Microcontroller - wikipedia Microcontroller This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. ( November 2009 ) The die from an Intel 8742, an 8 - bit microcontroller that includes a CPU running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes of EPROM, and I / O in the same chip. Two ATmega microcontrollers A microcontroller ( MCU for microcontroller unit, or UC for μ - controller ) is a small computer on a single integrated circuit. In modern terminology, it is similar to, but less sophisticated than, a system on a chip or SoC ; an SoC may include a microcontroller as one of its components. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs ( processor cores ) along with memory and programmable input / output peripherals. Program memory in the form of ferroelectric RAM, NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a small amount of RAM. Microcontrollers are designed for embedded applications, in contrast to the microprocessors used in personal computers or other general purpose applications consisting of various discrete chips. 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. Some microcontrollers may use four - bit words and operate at frequencies as low as 4 kHz, for low power consumption ( single - digit milliwatts or microwatts ). They will generally have the ability to retain functionality while waiting for an event such as a button press or other interrupt ; power consumption while sleeping ( CPU clock and most peripherals off ) may be just nanowatts, making many of them well suited for long lasting battery applications. Other microcontrollers may serve performance - critical roles, where they may need to act more like a digital signal processor ( DSP ), with higher clock speeds and power consumption. Contents 1 History 1.1 World 's smallest computer 1.2 Volumes and cost 2 Embedded design 2.1 Interrupts 2.2 Programs 2.3 Other microcontroller features 3 Higher integration 4 Programming environments 5 Types 6 Interrupt latency 7 Microcontroller embedded memory technology 7.1 Data 7.2 Firmware 8 See also 9 References 10 External links History The first microprocessor was the 4 - bit Intel 4004 released in 1971, with the Intel 8008 and other more capable microprocessors becoming available over the next several years. However, both processors required external chips to implement a working system, raising total system cost, and making it impossible to economically computerize appliances. One book credits TI engineers Gary Boone and Michael Cochran with the successful creation of the first microcontroller in 1971. The result of their work was the TMS 1000, which became commercially available in 1974. It combined read - only memory, read / write memory, processor and clock on one chip and was targeted at embedded systems. Partly in response to the existence of the single - chip TMS 1000, Intel developed a computer system on a chip optimized for control applications, the Intel 8048, with commercial parts first shipping in 1977. It combined RAM and ROM on the same chip. This chip would find its way into over one billion PC keyboards, and other numerous applications. At that time Intel 's President, Luke J. Valenter, stated that the microcontroller was one of the most successful in the company 's history, and expanded the division 's budget over 25 %. Most microcontrollers at this time had concurrent variants. One had EPROM program memory, with a transparent quartz window in the lid of the package to allow it to be erased by exposure to ultraviolet light, often used for prototyping. The other was either a mask programmed ROM from the manufacturer for large series, or a PROM variant which was only programmable once ; sometimes this was signified with the designation OTP, standing for `` one - time programmable ''. The PROM was of identical type of memory as the EPROM, but because there was no way to expose it to ultraviolet light, it could not be erased. The erasable versions required ceramic packages with quartz windows, making them significantly more expensive than the OTP versions, which could be made in lower - cost opaque plastic packages. For the erasable variants, quartz was required, instead of less expensive glass, for its transparency to ultraviolet -- glass is largely opaque to UV -- but the main cost differentiator was the ceramic package itself. In 1993, the introduction of EEPROM memory allowed microcontrollers ( beginning with the Microchip PIC16x84 ) to be electrically erased quickly without an expensive package as required for EPROM, allowing both rapid prototyping, and in - system programming. ( EEPROM technology had been available prior to this time, but the earlier EEPROM was more expensive and less durable, making it unsuitable for low - cost mass - produced microcontrollers. ) The same year, Atmel introduced the first microcontroller using Flash memory, a special type of EEPROM. Other companies rapidly followed suit, with both memory types. Nowadays microcontrollers