Microcontroller Overview &
The 8051 Architecture
The 8051 Architecture
Microprocessors and microcontrollers
The 8051 microcontroller: a brief history
Block diagram of the original 8051
Is 8-bit still relevant?
Harvard and von Neumann architectures
Memory organization
Special function registers
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Microprocessors and Microcontrollers
Microprocessor: general-purpose CPU
Emphasis is on flexibility and performance
Generic user-interface such as keyboard, mouse, etc.
Used in a PC, PDA, cell phone, etc.
Microcontroller: microprocessor + memory on a single chip
Emphasis is on size and cost reduction
The user interface is tailored to the application, such as the buttons
on a TV remote control
Used in a digital watch, TV remote control, car and many common
day-to-day appliances
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Microcontroller Architectures
Microcontroller architecture refers to the internal hardware
organization of a microcontroller
Each hardware architecture has its own set of software
instructions called assembly language that allows
programming of the microcontroller
Some of the popular microcontroller architectures
Intel 8051
Zilog Z80
Atmel AVR
ARM
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Some Microcontroller Producers
Texas Instruments
Microchip
Silicon Labs
Intel Corporation
Analog Devices
Atmel Corporation
Dallas Semiconductor
Fujitsu Semiconductor Europe
National Semiconductor
STMicroelectronics
ZiLog
Freescale Semiconductor
Infineon Technologies
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The 8051 Microcontroller—A Brief History
In 1980, Intel introduced the 8051, relevant today after more
than two decades
First device in the MCS-51® family of 8-bit microcontrollers
In addition to Intel there are other second source suppliers
of the ICs, who make microcontrollers that are compatible
with the 8051 architecture.
In recent years some companies have incorporated many
different and additional features into 8051
In 2000, Silicon Laboratories introduced a field
programmable, mixed-signal chip (C8051F020) based on
the 8051 core CPU
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Is 8-bit Still Relevant?
“n-bit” – the “n” refers to the data bus width of the CPU, and
is the maximum width of data it can handle at a time
PCs with 64-bit microprocessors are becoming common
Over 55% of all processors sold per year are 8-bit
processors, which comes to over 3 billion of them per year!*
8-bit microcontrollers are sufficient and cost-effective for
many embedded applications
More and more advanced features and peripherals are
added to 8-bit processors by various vendors
8-bit MCUs are well-suited for low-power applications that
use batteries
*Note: Statistics from Embedded.com Article ID# 9900861, Dec 2002
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Example System: RC Car
Antenna Antenna
Front Electric
Forward RF RF Receiver Microcontroller
Microcontroller Motor (Left/Right)
Transmitter
Reverse
Rear Electric Motor
Left Power Power (Fwd/Reverse)
Voltage Regulator Voltage Regulator
Right
Car lights (LEDs)
Batteries
Controls Batteries
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Block Diagram of the Original 8051
/INT0 /INT1 T0 T1
Other
interrupts
128 bytes Timer/Counter
4K byte Program
Data Memory (Timer 0 &
Memory (ROM)
(RAM) Timer 1)
8051 CPU
64 K Bus I/O ports Serial Port
Oscillator Expansion Control
&Timing
From Crystal
Oscillator or RC ALE /PSEN P3 P2 P1 P0 TxD RxD
network (Address/data)
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Harvard and von Neumann Architectures
Harvard Architecture—a type of computer architecture
where the instructions (program code) and data are stored
in separate memory spaces
Example: Intel 8051 architecture
von Neumann Architecture—another type of computer
architecture where the instructions and data are stored in
the same memory space
Example: Intel x86 architecture (Intel Pentium, AMD Athlon, etc.)
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MCU Fetch-Execute Cycle
Fetch operation—retrieves
an instruction from the Program
Counter
location in code memory (PC)
pointed to by the program
counter (PC)
+
F
Execute operation— Code Memory
e
t
executes the instruction c
that was fetched during the h
fetch operation. In addition CPU
to executing the instruction,
the CPU also adds the
appropriate number to the To other
peripherals
PC to point it to the next
instruction to be fetched.
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8051 and 8052
The feature set of the 8052 is the superset of the 8051
In addition to all the features of the 8051, the 8052 includes
128 bytes internal RAM (total of 256 bytes)
A third 16-bit timer, with new modes of operation
Additional SFRs to support the third timer
The Silicon Labs C8051F020 builds upon the 8052, and
adds further features
The term “8051” is typically used in place of “8052”, and also
refers to the 8051 architecture
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C8051F020 Data Memory (RAM)
Internal Data Memory space is
divided into three sections
Lower 128
Upper 128
Special function register (SFR)
There are 256 bytes of memory
space physically, the Upper 128
and SFRs share the same
addresses from location 80H to
FFH.
Appropriate instructions should
be used to access each
memory block
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Lower 128—Register Banks and RAM
General
Purpose RAM
(80 bytes)
Bit-addressable
Area (16 bytes)
Register Banks
(8 bytes per
bank; 4 banks)
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Special Function Registers (SFRs)
SFRs provide control and
data exchange with the
microcontroller’s resources
and peripherals
Registers which have their
byte addresses ending with
0H or 8H are byte- as well as
bit- addressable
Some registers are not bit-
addressable. These include
the stack pointer (SP) and
data pointer register (DPTR)
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Summary of SFRs
Accumulator (ACC) and B register
ACC (also referred to as A) is used implicitly by several instructions
B is used implicitly in multiply and divide operations
These registers are the input/output of the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU)
Program status word—PSW
Shows the status of arithmetic and logical operations using multiple bits such as Carry
Selects the Register Bank (Bank 0 - Bank 3)
Stack pointer—SP
Data pointer—DPTR (DPH and DPL)
16-bit register used to access external code or data memory
Timer Registers—TH0, TL0, TH1, TL1, TMOD, TCON
Used for timing intervals or counting events
Parallel I/O Port Registers—P0, P1, P2 and P3
Serial Communication Registers—SBUF and SCON
Interrupt Management Registers—IP and IE
Power Control Register—PCON
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