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Chapter t
INTRODUCTION
TO
PIC MICROCONTROLLERS
ABSTRACT
Microcontrollers play a vital role in day-to-day walk of
life. Their use in embedded systems is indeed
remarkable. Keeping these facts in view point the first
chapter deals with an introduction to microcontrollers.
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1.1 Introduction
Microprocessors have already brought in a revolutionary change in our
everyday lives. The visible examples are: Desktop computer systems and the Internet.
At present, microprocessors are being replaced by powerful microcontrollers, which
are widely used in electronic systems such as: smart instruments, domestic appliances,
communication equipment, robotics etc., under the name: Embedded systems /
Embedded controllers.
Microcontrollers are becoming an integral part of engineering design process.
The design includes major portion of the hardware and entire software incorporated
on a single chip. This indeed optimizes the space and makes the software
independent of the system controller [1,2].
1.2 PIC microcontrollers
PIC microcontrollers are the popular microcontrollers from Microchip
Technology. PIC is the name for the Microchip microcontroller family, which stands
for “Peripheral Interface Controller”. Further, PIC microcontrollers are easily
programmable cheap microcontrollers [3].
The general architecture of PIC microcontrollers consists of a microprocessor,
I/O ports, timer(s) and other internal integrated hardware. These Microchip
microcontrollers have electrically erasable reprogrammable memory and are
described as having “ FLASH” program memory. Flash is the technology where
blocks of memory are erased and then reprogrammed simultaneously. The Microchip
parts have the facility of changing (including erasing) any instruction address without
affecting other addresses.
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PIC microcontrollers play an useful role in the scenario of embedded
information processing [4]. Embedded means ‘hidden’ or ‘buried’. The embedded
information is truly hidden inside the device/product that is in use. In the commonly
used appliances such as washing machine, the embedded software adjusts the water
level basing on the load and adjusts the washing cycle basing on the dirtiness of the
water. One more example for embedded software is a car security system, which
blocks the motion of a car when an unauthorized entry takes place.
The revolution in embedded intelligence is driven by microcontrollers. The
use of simple microprocessors in embedded intelligence has gradually decreased and
the use of microcontrollers in such an environment has not only increased but also
brought in a revolutionary change. For many years, the embedded intelligence is
driven by 4-bit microcontrollers. The 4-bit microcontroller means the microcontroller
that handles 4-bit data at a time. High-end embedded systems use 8-bit and 16-bit
microcontrollers.
The embedded intelligence can be found in five broad areas. The first is the
consumer segment, which includes home appliances and entertainment equipment.
The second is in automobile, wherein a modem car has nearly 50 microcontrollers
providing intelligence and control (keyless entry, antilock braking etc.,). The third
market is office automation, which includes PCs, keyboards, copiers and printers.
The fourth area, telecommunications, includes cellular phones, pagers and answering
machines. The fifth area encompasses industrial products such as door locks,
automatic faucets and industrial machinery.
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1.3 Reasons for the popularity of PIC microcontrollers
In all the above-mentioned products, one can find the wide usage of PIC
microcontrollers. The factors that account for the popularity of PIC microcontrollers
are:
• Speed: When operated at its maximum clock rate, a PIC executes most
of its instructions in 0,2 gs or five instructions per microsecond.
• Instruction set simplicity: The instruction set consists of just 35
instructions.
• Integration of operational features: PIC microcontrollers have the Power-
On-Reset and Brown-Out protection features which operate the chip only
when the supply voltage is within the specification. PIC microcontrollers
also have watchdog timer, which resets the PIC whenever the chip either
malfunctions or deviates from its normal operation. In PIC
microcontrollers, four clock options are supported in which a low-cost
RC (Resistor- Capacitor) oscillator and a high accuracy crystal oscillator
are included. A variety of low power options are also supported.
• Programmable timer options: Three versatile timers can characterize
inputs, controls output and provide internal timing for program execution.
• Interrupt control: PIC family has up to 14 interrupt sources. They can
control the Central Processing Unit when it is dealing with each source.
• Powerful output pin control: A single instruction can select and drive a
single output pin high or low in its 0.2 ps instruction execution time. The
pin can drive a load of up to 25 mA.
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• I/O port expansion: The built in serial peripheral interface can make use
of standard 16-pin shift register parts to add any number of I/O pins.
The introduction presented above gives an idea regarding the role of
microcontroller in embedded systems. Keeping this in view point, a PIC
microcontroller (PIC 16F877) is chosen to develop certain interfaces. But before
going to know the details of interfaces it is worthwhile to acquaint with the
microcontroller used in the present work. In this direction, the architectural details
and the method of software handling are included in the next chapter.
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REFERENCES
1. Muhammad Ali Mazidi, Janice Gillispie Mazidi “ The 8051
Microcontroller and Embedded Systems”, Prentice Hall India Private
Limited, New Delhi (2005)
2. Ajay V Deshmukh “Microcontrollers (Theory and Applications)”, Tata
McGraw Hill Publishing company Limited, New Delhi (2005)
3. www .[Link]
4. John [Link] “Design with PIC microcontrollers” Pearson Edu.
(Singapore) Pte, Ltd, Indian Branch, New Delhi (2001)