are cheap and readily available for hobbyists, with large online communities around certain processors. In the future, MRAM could potentially be used in microcontrollers as it has infinite endurance and its incremental semiconductor wafer process cost is relatively low. World 's smallest computer On 21 June 2018, the `` world 's smallest computer '' was announced by the University of Michigan. The device is a `` 0.04 mm3 16nW wireless and batteryless sensor system with integrated Cortex - M0+ processor and optical communication for cellular temperature measurement. '' It `` measures just 0.3 mm to a side -- dwarfed by a grain of rice. (... ) In addition to the RAM and photovoltaics, the new computing devices have processors and wireless transmitters and receivers. Because they are too small to have conventional radio antennae, they receive and transmit data with visible light. A base station provides light for power and programming, and it receives the data. '' The device is 1 / 10th the size of IBM 's previously claimed world - record - sized computer from months back in March 2018, which is `` smaller than a grain of salt '', has a million transistors, costs less than $0.10 to manufacture, and, combined with blockchain technology, is intended for logistics and `` crypto - anchors '' -- '' digital fingerprints '' applications. Volumes and cost In 2002, about 55 % of all CPUs sold in the world were 8 - bit microcontrollers and microprocessors. Over two billion 8 - bit microcontrollers were sold in 1997, and according to Semico, over four billion 8 - bit microcontrollers were sold in 2006. More recently, Semico has claimed the MCU market grew 36.5 % in 2010 and 12 % in 2011. A typical home in a developed country is likely to have only four general - purpose microprocessors but around three dozen microcontrollers. A typical mid-range automobile has about 30 microcontrollers. They can also be found in many electrical devices such as washing machines, microwave ovens, and telephones. 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. -- IC Insights, MCU Market on Migration Path to 32 - bit and ARM - based Devices Cost to manufacture, can be under $0.10 per unit. Cost has plummeted over time, with the cheapest 8 - bit microcontrollers being available for under 0.25 USD in quantity ( thousands ) in 2009, and some 32 - bit microcontrollers around US $1 for similar quantities. In 2012, following a global crisis -- a worst ever annual sales decline and recovery and average sales price year - over-year plunging 17 % -- the biggest reduction since the 1980s -- the average price for a microcontroller was US $0.88 ( $0.69 for 4 - / 8 - bit, $0.59 for 16 - bit, $1.76 for 32 - bit ). In 2012, worldwide sales of 8 - bit microcontrollers were around $4 billion, while 4 - bit microcontrollers also saw significant sales. In 2015, 8 - bit microcontrollers could be bought for $0.311 ( 1,000 units ), 16 - bit for $0.385 ( 1,000 units ), and 32 - bit for $0.378 ( 1,000 units, but at $0.35 for 5,000 ). In 2018, 8 - bit microcontrollers can be bought for $0.294 ( 100 units ), 16 - bit for $0.393 ( 1,000 units, but at $0.563 for 100 or $0.349 for full reel of 2,000 ), and 32 - bit for $0.503 ( 1,000 units, but at $0.466 for 5,000 ). A lower - priced 32 - bit microcontroller, in units of one, can be had for $0.891. In 2018, the low - priced microcontrollers above from 2015 are all more expensive ( with inflation calculated between 2018 and 2015 prices for those specific units ) at : the 8 - bit microcontroller can be bought for $0.319 ( 1,000 units ) or 2.6 % higher, the 16 - bit one for $0.464 ( 1,000 units ) or 21 % higher, and the 32 - bit one for $0.503 ( 1,000 units, but at $0.466 for 5,000 ) or 33 % higher. A PIC 18F8720 microcontroller in an 80 - pin TQFP package Embedded design A microcontroller can be considered a self - contained system with a processor, memory and peripherals and can be used as an embedded system. The majority of microcontrollers in use today are embedded in other machinery, such as automobiles, telephones, appliances, and peripherals for computer systems. While some embedded systems are very sophisticated, many have minimal requirements for memory and program length, with no operating system, and low software complexity. Typical input and output devices include switches, relays, solenoids, LED 's, small or custom liquid - crystal displays, radio frequency devices, and sensors for data such as temperature, humidity, light level etc. Embedded systems usually have no keyboard, screen, disks, printers, or other recognizable I / O devices of a personal computer, and may lack human interaction devices of any kind. Interrupts Microcontrollers must provide real - time ( predictable, though not necessarily fast ) response to events in the embedded system they are controlling. When certain events occur, an interrupt system can signal the processor to suspend processing the current instruction sequence, and