Prof.

Muthuraman Ramasamy

Introduction to Microprocessors
Lecture 1
PROF. MUTHURAMAN RAMASAMY

Microprocessor

The key element of all computers, providing the mathematical and decision making ability Current state-of-the-art uPs (Pentium, Athlon, SPARC, PowerPC) contain complex circuits consisting of tens of millions of transistors They operate at ultra-fast speeds doing over a billion operations very second Made up from a semiconductor, Silicon

Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

Integrated Circuits

Those components are

Commonly known as an IC or a chip A tiny piece of Silicon that has several electronic parts on it Most of the size of an IC comes form the pins and packaging; the actual Silicon occupies a very small piece of the volume The smallest components on an IC are much smaller than the thickness of a human hair
Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

Devices
Transistors Diodes Resistors Capacitors Wires

And are made of the following materials

Silicon - semiconductor Copper - conductor Silicon Dioxide - insulator
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Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

What is a Microprocessor?

What about micro?

The word comes from the combination micro and processor.

Processor means a device that processes whatever. In this context processor means a device that processes numbers, specifically binary numbers, 0s and 1s.
To process means to manipulate. It is a general term that describes all manipulation. Again in this content, it means to perform certain operations on the numbers that depend on the microprocessors design.

Micro is a new addition.

In the late 1960s, processors were built using discrete elements.
These devices performed the required operation, but were too large and too slow.

In the early 1970s the microchip was invented. All of the components that made up the processor were now placed on a single piece of silicon. The size became several thousand times smaller and the speed became several hundred times faster. The Micro Processor was born. 5
Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

Definition of the Microprocessor

The microprocessor is a programmable device that takes in numbers, performs on them arithmetic or logical operations according to the program stored in memory and then produces other numbers as a result.

Definition (Contd.)
Lets expand each of the underlined words: Programmable device: The microprocessor can perform different sets of operations on the data it receives depending on the sequence of instructions supplied in the given program. By changing the program, the microprocessor manipulates the data in different ways. Instructions: Each microprocessor is designed to execute a specific group of operations. This group of operations is called an instruction set. This instruction set defines what the microprocessor can and cannot do.

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Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

Definition (Contd.)
Words, Bytes, etc.
The earliest microprocessor (the Intel 8085 and Motorolas 6800) recognized 8-bit words.
They processed information 8-bits at a time. Thats why they are called 8-bit processors. They can handle large numbers, but in order to process these numbers, they broke them into 8-bit pieces and processed each group of 8-bits separately.

Definition (Contd.)
Arithmetic and Logic Operations:
Every microprocessor has arithmetic operations such as add and subtract as part of its instruction set.
Most microprocessors will have operations such as multiply and divide. Some of the newer ones will have complex operations such as square root.

Later microprocessors (8086 and 68000) were designed with 16bit words.
A group of 8-bits were referred to as a half-word or byte. A group of 4 bits is called a nibble. Also, 32 bit groups were given the name long word.

In addition, microprocessors have logic operations as well. Such as AND, OR, XOR, shift left, shift right, etc. Again, the number and types of operations define the microprocessors instruction set and depends on the specific microprocessor.

Today, all processors manipulate at least 32 bits at a time and there exists microprocessors that can process 64, 80, 128 bits or more at a time.
Prof. Muthuraman Ramasamy

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Definition (Contd.)
Programming Languages
Assembly language
This language is more understandable by humans. In this language, the binary patterns are assigned mnemonics (short abbreviated names). e.g. Add 1,2 is assigned to the machine language pattern 11001101 mentioned above to refer to the operation 1+2. There is usually one assembly language instruction for each machine language instruction.

Definition (Contd.)
Stored in memory :
First, what is memory?
Memory is the location where information is kept while not in current use. Memory is a collection of storage devices. Usually, each storage device holds one bit. Also, in most kinds of memory, these storage devices are grouped into groups of 8. These 8 storage locations can only be accessed together. So, one can only read or write in terms of bytes to and form memory. Memory is usually measured by the number of bytes it can hold. It is measured in Kilos, Megas and lately Gigas. A Kilo in computer language is 210 =1024. So, a KB (KiloByte) is 1024 bytes. Mega is 1024 Kilos and Giga is 1024 Mega.

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Definition (Contd.)
Stored in memory:
When a program is entered into a computer, it is stored in memory. Then as the microprocessor starts to execute the instructions, it brings the instructions from memory one at a time. Memory is also used to hold the data.
The microprocessor reads (brings in) the data from memory when it needs it and writes (stores) the results into memory when it is done.

Definition (Contd.)
Produces: For the user to see the result of the execution of the program, the results must be presented in a human readable form.
The results must be presented on an output device. This can be the monitor, a paper from the printer, a simple LED or many other forms.

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A microprocessor system?

Micro-controllers?

uPs are powerful pieces of hardware, but not much useful on their own Just as the human brain needs hands, feet, eyes, ears, mouth to be useful; so does the uP A uP system is uP plus all the components it requires to do a certain task A microcomputer is 1 example of a uP system

Micro-controllers are another type of uP systems They are generally not that powerful, cost a few dollars a piece, and are found embedded in video games, VCRs, microwave ovens, printers, autos, etc. They are a complete computer on a chip containing direct input and output capability and memory along with the uP on a single chip. Many times they contain other specialized application-specific components as well

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