Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

University of Technology
Department of Electrical Engineering
Microcontrollers

Architecture of microcontrollers

Reported by

Mohammed Jawad Kamil

Supervised by

Asst. Prof. Dr. Eyad I. Abbas

Date: July 9, 2020

Abstract:
Microcontrollers are used in automatically controlled products and devices, such as
automobile engine control systems, implantable medical devices, remote controls, office
machines, appliances, power tools, toys and other embedded systems. By reducing the size and
cost compared to a design that uses a separate microprocessor, memory, and input/output
devices, microcontrollers make it economical to digitally control even more devices and
processes. Mixed signal microcontrollers are common, integrating analog components needed to
control non-digital electronic systems. In the context of the internet of things, microcontrollers
are an economical and popular means of data collection, sensing and actuating the physical
world as edge devices.

Introduction:
Even at a time when Intel presented the first microprocessor with the 4004 there was already
a demand for microcontrollers: The contemporary TMS1802 from Texas Instruments, designed
for usage in calculators, was by the end of 1971 advertised for applications in cash registers,
watches and measuring instruments. The TMS 1000, which was introduced in 1974, already
included RAM, ROM, and I/O on-chip and can be seen as one of the first microcontrollers, even
though it was called a microcomputer. The first controllers to gain really widespread use were
the Intel 8048, which was integrated into PC keyboards, and its successor, the Intel 8051, as well
as the 68HCxx series of microcontrollers from Motorola.

Definition of Microcontrollers:
A microcontroller is a small, low-cost and self-contained computer-on-a-chip that can be used as an
embedded system. A few microcontrollers may utilize four-bit expressions and work at clock rate
frequencies, which usually include:

 An 8 or 16 bit microprocessor.
 A little measure of RAM.
 Programmable ROM and flash memory.
 Parallel and serial I/O.
 Timers and signal generators.
 Analog to Digital and Digital to Analog conversion
Microcontrollers usually must have low-power requirements since many devices they control are
battery-operated. Microcontrollers are used in many consumer electronics, car engines, computer
peripherals and test or measurement equipment. And these are well suited for long lasting battery
applications. The dominant part of microcontrollers being used now a days are implanted in
other apparatus.

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Classifications of Microcontrollers:
The bits in microcontroller are 8-bits, 16-bits and 32-bits microcontroller.
In 8-bit microcontroller, the point when the internal bus is 8-bit then the ALU is performs the
arithmetic and logic operations. The examples of 8-bit microcontrollers are Intel 8031/8051,
PIC1x and Motorola MC68HC11 families. The 16-bit microcontroller performs greater precision
and performance as compared to 8-bit. For example 8 bit microcontrollers can only use 8 bits,
resulting in a final range of 0×00 – 0xFF (0-255) for every cycle. In contrast, 16 bit
microcontrollers with its 16 bit data width has a range of 0×0000 – 0xFFFF (0-65535) for every
cycle. A longer timer most extreme worth can likely prove to be useful in certain applications
and circuits. It can automatically operate on two 16 bit numbers. Some examples of 16-bit
microcontroller are 16-bit MCUs are extended 8051XA, PIC2x, Intel 8096 and Motorola
MC68HC12 families. The 32-bit microcontroller uses the 32-bit instructions to perform the
arithmetic and logic operations. These are used in automatically controlled devices including
implantable medical devices, engine control systems, office machines, appliances and other types
of embedded systems. Some examples are Intel/Atmel 251 family, PIC3x.
Classification According to Memory Devices
The memory devices are divided into two types, they are
 Embedded memory microcontroller
 External memory microcontroller
Embedded memory microcontroller: When an embedded system has a microcontroller unit that
has all the functional blocks available on a chip is called an embedded microcontroller. For
example, 8051 having program & data memory, I/O ports, serial communication, counters and
timers and interrupts on the chip is an embedded microcontroller.
External Memory Microcontroller: When an embedded system has a microcontroller unit that
has not all the functional blocks available on a chip is called an external memory
microcontroller. For example, 8031 has no program memory on the chip is an external memory
microcontroller.

Classification According to Memory Architecture:

Memory architecture of microcontroller are two types, they are namely:
 Harvard memory architecture microcontroller
 Princeton memory architecture microcontroller
Harvard Memory Architecture Microcontroller: The point when a microcontroller unit has a
dissimilar memory address space for the program and data memory, the microcontroller has
Harvard memory architecture in the processor.