to begin an interrupt service routine ( ISR, or `` interrupt handler '' ) which will perform any processing required based on the source of the interrupt, before returning to the original instruction sequence. Possible interrupt sources are device dependent, and often include events such as an internal timer overflow, completing an analog to digital conversion, a logic level change on an input such as from a button being pressed, and data received on a communication link. Where power consumption is important as in battery devices, interrupts may also wake a microcontroller from a low - power sleep state where the processor is halted until required to do something by a peripheral event. Programs Typically micro-controller programs must fit in the available on - chip memory, since it would be costly to provide a system with external, expandable memory. Compilers and assemblers are used to convert both high - level and assembly language codes into a compact machine code for storage in the micro-controller's memory. Depending on the device, the program memory may be permanent, read - only memory that can only be programmed at the factory, or it may be field - alterable flash or erasable read - only memory. Manufacturers have often produced special versions of their micro-controllers in order to help the hardware and software development of the target system. Originally these included EPROM versions that have a `` window '' on the top of the device through which program memory can be erased by ultraviolet light, ready for reprogramming after a programming ( `` burn '' ) and test cycle. Since 1998, EPROM versions are rare and have been replaced by EEPROM and flash, which are easier to use ( can be erased electronically ) and cheaper to manufacture. Other versions may be available where the ROM is accessed as an external device rather than as internal memory, however these are becoming rare due to the widespread availability of cheap microcontroller programmers. The use of field - programmable devices on a micro controller may allow field update of the firmware or permit late factory revisions to products that have been assembled but not yet shipped. Programmable memory also reduces the lead time required for deployment of a new product. Where hundreds of thousands of identical devices are required, using parts programmed at the time of manufacture can be economical. These `` mask programmed '' parts have the program laid down in the same way as the logic of the chip, at the same time. A customized micro-controller incorporates a block of digital logic that can be personalized for additional processing capability, peripherals and interfaces that are adapted to the requirements of the application. One example is the AT91CAP from Atmel. Other microcontroller features Microcontrollers usually contain from several to dozens of general purpose input / output pins ( GPIO ). GPIO pins are software configurable to either an input or an output state. When GPIO pins are configured to an input state, they are often used to read sensors or external signals. Configured to the output state, GPIO pins can drive external devices such as LEDs or motors, often indirectly, through external power electronics. Many embedded systems need to read sensors that produce analog signals. This is the purpose of the analog - to - digital converter ( ADC ). Since processors are built to interpret and process digital data, i.e. 1s and 0s, they are not able to do anything with the analog signals that may be sent to it by a device. So the analog to digital converter is used to convert the incoming data into a form that the processor can recognize. A less common feature on some microcontrollers is a digital - to - analog converter ( DAC ) that allows the processor to output analog signals or voltage levels. In addition to the converters, many embedded microprocessors include a variety of timers as well. One of the most common types of timers is the programmable interval timer ( PIT ). A PIT may either count down from some value to zero, or up to the capacity of the count register, overflowing to zero. Once it reaches zero, it sends an interrupt to the processor indicating that it has finished counting. This is useful for devices such as thermostats, which periodically test the temperature around them to see if they need to turn the air conditioner on, the heater on, etc. A dedicated pulse - width modulation ( PWM ) block makes it possible for the CPU to control power converters, resistive loads, motors, etc., without using lots of CPU resources in tight timer loops. A universal asynchronous receiver / transmitter ( UART ) block makes it possible to receive and transmit data over a serial line with very little load on the CPU. Dedicated on - chip hardware also often includes capabilities to communicate with other devices ( chips ) in digital formats such as Inter-Integrated Circuit ( I2C ), Serial Peripheral Interface ( SPI ), Universal Serial Bus ( USB ), and Ethernet. Higher integration Die of a PIC12C508 8 - bit, fully static, EEPROM / EPROM / ROM - based CMOS microcontroller manufactured by Microchip Technology using a 1200 nanometre process. Die of a STM32F100C4T6B ARM Cortex - M3 microcontroller with 16 kilobytes flash memory, 24 MHz central processing unit ( CPU ), motor control and Consumer Electronics Control ( CEC ) functions. Manufactured by STMicroelectronics. Micro-controllers may not implement an external address or data bus as they integrate RAM and non-volatile memory on the same chip as the CPU. Using fewer pins, the chip can be placed in a much smaller, cheaper package. Integrating the memory and other peripherals on a single chip and testing them as a unit increases the cost of that chip, but often results in decreased net cost of the embedded system as a whole. Even if the cost of a CPU that has integrated peripherals is slightly more than the cost of a CPU and external peripherals, having fewer chips typically allows a smaller and cheaper circuit board, and reduces the labor required to assemble and test the circuit board, in addition to tending to decrease the defect rate for the finished assembly. A micro-controller is a single integrated circuit, commonly with the following features : central processing unit - ranging from small and simple 4 - bit processors to complex 32 - bit or 64 - bit processors volatile memory ( RAM ) for data storage ROM, EPROM, EEPROM or Flash memory for program and operating parameter storage discrete input and output bits, allowing control or detection of the logic state of an individual package pin serial input / output such as serial ports ( UARTs ) other serial communications interfaces like I2C, Serial Peripheral Interface and Controller Area Network for system interconnect peripherals such as timers, event counters, PWM generators, and watchdog clock generator - often an oscillator for a quartz timing crystal, resonator or RC circuit many include analog - to - digital converters, some include digital - to - analog converters in - circuit programming and in - circuit debugging support This integration drastically reduces the number of chips and the amount of wiring and circuit board space that would be needed to produce equivalent systems using separate chips. Furthermore, on low pin count devices in particular, each pin may interface to several internal peripherals, with the pin function selected by software. This allows a part to be used in a wider variety of applications than if pins had dedicated functions. Micro-controllers have proved to be highly popular in embedded systems since their introduction in the 1970s. Some microcontrollers use a Harvard architecture : separate memory buses for instructions and data, allowing accesses to take place concurrently. Where a Harvard architecture is used, instruction words for the processor may be a different bit size than the length of internal memory and registers ; for example : 12 - bit instructions used with 8 - bit data registers. The decision of which peripheral to integrate is often difficult. The microcontroller vendors often trade operating frequencies and system design flexibility against time - to - market requirements from their customers and overall lower system cost. Manufacturers have to balance the need to minimize the chip size against additional functionality. Microcontroller architectures vary widely. Some designs include general - purpose microprocessor cores, with one or more ROM, RAM, or I / O functions integrated onto the package. Other designs are purpose built for control applications. A micro-controller instruction set usually has many instructions intended for bit manipulation ( bit-wise operations ) to make control programs more compact. For example, a general purpose processor might require several instructions to test a bit in a register and branch if the bit is set, where a micro-controller could have a single instruction to provide that commonly required function. Microcontrollers traditionally do not have a math coprocessor, so floating point arithmetic is performed by software. However, some recent designs do include an FPU and DSP optimized features. An example would be Microchip 's PIC32 MIPS based line. Programming environments Microcontrollers were originally programmed only in assembly language, but various high - level programming languages, such as C, Python and JavaScript, are now also in common use to target microcontrollers and embedded systems. These languages are either designed specially for the purpose, or versions of general purpose languages such as the C programming language. Compilers for general purpose languages will typically have some restrictions as well as enhancements to better support the unique characteristics of microcontrollers. Some microcontrollers have environments to aid developing certain types of applications. Microcontroller vendors often make tools freely available to make it easier