INTRODUCTION TO THE WORLD OF MICROCONTROLLERS | 8051 FAMILY

In my earlier posts I've given introduction to tha embedded systems,then moved on to the what are  microcontrollers and  diffrence between microcontrollers and microprocessors 
In this post i'll be introducing you to the world of microcontrollers and the most common 8051 family.
There are various 8 bit and even more (16 or 32 bit)  microcontrollers available,the most common is 8-bit microcontrollers and the firms manufacturing them are :
Motorola's 6811  , Intel 8051 , Microchip's pic.

Before CHOOSING a microcontroller for an embedded system,the need must be noticed and accordingly microcontrollers  configuration is choosed :

NOW coming on 8051 microcontrollers. They are the most common among microcontrollers family. A large number of firms manufactures it.
some among them are :
Intel,Atmel,Philips,amd,Matra,dallas semicontuductors,Siemens


Intel introduced its 8051 microcontrollers known by name MCS 51 in 1981

It is a8 bit microcontroller that means 8 bits of data can be processed at a time.

CONFIGURATION/FEATURES OF 8051:
1) 128 BYTES OF RAM
2) 4 KB ROM
3) TWO TIMERS
4) 4 I/O PORTS
5) 6 INTEREPPT SOURCE
6) ONE SERIAL PORT

                                       BLOCK DIAGRAM OF 8051 MICROCONTROLLERS

                                                                       8051  family

continue reading other family members

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MICROCONTROLLERS AND MICROPROCESSORS

In this post i'll make your query clear regading the difference between microprocessors and microcontrollers.

First of all microcontollers: As the name suggests microcontollers are derived from two words micro  + controllers. That is they are small is size and used for controlling purposes of an embedded system.

On the other hand microprocessor reminds us of the PC's processors such as intels's 8085, x86(8086),pentium 3,4, motorola 680x0 and nows a days we are having super fast and stable microprocessors like i3.i5,i7 and technology will be more advanced in future.


THE BASIC DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A MICROPROCESSORS AND MICROCONTROLLERS IS THAT IN MICROPROCESSORS THERE ARE NO INTEGRATED RAM, ROM ,I/O PORTS,TIMERS, AND OTHER PERIPHERALS..


THESE ALL NEED TO BE CONNECTED EXTERNALLY TO MAKE THE FUNCTIONAL

WHILE IN MICROCONTROLLERS ALL THESE "RAM,ROM,I/O PORTS,TIMERS ARE INTEGRATED"


In other words, the processor, the RAM, ROM, I/O ports and the timer are all embedded together on one chip.

TAKE A LOOK BELOW (Click to see the enlarged view)

thus to summerize :)


General-purpose microprocessors
a) Must add RAM, ROM, I/O ports, and
timers externally to make them functional

b) Versatility on the amount of RAM, ROM, and I/O ports

c)Make the system bulkier and much more
expensive.

Microcontroller

The fixed amount of on-chip ROM, RAM,
and number of I/O ports makes them ideal
for many applications.and generally are less expansive but depends upon application






8051 microcontrollers :

EMBEDDED SYSTEM MICROCONTROLLERS BASICS | 8051 microcontollers

In my previous post, I've given you   an introduction about embedded system and its applications
In this post I'll be introducing you to the world of microcontrollers and the most common 8051 family microcontrollers. As I have told you that embedded system is a combination of software and hardwares. Softwares deals with the task and flexibilites a system does and hardware part deals with the microcontrollers.

MICROCONTROLLERS IS OFTEN ASSOCIATED  AS MICROPROCCSESORS BUT THERE ARE SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEM.

In general purpose microprocessors there is no RAM, ROM, I/O PORTS, TIMERS and other peripherals
While  microcontrollers has
*A CPU (Microproceesor)
*RAM
*ROM
*I/O PORTS
*TIMER
*ADC (A TO D CONV.)   etc.

CLICK N IMAGE TO SEE THE ENLARGED VIEW
The image describes the microcontllrers and microprocessors. In general purpose microprocessors external ram,rom,i/o prts,timers and other peripherls need to be added to make them functional.

READ ABOUT 8051 FAMILY MICROCONTROLLERS

INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED SYSTEMS AND MICROCONTROLLERS

We are living in the embedded world. We are surrounded by so many embedded products like electronics gadgets namely mobile phones, card readers, TV, radio, washing machines, ovens etc.

What actually are embedded systems :-
THESE ARE BASICALLY A COMBINATION OF SOFTWARE AND HARDWARE AND ARE DESIGNED TO PERFORM A PARTICULAR TAK OR FUNCTION. So we can say it is a computer system that means it do computing.

As I have told you that embedded systems is a combination of software and hardware. The software deals  with the function or task that a particular system performs and  hardware refers to the controllers I.e. embedded system is controlled by hardware known as a microcontroller.

So an embedded system forms an important part of our life and its scope is wide. From mp3 player , wrist watches to air traffic control and  nuclear power plants , everything is an embedded system i.e. performs a particular task.

 A Personal computer is not an embedded system :
Yes that's true  a computer or a laptop is not an embedded system because a computer can carry out many tasks such as calculations, processing, internet, sending mails, playing games, music, image processing, etc. Whereas an embedded system has its property that it is designed to do a particular task.

So I hope you have got an introduction to embedded systems ;
Continue reading    MICROCONTROLLERS AND 8051 FAMILY