LD_IR_LSN
INSTRUCTION DECODER

R0-R15

WEN CEN OEN

IR 4

PROGRAM 17

1111111111111 0000000000

C 7 7
AOP

ALU

SEL_DATA_RAM

PC 7
JUMP_PC

7 +
INC_PC

ACC 4

Microcontrollers

CPU Cycles
The operation of a typical CPU can be decomposed into three main cycles: fetch, decode and execute The fetch cycle consists in getting an instruction from the instruction memory and storing it in the instruction register The decode cycle consists in translating the bit pattern of the instruction into control signals (instruction decoder) The execute cycle consists in inputting data to the ALU, selection an ALU operation and storing the result in either an internal register or the data memory
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Buses
Three buses can be found in a microcomputer system: data, control and address bus
The data bus is the communication channel between the CPU and the rest of the system The address bus allows the selection of the source/destination of the data The control bus determines the type of communication that takes place, i.e. reading or writing access

Microcontrollers

Buses
A schematic diagram indicating the communication of the three buses with the CPU is shown below

Microcontrollers

Microprocessors vs. Microcontrollers

Microcontroller-based systems are microcomputer system built around a microprocessor (CPU) and a set of memories and peripherals, all encapsulated in an integrated circuit (IC)

Microcontrollers

10

Microprocessors vs. Microcontrollers

Regarding applications
Microprocessors are used in data-processing applications Microcontrollers are used as reactive systems that deal with events from the outside world and as control systems with I/O interfacing

Regarding the instruction set

Microprocessors support complex addressing modes that are aimed to handling several structures of data: arrays, pointers, etc. Microcontrollers are aimed to controlling and monitoring I/O ports in terms of verification of status bits, interrupts and timers Microcontrollers 11

PIC Microcontrollers
Among the most important features of the PIC microcontrollers are
Harvard architecture Pipeline processing scheme Orthogonal instruction format Register-banks internal organizations

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Von Neumann Architecture

A single integrated circuit memory that holds data and program The CPU is in charge of identifying data from program Same bits width for data and instructions
DATA and PROGRAM MEMORY

CPU

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Harvard Architecture
Data and program have their own memory The bit widths may differ Simultaneous access are allowed

PROGRAM MEMORY (ROM)

CPU

DATA MEMORY (RAM)

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Pipeline Processing
The internal architecture is divided into independent blocks that are serially connected forming a pipeline The execution of an instruction is allocated to a certain number of blocks Execution of several instructions can be simultaneously executed in an one-after-the-other fashion
BLOCK 1 BLOCK 2 BLOCK 3 BLOCK 4

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RISC, CISC ans SISC Processors

CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer)
Large number of instructions Complex and powerful instructions

RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)

Reduced number of instructions Simple instructions ans easy coding

SISC (Specific Instruction Set Computer)

Reduced number of instructions Application-oriented instructions

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Orthogonal Architecture
In a traditional architecture, the outcome of an ALU operation can only be stored in the accumulator In an orthogonal architecture, the outcome of an ALU operation can be stored in an internal register as well as the accumulator Orthogonal
DATA MEMORY DATA MEMORY W

Traditional

ALU

ALU

ACC

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Summary
Microcontrollers are microcomputer systems made up of a CPU, memories and peripherals presented as an IC The execution of instructions by the CPU has three phases: fetch, decode and execute Microchips PIC have a harvard, RISC and orthogonal architecture The microcontrollers that will be studied are 8-bit data wide

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