to adopt their hardware. Microcontrollers with specialty hardware may require their own non-standard dialects of C, such as SDCC for the 8051, which prevent using standard tools ( such as code libraries or static analysis tools ) even for code unrelated to hardware features. Interpreters may also contain nonstandard features, such as MicroPython, although a fork, CircuitPython, has looked to move hardware dependencies to libraries and have the language adhere to a more CPython standard. Interpreter firmware is also available for some microcontrollers. For example, BASIC on the early microcontrollers Intel 8052 ; BASIC and FORTH on the Zilog Z8 as well as some modern devices. Typically these interpreters support interactive programming. Simulators are available for some microcontrollers. These allow a developer to analyze what the behavior of the microcontroller and their program should be if they were using the actual part. A simulator will show the internal processor state and also that of the outputs, as well as allowing input signals to be generated. While on the one hand most simulators will be limited from being unable to simulate much other hardware in a system, they can exercise conditions that may otherwise be hard to reproduce at will in the physical implementation, and can be the quickest way to debug and analyze problems. Recent microcontrollers are often integrated with on - chip debug circuitry that when accessed by an in - circuit emulator ( ICE ) via JTAG, allow debugging of the firmware with a debugger. A real - time ICE may allow viewing and / or manipulating of internal states while running. A tracing ICE can record executed program and MCU states before / after a trigger point. Types See also : List of common microcontrollers As of 2008, there are several dozen microcontroller architectures and vendors including : ARM core processors ( many vendors ) ARM Cortex - M cores are specifically targeted toward microcontroller applications Microchip Technology Atmel AVR ( 8 - bit ), AVR32 ( 32 - bit ), and AT91SAM ( 32 - bit ) Cypress Semiconductor 's M8C core used in their PSoC ( Programmable System - on - Chip ) Freescale ColdFire ( 32 - bit ) and S08 ( 8 - bit ) Freescale 68HC11 ( 8 - bit ), and others based on the Motorola 6800 family Intel 8051, also manufactured by NXP Semiconductors, Infineon and many others Infineon : 8 - bit XC800, 16 - bit XE166, 32 - bit XMC4000 ( ARM based Cortex M4F ), 32 - bit TriCore and, 32 - bit Aurix Tricore Bit microcontrollers Maxim Integrated MAX32600, MAX32620, MAX32625, MAX32630, MAX32650, MAX32640 MIPS Microchip Technology PIC, ( 8 - bit PIC16, PIC18, 16 - bit dsPIC33 / PIC24 ), ( 32 - bit PIC32 ) NXP Semiconductors LPC1000, LPC2000, LPC3000, LPC4000 ( 32 - bit ), LPC900, LPC700 ( 8 - bit ) Parallax Propeller PowerPC ISE Rabbit 2000 ( 8 - bit ) Renesas Electronics : RL78 16 - bit MCU ; RX 32 - bit MCU ; SuperH ; V850 32 - bit MCU ; H8 ; R8C 16 - bit MCU Silicon Laboratories Pipelined 8 - bit 8051 microcontrollers and mixed - signal ARM - based 32 - bit microcontrollers STMicroelectronics STM8 ( 8 - bit ), ST10 ( 16 - bit ), STM32 ( 32 - bit ), SPC5 ( automotive 32 - bit ) Texas Instruments TI MSP430 ( 16 - bit ), MSP432 ( 32 - bit ), C2000 ( 32 - bit ) Toshiba TLCS - 870 ( 8 - bit / 16 - bit ) Many others exist, some of which are used in very narrow range of applications or are more like applications processors than microcontrollers. The microcontroller market is extremely fragmented, with numerous vendors, technologies, and markets. Note that many vendors sell or have sold multiple architectures. Interrupt latency In contrast to general - purpose computers, microcontrollers used in embedded systems often seek to optimize interrupt latency over instruction throughput. Issues include both reducing the latency, and making it be more predictable ( to support real - time control ). When an electronic device causes an interrupt, during the context switch the intermediate results ( registers ) have to be saved before the software responsible for handling the interrupt can run. They must also be restored after that interrupt handler is finished. If there are more processor registers, this saving and restoring process takes more time, increasing the latency. Ways to reduce such context / restore latency include having relatively few registers in their central processing units ( undesirable because it slows down most non-interrupt processing substantially ), or at least having the hardware not save them all ( this fails if the software then needs to compensate by saving the rest `` manually '' ). Another technique involves spending silicon gates on `` shadow registers '' : One or more duplicate registers used only by the interrupt software, perhaps supporting a dedicated stack. Other factors affecting interrupt latency include : Cycles needed to complete current CPU activities. To minimize those costs, microcontrollers tend to have short pipelines ( often three