C H A P T E R 46

Microcomputer Basics

O B jE C Ti v E s KEy TERMs

After completing this chapter, the student will be 46 digital computer 46-2 logic instructions
able to:
46-1 arithmetic logic 46-2 masking
■■ Identify the basic blocks of a digital computer.
unit (ALU) 46-2 microprocessor
■■ Explain the function of each block of a digital
computer. 46-1 central 46-2 miscellaneous
processing unit instructions
■■ Describe what a program is and its relationship
(CPU)
to both digital computers and microprocessors. 46-2 program-control
■■ Identify the basic registers in a microprocessor. 46-1 control unit instruction
■■ Explain how a microprocessor operates. 46-1 input/output 46-2 program counter
Identify the instruction groups associated with (I/O)
■■
46-2 rotate and shift
microprocessors. 46-1 instruction instructions
■■ Identify the purpose of microcontrollers. register
46-2 stack
■■ Describe the function of microcontrollers in 46-1 interrupt
everyday life. 46-2 stack instructions
46-1 microprocessing
unit (MPU) 46-2 stack pointer
46-1 program 46-3 microcontroller
46-2 accumulator 46-3 PDIP
46-2 arithmetic 46-3 PLCC
instructions 46-3 programmable
46-2 compare interface
instructions controller (PIC)
46-2 complement 46-3 QFN
instruction 46-3 reduced
46-2 condition-code instruction set
register computer (RISC)
46-2 data movement 46-3 SOIC
instructions 46-3 SSOP
46-2 input/output
(I/O) instructions

438

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 Microcomputer Basics CHAPTER 46 439

T
he greatest application of digital circuits is in digi- ■■FiguRE 46-1
tal computers. A digital computer is a device Basic blocks of a digital computer.
that automatically processes data using digital
techniques. Data are pieces of information. Process-
ing refers to the variety of ways that data can be Input
manipulated.
Digital computers are classified by size and com-
puting power. The largest computers are called CPU Arithmetic
mainframes. These computers are expensive, having or Control logic unit Memory
MPU
extensive memory and high-speed calculating capa- (ALU)
bilities. Smaller-scale computers—the minicomputer

© 2014 Cengage Learning

and the microcomputer—are more widely used. Even
though they represent a small percentage of the total Output
computer dollars invested, small-scale computers rep-
resent the largest number of computers in use. The
microcomputer is the smallest and least expensive of
the digital computers that still retains all the features
and characteristics of a computer. Modern computers utilize a means of incorporat-
Computers are also classified by function, the most ing several instructional commands into a single in-
common function being data processing. Industry, put instruction. This is accomplished by a program
business, and government use computers to maintain stored in memory. When the control unit decodes the
records, perform accounting tasks, keep inventory, instruction, it causes a sequence of instructions to be
and provide a wide variety of other data processing executed. The control unit varies from computer to
functions. Computers can be general purpose or spe- computer. Basically, the control unit consists of an ad-
cial purpose. General-purpose computers are flexible dress register, an instruction register, an instruction
and can be programmed for any task. Special-purpose, decoder, a program counter, a clock, and circuitry for
or dedicated, computers are designed to perform a generating the control pulses (Figure 46-2).
single task. The instruction register stores the instruction
word to be decoded. The word is decoded by the in-
struction decoder, which sends the appropriate logic
46–1 Computer BasiCs signal to the control pulse generator. The control pulse
generator produces a pulse when the appropriate clock
All digital computers consist of five basic blocks or signal is given. The output of the control pulse genera-
sections: control, arithmetic logic unit (ALU), memory, tor enables other circuitry in the computer to carry out
input, and output (Figure 46-1). In some cases the in- the specific instruction.
put and output blocks are a single block identified as The program counter keeps track of the sequence
input/output (i/o). Because the control unit and of instructions to be executed. The instructions are
the ALU are closely related and difficult to separate, stored in a program in memory. To begin the pro-
they may be collectively referred to as the central gram, the starting address (specific memory location)
processing unit (Cpu) or microprocessing unit of the program is placed in the program counter. The
(mpu). first instruction is read from memory, decoded, and
The control unit decodes each instruction that performed. The program counter then automatically
enters the computer. It then generates the necessary moves to the next instruction location. Each time an
pulses to carry out the functions specified. If, for ex- instruction is fetched and executed, the program coun-
ample, an instruction requires two numbers to be ter advances one step until the program is completed.
added together, the control unit sends pulses to the Some instructions specify a jump or branch to an-
ALU to perform the addition. If the instruction re- other location in the program. The instruction register
quires a word to be stored in memory, control sends contains the address of the next instruction location
the necessary pulses to memory to store the data. and it is loaded into the address register.

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
440 sECTi ON 6 D IgItAL ELECtRONIC CIRCUItS

■■FiguRE 46-2
Control unit of a computer.

