INTRODUCTION TO MICROPROCESSOR
BASIC CONCEPTS OF MICROPROCESSORS
• DIFFERENCES BETWEEN: MICROCOMPUTER, MICROPROCESSOR AND
MICROCONTROLLER
• – MICROCOMPUTER IS A COMPUTER WITH A MICROPROCESSOR AS ITS
CPU. INCLUDES MEMORY, I/O ETC.
• – MICROPROCESSOR IS A SILICON CHIP WHICH INCLUDES ALU, REGISTERS
& CONTROL UNIT. ITS USES VON NEUMANN ARCHITECTURE
• – MICROCONTROLLER IS A SILICON CHIP WHICH INCLUDES
MICROPROCESSOR, MEMORY & I/O IN A SINGLE PACKAGE. IT USES
HARVARD ARCHITECTURE
WHAT IS MICRO?
• IN THE LATE 1960’S, PROCESSORS WERE BUILT USING DISCRETE
ELEMENTS. THESE DEVICES PERFORMED THE REQUIRED OPERATION, BUT
WERE TOO LARGE AND TOO SLOW.
• IT WENT DIRECTLY FROM DISCRETE ELEMENTS TO A SINGLE CHIP.
HOWEVER, COMPARING TODAY’S MICROPROCESSORS TO THE ONES
BUILT IN THE EARLY 1970’S YOU FIND AN EXTREME INCREASE IN THE
AMOUNT OF INTEGRATION.
WHAT IS A MICROPROCESSOR?
• THE WORD COMES FROM THE COMBINATION OF MICRO AND
PROCESSOR.
• PROCESSOR MEANS A DEVICE THAT PROCESSES NUMBERS, SPECIFICALLY
BINARY NUMBERS, 0’S AND 1’S.
• TO PROCESS MEANS TO MANIPULATE. IT IS A PROGRAMMABLE DEVICE
THAT TAKES IN NUMBERS, PERFORMS ON THEM ARITHMETIC OR LOGICAL
OPERATIONS ACCORDING TO THE PROGRAM STORED IN MEMORY AND
THEN PRODUCES OTHER NUMBERS
A MICROPROCESSOR-BASED SYSTEM
CPU
CPU CONSISTS OF:
• ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC UNIT (ALU)
• IT PERFORM THE ARITHMETIC AND LOGIC OPERATION LIKE ADDITION,
SUBTRACTION, ANDING, ORING ETC.
• REGISTERS
• THESE ARE THE TEMPORARY STORAGE SPACE INSIDE THE PROCESSOR.
• THERE ARE SOME GENERAL PURPOSE AND SOME SPECIAL PURPOSE REGISTERS.
• CONTROL UNIT
• THIS UNIT CONTROLS ALL THE OPERATION PERFORMED BY THE PROCESSOR.
• IT PROVIDES NECESSARY TIMING & CONTROL SIGNALS TO ALL THE OPERATIONS
IN THE MICROCOMPUTER
MEMORY AND INPUT/OUTPUT
WHAT IS MEMORY?
• MEMORY IS THE LOCATION WHERE INFORMATION IS KEPT.
• WHEN A PROGRAM IS ENTERED INTO A COMPUTER, IT IS STORED IN MEMORY. THEN AS THE
MICROPROCESSOR STARTS TO EXECUTE THE INSTRUCTIONS, IT BRINGS THE INSTRUCTIONS FROM
MEMORY ONE AT A TIME.
• MEMORY IS ALSO USED TO HOLD THE DATA.
• THE MICROPROCESSOR READS (BRINGS IN) THE DATA FROM MEMORY WHEN IT NEEDS IT AND WRITES
(STORES) THE RESULTS INTO MEMORY WHEN IT IS DONE.
WHAT IS INPUT/OUTPUT?
• INPUT/OUTPUT DEVICE IS USED TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE OUTSIDE WORLD.
BUS
• THE BUSES ARE GROUP OF LINES (WIRES) THAT CARRY INFORMATION.