instructions or less ), small write buffers, and ensure that longer instructions are continuable or restartable. RISC design principles ensure that most instructions take the same number of cycles, helping avoid the need for most such continuation / restart logic. The length of any critical section that needs to be interrupted. Entry to a critical section restricts concurrent data structure access. When a data structure must be accessed by an interrupt handler, the critical section must block that interrupt. Accordingly, interrupt latency is increased by however long that interrupt is blocked. When there are hard external constraints on system latency, developers often need tools to measure interrupt latencies and track down which critical sections cause slowdowns. One common technique just blocks all interrupts for the duration of the critical section. This is easy to implement, but sometimes critical sections get uncomfortably long. A more complex technique just blocks the interrupts that may trigger access to that data structure. This is often based on interrupt priorities, which tend to not correspond well to the relevant system data structures. Accordingly, this technique is used mostly in very constrained environments. Processors may have hardware support for some critical sections. Examples include supporting atomic access to bits or bytes within a word, or other atomic access primitives like the LDREX / STREX exclusive access primitives introduced in the ARMv6 architecture. Interrupt nesting. Some microcontrollers allow higher priority interrupts to interrupt lower priority ones. This allows software to manage latency by giving time - critical interrupts higher priority ( and thus lower and more predictable latency ) than less - critical ones. Trigger rate. When interrupts occur back - to - back, microcontrollers may avoid an extra context save / restore cycle by a form of tail call optimization. Lower end microcontrollers tend to support fewer interrupt latency controls than higher end ones. Microcontroller embedded memory technology Since the emergence of microcontrollers, many different memory technologies have been used. Almost all microcontrollers have at least two different kinds of memory, a non-volatile memory for storing firmware and a read - write memory for temporary data. Data From the earliest microcontrollers to today, six - transistor SRAM is almost always used as the read / write working memory, with a few more transistors per bit used in the register file. FRAM or MRAM could potentially replace it as it is 4 to 10 times denser which would make it more cost effective. In addition to the SRAM, some microcontrollers also have internal EEPROM for data storage ; and even ones that do not have any ( or not enough ) are often connected to external serial EEPROM chip ( such as the BASIC Stamp ) or external serial flash memory chip. A few recent microcontrollers beginning in 2003 have `` self - programmable '' flash memory. Firmware The earliest microcontrollers used mask ROM to store firmware. Later microcontrollers ( such as the early versions of the Freescale 68HC11 and early PIC microcontrollers ) had EPROM memory, which used a translucent window to allow erasure via UV light, while production versions had no such window, being OTP ( one - time - programmable ). Firmware updates were equivalent to replacing the microcontroller itself, thus many products were not upgradeable. The Microchip PIC16C84, introduced in 1993, was the first microcontroller to use EEPROM to store firmware. In the same year, Atmel introduced the first microcontroller using NOR Flash memory to store firmware. Today 's microcontrollers almost exclusively use flash memory, with a few models using FRAM, and some ultra-low - cost parts still use OTP or Mask - ROM. See also Electronics portal List of common microcontrollers List of Wi - Fi microcontrollers List of open - source hardware projects Microbotics Programmable logic controller Single - board microcontroller References This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear because it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations. ( July 2008 ) Jump up ^ Augarten, Stan ( 1983 ). The Most Widely Used Computer on a Chip : The TMS 1000. State of the Art : A Photographic History of the Integrated Circuit. New Haven and New York : Ticknor & Fields. ISBN 0 - 89919 - 195 - 9. Retrieved 2009 - 12 - 23. ^ Jump up to : `` Oral History Panel on the Development and Promotion of the Intel 8048 Microcontroller '' ( PDF ). Computer History Museum Oral History, 2008. p. 4. Retrieved 2016 - 04 - 04. ^ Jump up to : `` Atmel 's Self - Programming Flash Microcontrollers '' ( PDF ). 2012 - 01 - 24. 