What is a microcontroller?
Does the thought of all things electronics cause mind-numbing boredom to overtake you? Or does the thought excite your senses with wonder and intrigue? Your answer here really doesn't matter, because while some noticed, but most did not, microcontrollers have changed the world around us and have even changed the way we accomplish many of life's everyday chores and duties.
Watch your step, lest you bump into a microcontroller!
They are everywhere - in your car's engine system, your office's copy machine, your kitchen's microwave, your TV's remote, even your son's Tickle Me Elmo. Hardly ever seen by most people, these tiny computers are the unsung heroes of modern civilization. But. what exactly are they and where did they come from?
A star is born!
Born in an Intel laboratory in 1975, the original 8048 microcontroller went on to greatness as the "brains" within many a PC keyboard. The design and function has evolved since that time and is now cheaper to manufacture and easier to program. A generation of imaginative engineers have found uses for the microcontroller that would - no doubt - make Thomas Edison proud.
The microcontroller is, in essence, a small computer on a small integrated circuit. It can house both RAM and ROM or flash memory. It has a central processing unit and input/output bits. Most designs offer peripherals such as timers and watchdog. There are close to one hundred different microcontroller designs and vendors. All are sold as complete systems with a processor and memory. The only thing needed is individual software programming (think boxed cake mix - just add water and voila!). An avid tinkerer with a garage workshop can purchase a microcontroller and program it anyway he or she feels led. Although, of course, most are purchased and programmed by the industrial sector and used to mass produce telephones, programmable coffeemakers and clothes dryers, among other things.
Introduction to MIPS Processors
MIPS processors seem to have come out of nowhere, and have made their own little impact on the computer industry. Little Linux Laptops in their wide variety of models and companies have shown up on the scene with a processor very few developers seem to be able to work with. The processor needs every application it runs to be completely recompiled to work with its own instruction set. Because of this, the projects that already required a compile in order to run (namely open-source unix applications) were the first to work with the little CPU.
Contrary to popular belief, the MIPS processor has been around for quite some time. It was first used to power very small electronic devices, at least as far as computer brain power was concerned. It later became a popular CPU to power small robots and mechanical toys, primarily because of its small physical footprint, as well as its relatively low cost. In recent years, it has appeared in Wireless Access Points, powering several LinkSYS models.
And just recently, some overseas net book models appeared that ran a complete desktop environment using the little processors that could. The net books are invariably locked, and require some form of a boot sequence, coupled with a loaded SD card to load a new flash operating system.
While the computational powers of the newer, upgraded MIPS design still doesn't come close to rivaling an Intel or an AMD, the extremely low cost of the chip may very well force its way into the daily life of an average tech. Already the underpowered chips have crossed the 400Mhz thresshold, and are getting faster with each new model. While this sounds like they are hopelessly behind in the processor race, they are still coming around with affordable products. People are starting to use them anyway.
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Intel Processor History
A little old video but it's nice to see the history of Intel CPU's.
Historical background of electronics
The
introduction of vacuum tubes in the early twentieth century led to the rapid
growth of modern electronics. With these devices made possible the manipulation
of signals, which could not be done in the old telegraph and telephone circuits,
or with the first transmitters using high-voltage sparks to generate radio
waves. For example, with vacuum tubes could amplify radio signals and sound
weak, and also potentially overlapping audio signals to radio waves. The
development of a wide variety of tubes, designed for specialized functions,
enabled the rapid advancement of technology for communication radio before the
Second World War, and the development of early computers, during the war and
shortly afterwards.
Today, the transistor, invented in 1948, has almost completely replaced the vacuum tube in most applications. By incorporating a set of materials semiconductor and electrical contacts, the transistor allows the same functions as the vacuum tube, but at a cost, weight and power lower, and greater reliability. The subsequent progress in semiconductor technology, attributable in part to the intensity of the investigations associated with space exploration initiative led to the development in the 1970s, the integrated circuit. These devices can contain hundreds of thousands of transistors on a small piece of material, allowing the construction of complex electronic circuits such as microcomputers or microcomputers, audio and video equipment, and satellites for communications. Electronics online at Singapore have the best options for you.
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