To logic circuitry

Program counter Instruction decoder

Clock

Address register Instruction register

© 2014 Cengage Learning

Control unit

To From
memory or input memory or input

The arithmetic logic unit (aLu) performs math (decreased by one), shifted right (one position), or
logic and decision-making operations. Most ALU can shifted left (one position). The accumulator is the
do addition and subtraction. Multiplication and divi- same size as the memory word; the memory word is 32
sion are programmed in the control unit. The ALU bits wide, and the accumulator is also 32 bits wide in a
can perform logic operations such as inversion, AND, 32-bit microprocessor.
OR, and exclusive OR. It can also make decisions by The arithmetic logic circuitry is basically a binary
comparing numbers or test for specific quantities such adder. Both addition and subtraction can be done with
as 0s, 1s, or negative numbers. the binary adder as well as logic operations. To add
Figure 46-3 shows an arithmetic logic unit. It con- two binary numbers, one number is stored in the ac-
sists of arithmetic logic circuitry and an accumulator cumulator register and the other is stored in the data
register. All data to the accumulator and the ALU are register. The sum of the two numbers is then placed in
sent via the data register. The accumulator register the accumulator register, replacing the original binary
can be incremented (increased by one), decremented number.
Memory is the area where programs are stored.
programs contain the instructions that tell the com-
puter what to do. A program is a sequential set of in-
■■FiguRE 46-3 structions to solve a particular problem.
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU). A computer memory is simply a number of stor-
age registers. Data can be loaded into the registers
Arithmetic logic unit and then taken out, or “read out” to perform some
Arithmetic
logic operation, without losing the register content. Each
unit register or memory location is assigned a number
called an address. The address is used to locate data
in memory.
Figure 46-4 shows a typical memory layout. The
Accumulator Data register memory registers retain the binary data. This memory,
based on its ability to store (write) or retrieve (read)
© 2014 Cengage Learning

data, is usually referred to as random-access read or

writes memory (RAM). Based on the ability of being
To able to read only data or instruction from the memory,
memory or I/O it is referred to as read-only memory (ROM).

Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
 Microcomputer Basics CHAPTER 46 441

■■FiguRE 46-4
Memory layout for a computer.

Input Memory Output

data cell data
bus selection bus

Memory
cell ID circuitry
Data storage

© 2014 Cengage Learning

The memory address register allows access to peripheral equipment enters data into a computer
specific memory locations by the memory address through the input unit. Data from the computer are
decoder. The size of the memory address register de- passed to external peripheral equipment through the
termines the maximum memory size for a computer. output unit.
For example, a memory address register of 16 bits al- The input and output units are under the control of
lows a maximum number of 2 16 or 65,536 memory the CPU. Special I/O instructions are used to transfer
locations. data in and out of the computer.
A word to be stored in memory is located in the Most digital computers can perform I/O operations
data register and then placed in the desired memory at the request of an interrupt. An interrupt is a sig-
location. To read data from memory, the memory lo- nal from an external device requesting service in the
cation is determined, and data at the memory location form of receiving or transmitting data. The interrupt
are loaded into the shift register. results in the computer leaving the current program
The input and output units of a computer al- and jumping to another program. When the interrupt
low it to receive and transmit information from and request is accomplished, the computer returns to the
to the world outside the computer. An operator or original program.

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
442 sECTi ON 6 D IgItAL ELECtRONIC CIRCUItS

■■FiguRE 46-5
46–1 QuestioNs Parts of an 8-bit microprocessor.

1. Draw and label a block diagram of a digital

Registers Instruction
computer. • Accumulator decoder
2. What is the function of the following blocks in • Condition Arithmetic
a digital computer? code

© 2014 Cengage Learning

logic
• Program
a. Control counter
unit
b. Arithmetic logic unit Timing and
• Stack
control
c. Memory pointer
Microprocessor
d. Input
e. Output
3. What is the function of ROM in a computer?
4. What keeps track of the sequence of instruc- The condition-code register is an 8-bit regis-
tions to be executed? ter that allows a programmer to check the status of
5. What determines how much data can be stored the microprocessor at a certain point in a program.
in a computer? Depending on the microprocessor, the name of the
6. Define a program. condition-code register may be the processor-status
register, the P-register, the status register, or the flag
register. An individual bit in the condition-code reg-
ister is called a flag bit. The most common flags are
carry, zero, and sign. The carry flag is used during an
arithmetic operation to determine whether there is a
46–2 miCroproCessor arChiteCture carry or a borrow. The zero flag is used to determine
whether the results of an instruction are all zeros.
A microprocessor is the heart of a microcomputer. The sign flag is used to indicate whether a number is
It contains four basic parts: registers, arithmetic logic positive or negative. Of the 8 bits in the code register,
unit, timing and control circuitry, and decoding cir- the Motorola 6800 and the Zilog Z80 use 6 bits; the
cuitry. A microprocessor is designed so that an in- Intel 8080A uses 5; and the MOS Technology 6502
struction, or program, can be fetched from memory, uses 7.
placed in the instruction register, and decoded. The The program counter is a 16-bit register that
program affects all the timing, control, and decoding contains the address of the instruction fetched from
circuitry. The program allows the operator to route memory. While the instruction is being carried out,
data in or out of various registers or into the arithme- the program counter is incremented by one for the
tic logic unit. The registers and the arithmetic logic next instruction address. The program counter can
unit are used by the microprocessor for data or infor- only be incremented. However, the sequence of the
mation manipulation. instructions can be changed by the use of branch or
Each microprocessor is different in its architecture jump instructions.
and its instruction set. Figure 46-5 shows the basic The stack pointer is a 16-bit register that holds
parts of many of the 8-bit microprocessors. Because the memory location of data stored in the stack. The
the names and number of registers vary from one mi- stack is discussed further later in the chapter.
croprocessor to the next, they are shown and identi- Most microprocessors have the same basic set of
fied separately. instructions with different machine codes and a few
The accumulator is the register most often used unique instructions. The basic instructions fall into
in the microprocessor. It is used to receive or store nine categories:
data from memory or an I/O device. It also works 1. Data movement
closely with the arithmetic logic unit. The number of 2. Arithmetic
bits in the accumulator determines the microproces- 3. Logic
sor’s word size. In an 8-bit microprocessor, the word 4. Compare and test
size is 8 bits. 5. Rotate and shift