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Jump up ^ David Harris & Sarah Harris ( 2012 ). Digital Design and Computer Architecture, Second Edition, p. 515. Morgan Kaufmann. ISBN 0123944244. Jump up ^ Easy Way to build a microcontroller project Jump up ^ Mazzei, Daniele ; Montelisciani, Gabriele ; Baldi, Giacomo ; Fantoni, Gualtiero ( 2015 ). Changing the programming paradigm for the embedded in the IoT domain. Internet of Things ( WF - IoT ), 2015 IEEE 2nd World Forum on. Milan : IEEE. pp. 239 -- 244. doi : 10.1109 / WF - IoT. 2015.7389059. Jump up ^ `` 8052 - Basic Microcontrollers '' by Jan Axelson 1994 Jump up ^ Edwards, Robert ( 1987 ). `` Optimizing the Zilog Z8 Forth Microcontroller for Rapid Prototyping '' ( PDF ). Martin Marietta : 3. Retrieved 9 December 2012. Jump up ^ www.infineon.com/mcu Jump up ^ Microchip unveils PIC16C84, a reprogrammable EEPROM - based 8 - bit microcontroller 1993 External links Find more aboutMicrocontrollerat Wikipedia 's sister projects Definitions from Wiktionary Media from Wikimedia Commons Textbooks from Wikibooks Learning resources from Wikiversity Microcontroller at Curlie ( based on DMOZ ) Microcontrollers Main Single - board microcontroller Special function register Architectures 68000 8051 ARC ARM AVR MIPS PIC RISC - V Families 4 - bit Am2900 MARC4 S1C6x TLCS - 47 TMS1000 μCOM - 4 8 - bit 6800 68HC05 68HC08 68HC11 S08 RS08 6502 65C02 MELPS 740 78K 8048 8051 XC800 AVR COP8 H8 PIC10 / 12 / 16 / 17 / 18 ST6 / ST7 STM8 Z8 Z80 eZ80 Rabbit 2000 TLCS - 870 16 - bit 68HC12 / 16 C166 CR16 / C H8S MSP430 PIC24 / dsPIC R8C RL78 TLCS - 900 Z8000 32 - bit Am29000 ARM / Cortex - M LPC AVR32 CRX FR FR - V H8SX M32R 68000 ColdFire PIC32 PowerPC MPC5xx Propeller STM32 TLCS - 900 TriCore V850 RX Z80000 64 - bit PowerPC64 Interfaces Programming In - circuit serial programming ( ICSP ) In - system programming ( ISP ) Program and Debug Interface ( PDI ) High - voltage serial programming ( HVSP ) High voltage parallel programming ( HVPP ) Bootloader ROM aWire Debugging Nexus ( standard ) Joint Test Action Group ( JTAG ) debugWIRE ( Atmel ) In - circuit debugging ( ICD ) In - circuit emulator ( ICE ) In - target probe ( ITP ) Simulators gpsim Lists List of common microcontrollers By manufacturer Intel NXP / Freescale Infineon Renesas Electronics List of Wi - Fi microcontrollers See also Embedded system Programmable logic controller CPU technologies Architecture Turing machine Post -- Turing machine Universal Turing machine Quantum Turing machine Belt machine Stack machine Register machine Counter machine Pointer machine Random access machine Random access stored program machine Finite - state machine Queue automaton Von Neumann Harvard ( modified ) Dataflow TTA Cellular Artificial neural network Machine learning Deep learning Neural processing unit ( NPU ) Convolutional neural network Load / store architecture Register memory architecture Endianness FIFO Zero - copy NUMA HUMA HSA Mobile computing Surface computing Wearable computing Heterogeneous computing Parallel computing Concurrent computing Distributed computing Cloud computing Amorphous computing Ubiquitous computing Fabric computing Cognitive computing Unconventional computing Hypercomputation Quantum computing Adiabatic quantum computing Linear optical quantum computing Reversible computing Reverse computation Reconfigurable computing Optical computing Ternary computer Analogous computing Mechanical computing Hybrid computing Digital computing DNA computing Peptide computing Chemical computing Organic computing Wetware computing Neuromorphic computing Symmetric multiprocessing ( SMP ) Asymmetric multiprocessing ( AMP ) Cache hierarchy Memory hierarchy ISA types ASIP CISC RISC EDGE ( TRIPS ) VLIW ( EPIC ) MISC OISC NISC ZISC Comparison ISAs x86 z / Architecture ARM MIPS Power Architecture ( PowerPC ) SPARC Mill Itanium ( IA - 64 ) Alpha Prism SuperH V850 Clipper VAX Unicore PA - RISC MicroBlaze RISC - V Word size ( Special cases : 1 - bit, 2 - bit, 4 - bit ) 8 - bit 9 - bit 10 - bit 12 - bit 15 - bit 16 - bit 18 - bit 22 - bit 24 - bit 25 - bit 26 - bit 27 - bit 31 - bit 32 - bit 33 - bit 34 - bit 36 - bit 39 - bit 40 - bit 48 - bit 50 - bit 60 - bit 64 - bit 128 - bit 256 - bit 512 - bit Variable Execution Instruction pipelining Bubble Operand forwarding Out - of - order execution Register renaming Speculative execution Branch predictor Memory dependence prediction Hazards Parallelism level Bit Bit - serial Word Instruction Pipelining Scalar Superscalar Task Thread Process Data Vector Memory Multithreading Temporal Simultaneous ( SMT ) ( Hyper - threading ) Speculative ( SpMT ) Preemptive Cooperative Clustered Multi-Thread ( CMT ) Hardware scout Flynn 's taxonomy SISD SIMD ( SWAR ) SIMT MISD MIMD SPMD Addressing mode CPU performance Transistor count Instructions per second ( IPS ) Instructions per cycle ( IPC ) Cycles per instruction ( CPI ) Floating - point operations per second ( FLOPS ) Transactions per second ( TPS ) Synaptic Updates Per Second ( SUPS ) Performance per watt Orders of magnitude ( computing ) Cache performance measurement and metric CORDIC ( FPU emulation ) Core count Single - core processor Multi-core processor Manycore processor Types Central processing unit ( CPU ) GPGPU