Introduction to 8051 Microcontroller

Introduction to 8051 Microcontroller

To make a complete microcomputer system, only microprocessor is not sufficient. It is necessary to add other peripherals such as Read Only Memory (ROM), read/write memory (RAM), decoders, drivers, number of input/output devices to make a complete microcomputer system. In addition, special purpose devices, such as interrupt controller, programmable timers, programmable I/O devices, DMA controllers may be added to improve the capability and performance and flexibility of a microcomputer system.

The microcontroller incorporates all the features that are found in microprocessor. However, it has also added features to make a complete microcomputer system on its own. The microcontroller has built-in ROM, RAM, parallel I/O, serial I/O, counters and a clock circuit.

The advantages of built-in peripheral devices of microcontroller are :

• Built-in peripherals have smaller access times hence speed is more.

• Hardware reduces due to single chip microcomputer system.

• Less hardware, reduces PCB size and increases reliability of the system.

Review Question

1. Distinguish between microprocessor and microcontroller.