• GROUP OF WIRES USED TO CARRY ADDRESS BITS IS KNOWN AS
ADDRESS BUS.
• GROUP OF WIRES USED TO CARRY DATA BITS IS KNOWN AS DATA BUS.
• GROUP OF WIRES USED TO CARRY CONTROL SIGNALS IS KNOWN AS
CONTROL BUS.
• ADDRESS, DATA AND CONTROL BUS TOGETHER IS CALLED AS SYSTEM
BUS.
BASIC FUNCTIONS OF CPU
• IT FETCHES (READ) AN INSTRUCTION CODE (OPCODE) STORED IN
MEMORY.
• IT DETERMINES WHAT THE INSTRUCTION IS TELLING IT TO DO. THAT
MEANS DECODES THE INSTRUCTION.
• IT EXECUTES THE INSTRUCTION.
EVOLUTION OF MICROPROCESSORS
• THE FIRST MICROPROCESSOR WAS INTRODUCED IN 1971 BY INTEL
CORP
• IT WAS NAMED INTEL 4004 AS IT WAS A 4 BIT PROCESSOR.
• NEXT PROCESSOR IS 4040. AN ENHANCED VERSION OF 4004.
• NEXT PROCESSOR IS 8008. ENHANCED VERSION IS 8080. BOTH ARE 8
BIT PROCESSOR.
• NEXT CAME 8085. WHICH IS ALSO A 8 BIT PROCESSOR,
• 16 BIT PROCESSORS ARE… 8086, 8088, 80186,80188,80286.
• 32 BIT PROCESSORS ARE..80386, 80486
MACHINE LANGUAGE, ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE, HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGE,
ASSEMBLER, COMPILER AND INTERPRETER
MACHINE LANGUAGE, ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE & HIGH-
LEVEL LANGUAGE
MACHINE LANGUAGE
• Machine language is a lowest level language consists of stream of binary 0’s and 1’s which can be
directly executed by a computer. This is the form of language that can be executed directly by
computer. All other form of language should be converted into machine language and then executed
by computer. EX: 0100 1010 1100 1001
ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE
• An assembly language is a low-level programming language for microprocessors and other
programmable devices. It is not just a single language, but rather a group of languages. An assembly
language implements a symbolic representation (mnemonics) of the machine code needed to program a
given CPU architecture. Ex: ADD AX,BX
HIGH LEVEL LANGUAGE
• A high-level language is easy for programmers to write as well as to understand. Programmers here use
simple and easy syntax to address a specific task. Examples: Python, C, C++, etc.
• Ex: a=b+c;
ASSEMBLER AND COMPILER
• COMPILER –
THE LANGUAGE PROCESSOR THAT READS THE COMPLETE SOURCE PROGRAM WRITTEN IN HIGH LEVEL
LANGUAGE AS A WHOLE IN ONE GO AND TRANSLATES IT INTO AN EQUIVALENT PROGRAM IN
MACHINE LANGUAGE IS CALLED AS A COMPILER.
EXAMPLE: C, C++, C#, JAVA
• ASSEMBLER –
THE ASSEMBLER IS USED TO TRANSLATE THE PROGRAM WRITTEN IN ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE INTO
MACHINE CODE. THE SOURCE PROGRAM IS A INPUT OF ASSEMBLER THAT CONTAINS ASSEMBLY
LANGUAGE INSTRUCTIONS. THE OUTPUT GENERATED BY ASSEMBLER IS THE OBJECT CODE OR MACHINE
CODE UNDERSTANDABLE BY THE COMPUTER.
INTERPRETER
INTERPRETER
• The translation of single statement of source program into machine code is done by
language processor and executes it immediately before moving on to the next line is
called an interpreter. If there is an error in the statement, the interpreter terminates its
translating process at that statement and displays an error message. The interpreter
moves on to the next line for execution only after removal of the error.
An Interpreter directly executes instructions written in a programming or scripting
language without previously converting them to an object code or machine code.
EXAMPLE: PERL, PYTHON AND MATLAB.