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Princeton Memory Architecture Microcontroller: The point when a microcontroller has a
common memory address for the program memory and data memory, the microcontroller has
Princeton memory architecture in the processor.

Memory Architecture of 8051:

The memory of 8051 is divided to two parts. They are Program Memory and Data Memory.
Program Memory stores the program being executed whereas Data Memory temporarily stores
the data and the results. The 8051 has been in use in a wide number of devices, mainly because it
is easy to integrate into a device. Microcontrollers are mainly used in energy management, touch
screen, automobiles, and medical devices.

Program Memory of 8051

And

Data Memory of 8051

 
Pin Description of 8051 Microcontroller
Pin-40: Vcc is the main power source of +5V DC.
Pin 20: Vss – it represents ground (0 V) connection.
Pins 32-39: Known as Port 0 (P0.0 to P0.7) to serving as I/O ports.

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Pin-31: Address Latch Enable (ALE) is used to demultiplex the address-data signal of port 0.
Pin-30: (EA) External Access input is used to enable or disable external memory interfacing. If
there is no external memory requirement, this pin is always held high.
Pin- 29: Program Store Enable (PSEN) is used to read signal from external program memory.
Pins- 21-28: Known as Port 2 (P 2.0 to P 2.7) – in addition to serving as I/O port, higher order
address bus signals are multiplexed with this quasi bi directional port.
Pins 18 and 19: Used to interfacing an external crystal to provide system clock.
Pins 10 – 17: This port also serves some other functions like interrupts, timer input, control
signals for external memory interfacing Read and Write. This is a quasi bidirectional port with
internal pull up.
Pin 9: It is a RESET pin, used to set the 8051 microcontroller to its initial values, while the
microcontroller is working or at the initial start of application. The RESET pin must be set high
for 2 machine cycles.
Pins 1 – 8: This port does not serve any other functions. Port 1 is a quasi bi directional I/O port.

Renesas Microcontroller:
Renesas is latest automotive microcontroller family that offers high performance feature with
exceptionally low power consumption over a wide and versatile extend of items. This
microcontroller offers rich functional security and embedded safety characteristics required for
new and advanced automotive applications. The core structure of microcontroller CPU support
high reliability and high performance requirements. The Renesas microcontroller offering low
power, high performance, modest packages and the largest range of memory sizes combined
together with characteristics rich peripherals.

Renesas
Renesas offers the most versatile microcontroller families in the world for example our RX
family offers a many types devices with memory variants from 32K flash/4K RAM to an
incredible 8M flash/512K RAM. The RX Family of 32-bit microcontrollers is a feature rich,
general purpose MCU covering a wide range of embedded control applications with high speed
connectivity, digital signal processing and inverter control.
The RX microcontroller family uses a 32-bit enhanced Harvard CISC architecture to achieve
very high performance.

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Pin Description:
Pin arrangement of Renesas microcontroller is shown in figure:

It is a 20 pin microcontroller. The pin 9 is Vss, ground pin and Vdd, power supply pin. It has
three different kinds of interrupt, which are normal interrupt, fast interrupt, high speed interrupt.
Normal interrupts store the significant registers on stack by using push and pop instructions. The
fast interrupts are automatically store program counter and processor status word in special
backup registers, so response time is faster. And high speed interrupts allocate up to four of the
general registers for dedicated use by the interrupt to expand speed even further. The internal bus
structure gives 5 internal busses to ensure data handling is not slowed down. Instruction fetches
occur via a wide 64-bit bus, so that due to the variable length instructions used in CISC
architectures.

Conclusion:
Historically, the 8-bit segment has dominated the MCU market 16-bit microcontrollers
became the largest volume MCU category in 2011, overtaking 8-bit devices for the first time that
year IC Insights believes the makeup of the MCU market will undergo substantial changes in the
next five years with 32-bit devices steadily grabbing a greater share of sales and unit volumes.
By 2017, 32-bit MCUs are expected to account for 55% of microcontroller sales In terms of unit
volumes, 32-bit MCUs are expected account for 38% of microcontroller shipments in 2017,
while 16-bit devices will represent 34% of the total, and 4-/8-bit designs are forecast to be 28%
of units sold that year. The 32-bit MCU market is expected to grow rapidly due to increasing
demand for higher levels of precision in embedded-processing systems and the growth in
connectivity using the Internet In the next few years, complex 32-bit MCUs are expected to
account for over 25% of the processing power in vehicles.

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