A microcontroller is a single-chip microcomputer that integrates the main parts of a microcomputer on one chip. Microcontroller was born in the middle of the 1970s. After more than 50 years of development, the cost has become lower and lower, its performance has become more and more powerful, which makes its applications everywhere. Such as motor control, barcode readers/scanners, consumer electronics, gaming equipment, telephony, HVAC, building security and access control, industrial control and automation, and home appliance (washing machines and microwaves), etc.

Development History

As the first company to introduce microprocessors, Intel Corporation is also the first company to introduce microcontrollers. Following the launch of the MCS-48 in 1976, the MCS-51 was launched in 1980, which laid a good foundation for the development of a new generation of microcontrollers with good compatibility. After the 8051 technology was opened to the market, companies such as Philips, Atmel, Dallas, and Siemens launched microcontrollers based on the 80C5l core (CMC)S version of 805l. These distinctive products can meet the needs of a large number of embedded applications. Microcontrollers based on the 80C51 core have not stopped developing. For example, the DS89C430 series microcontrollers provided by Maxim/Dallas now have a single-cycle instruction speed that has been increased to 12 times that of 805l. In addition to 80C51, microcontrollers based on CISC architecture also include 68HC series microcontrollers provided by Motorola, which are also the most widely used 8-bit microcontroller.

Microcontrollers based on RISC architecture include Microchip's PIC series of 8-bit microcontrollers.

Among the microcontrollers with 16-bit RISC architecture, the MAXQ series microcontrollers introduced by Maxim, with their high performance, low power consumption and excellent code execution efficiency, have become the ideal choice for many high-precision mixed-signal processing and portable systems and battery-powered systems.

Classification

Microcontrollers (Microcontroller Units, MCU) can be classified from different aspects:

• According to the width of the data bus, it can be divided into 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit.
• According to the memory structure, it can be divided into Harvard structure and Von Neumann structure.
• According to the category of embedded program memory, it can be divided into OTP, mask, EPROM/EEPROM and flash memory
• According to the instruction structure, it can be divided into CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer) and RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) microcontrollers.

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