Chapter 1

The 8051 Microcontrollers

ET2640 Microprocessors and

Microcontrollers

Summary :
This chapter discusses the role and importance of
microcontrollers (MC) in every day life.
Microprocessors (MP) and MC will be contrasted
and compared. Discussion will include the use of
MC in embedded market and the criteria for
selecting a MC for certain application based on
required speed, memory, I/O, packaging and cost
per unit.
The 2nd section of this chapter describes various
families of 8051 with related features.

- Difference: (1)Unlike Microprocessors, Microcontrollers

CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O ports are all embedded on one chip to
reduce power requirements. (2) Microprocessor is
expensive & Bulkier but RAM can be upgraded as needed.
Microcontroller needs to be selected for certain function.
(3) In PC: keyboard, printer, disk controller all has single
function internal microcontroller and interacts with the
CPU.

Selection Criteria of Microcontroller:

(1) Complete the task efficiently with available SPEED,
RAM/ROM,
PACKAGING, POWER consumption, I/O pins, and cost
per unit.
(2) User friendly with available debugger, compiler,
emulator from chip
manufacturer and 3rd party vendor (as it is with 8051,
listed in Table)
(3) Chip availability in the short and long run from chip
manufacturer
and 3rd party vendor (as it is with 8051, listed in Table
below)

Brief History of the 8051 Microcontroller (MC):

- In 1981 Intel made 8-bit MC called 8051 with above on
chip features
- Larger data has to be broken into 8-bit pieces to be
processed by MC
- It had four I/O ports with each 8-bit wide
- Intel allowed vendors to make and market different

Timer: count pulses as counter, or generate pulses

related time delay
Oscillator: needs a external quartz crystal clock
generator.

- All programs written for 8051 will run in 8052, but

not vice versa
-UV-EPROM version of 8051 is called 8751 & AMTEL
8051 is AT89C51.

- An Interrupt is an external or internal event that

interrupts the MC to inform it that a device needs
its service. Every interrupt has a program
associated with it called the IS (interupt service
routine). The 8051 has 6 interrupts, 5 of which are
user accessible. The interrupts are for: One for
reset, Two for the timers, Two for the external
hardware interrupts, and One for serial
communication interrupt. 8051 can be
programmed to enable/disable or change interrupt
property.
(Non-volatile)

-UV-EPROM version of 8051 is

called 8751

ET2640 Microprocessors and

Microcontrollers

Summary :
This chapter discussed the role and importance of
microcontrollers (MC) in every day life.
Microprocessors (MP) and MC were contrasted and
compared. We discussed the use of MC in
embedded market. We also discussed criteria to
select a MC for certain application based on
required speed, memory, I/O, packaging and cost
per unit.