AI accelerator Vision processing unit ( VPU ) Vector processor Barrel processor Stream processor Digital signal processor ( DSP ) I / O processor / DMA controller Network processor Baseband processor Physics processing unit ( PPU ) Coprocessor Secure cryptoprocessor ASIC FPGA FPOA CPLD Microcontroller Microprocessor Mobile processor Notebook processor Ultra-low - voltage processor Multi-core processor Manycore processor Tile processor Multi-chip module ( MCM ) Chip stack multi-chip modules System on a chip ( SoC ) Multiprocessor system - on - chip ( MPSoC ) Programmable System - on - Chip ( PSoC ) Network on a chip ( NoC ) Components Execution unit ( EU ) Arithmetic logic unit ( ALU ) Address generation unit ( AGU ) Floating - point unit ( FPU ) Load - store unit ( LSU ) Branch predictor Unified Reservation Station Barrel shifter Uncore Sum addressed decoder ( SAD ) Front - side bus Back - side bus Northbridge ( computing ) Southbridge ( computing ) Adder ( electronics ) Binary multiplier Binary decoder Address decoder Multiplexer Demultiplexer Registers Cache Memory management unit ( MMU ) Input -- output memory management unit ( IOMMU ) Integrated Memory Controller ( IMC ) Power Management Unit ( PMU ) Translation lookaside buffer ( TLB ) Stack engine Register file Processor register Hardware register Memory buffer register ( MBR ) Program counter Microcode ROM Datapath Control unit Instruction unit Re-order buffer Data buffer Write buffer Coprocessor Electronic switch Electronic circuit Integrated circuit Three - dimensional integrated circuit Boolean circuit Digital circuit Analog circuit Mixed - signal integrated circuit Power management integrated circuit Quantum circuit Logic gate Combinational logic Sequential logic Emitter - coupled logic ( ECL ) Transistor -- transistor logic ( TTL ) Glue logic Quantum gate Gate array Counter ( digital ) Bus ( computing ) Semiconductor device Clock rate CPU multiplier Vision chip Memristor Power management APM ACPI Dynamic frequency scaling Dynamic voltage scaling Clock gating Hardware security Non-executable memory ( NX bit ) Memory Protection Extensions ( Intel MPX ) Intel Secure Key Hardware restriction ( firmware ) Software Guard Extensions ( Intel SGX ) Trusted Execution Technology Trusted Platform Module ( TPM ) Secure cryptoprocessor Hardware security module Hengzhi chip Related History of general - purpose CPUs Microprocessor chronology Processor design Computer sizes Classes of computers Microcomputer, personal computer Stationary Workstation Desktop Home Personal supercomputer SFF Nettop Plug Portable Tabletop Game arcade cabinet System board Home console Microconsole Interactive kiosk Smart TV Smart speaker Mobile Laptop Desktop replacement 2 - in - 1 Subnotebook Netbook Smartbook Ultrabook Ultra-mobile PC Tablet Ultra-mobile PC 2 - in - 1 Mobile Internet device Tabletop Phablet Information appliance Handheld PC Palm - size PC Pocket PC Pocket computer Palmtop PC PDA Electronic organizer EDA Mobile phone Feature phone Smartphone Phablet PMP DAP E-reader Handheld game console Portable / Mobile data terminal Calculator Scientific Programmable Graphing Wearable Digital wristwatch Calculator watch Smartwatch Smartglasses Smart ring Midrange Server Minicomputer Supermini Large Super Mainframe Minisuper Others Microcontroller Nanocomputer Pizza box form factor Single - board computer Smartdust Wireless sensor network BNF : cb13319620r ( data ) GND : 4127438 - 6 LCCN : sh2008020006 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Microcontroller&oldid=850662546 '' Categories : Microcontrollers Embedded systems Hidden categories : Articles needing additional references from November 2009 All articles needing additional references All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from February 2008 Articles with unsourced statements from June 2010 Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2008 All articles containing potentially dated statements All articles with vague or ambiguous time Vague or ambiguous time from August 2016 Articles lacking in - text citations from July 2008 All articles lacking in - text citations Articles prone to spam from December 2012 Articles with Curlie links Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Azərbaycanca Български Bosanski Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Ελληνικά Español Euskara فارسی Français Galego 한국어 हिन्दी Bahasa Indonesia Íslenska Italiano עברית Basa Jawa ಕನ್ನಡ Latviešu Magyar Македонски മലയാളം मराठी Bahasa Melayu မြန်မာဘာသာ Nederlands 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk ਪੰਜਾਬੀ Polski Português Română Русский Scots Shqip සිංහල Simple English Slovenčina Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 中文 47 more Edit links This page was last edited on 17 July 2018, at 08 : 33 ( UTC ). 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Question: it is a single chip microcomputer consisting of a memory unit and an i/o unit
Answer: A microcontroller