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
 Microcomputer Basics CHAPTER 46 443

6. Program control has a 1s complement instruction. The 6800 and the

7. Stack Z80 have both 1s and 2s complement. Complementing
8. I/O provides a method of representing signed numbers.
9. Miscellaneous Complementing numbers allow the ALU to perform
Data movement instructions move data from subtract operations using an adder circuit. Therefore,
one location to another within the microprocessor the MPU can use the same circuits for addition and
and memory (Figure 46-6). Data are moved 8 bits at subtraction.
a time, in a parallel fashion (simultaneously), from Compare instructions compare data in the ac-
the source to the destination specified. Microproces- cumulator with data from a memory location or an-
sor instructions use a symbolic notation that refers to other register. The result of the comparison is not
how the data are moving. In the 6800 and 6502 micro- stored in the accumulator, but a flag bit might change
processors, the arrow moves from left to right. In the as a result of it. Masking or bit testing may be used
8080A and the Z80, the arrow moves from right to left. to perform comparison. masking is a process of sub-
In either case, the message is the same. The data move tracting two numbers and allowing only certain bits
from the source to the destination. through. The mask is a predetermined set of bits that
arithmetic instructions affect the arithmetic is used to determine whether certain conditions ex-
logic unit. The most powerful instructions are add, ist within the MPU. There is a disadvantage with the
subtract, increment, and decrement. These instruc- masking procedure because it uses an AND instruc-
tions allow the microprocessor to compute and ma- tion and therefore destroys the content of the accumu-
nipulate data. They differentiate a computer from a lator. The bit-testing procedure, although it also uses
random logic circuit. The result of these instructions is an AND instruction, does not destroy the content of
placed in the accumulator. the accumulator. Not all microprocessors have a bit-
Logic instructions are those instructions that testing instruction.
contain one or more of the following Boolean opera- rotate and shift instructions change the data
tors: AND, OR, and exclusive OR. They are performed in a register or memory by moving the data to the
8 bits at a time in the ALU, and the results are placed right or left one bit. Both instructions involve use of
in the accumulator. the carry bit. The difference between the instructions
Another logic operation is the complement in- is that the rotate instruction saves the data and the
struction. This includes both 1s and 2s complement. shift instruction destroys the data.
Because complementing is done with additional cir- program-control instructions change the con-
cuitry, it is not included in all microprocessors. The tent of the program counter. These instructions allow
6502 has neither complement instruction. The 8080A the microprocessor to skip over memory locations to

■■FiguRE 46-6
Data movement instructions.

Description Mnemonic Notation Source Destination

Load Accumulator LDA M A Memory Accumulator
Load X-register LDX M X Memory X-register
Store Accumulator STA A M Accumulator Memory
Store X-register STX X M X-register Memory
Transfer accumulator TAX A X Accumulator X-register
to X-register
Transfer X-register TXA X A X-register Accumulator
to accumulator
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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
444 sECTi ON 6 D IgItAL ELECtRONIC CIRCUItS

execute a different program or to repeat a portion of

the same program. The instructions can be uncon- 46–2 QuestioNs
ditional, where the content of the program counter
changes, or conditional, where the state of a flag bit 1. What are the basic parts of a microprocessor?
is first checked to determine whether the content of 2. What registers are located in the
the program counter should change. If the condi- microprocessor?
tion of the flag bit is not met, the next instruction is 3. What are the major categories of
executed. microprocessor instructions?
stack instructions allow the storage and retrieval 4. What determines the difference between a
of different microprocessor registers in the stack . computer and a random logic circuit?
The stack is a temporary memory location that is used 5. What are the uses of miscellaneous
for storing the contents of the program counter dur- instructions?
ing a jump to a subroutine program. The difference
between a stack and other forms of memory is the
method in which the data is accessed or addressed. A
push instruction stores the register content, and a pull
instruction retrieves the register content. There is an 46–3 miCroCoNtroLLers
advantage with the stack because data can be stored
into it or read from it with single-byte instructions. All Micro identifies the device as small. Controller identi-
data transfers are between the top of the stack and the fies the device as being used to control objects, pro-
accumulator. That is, the accumulator communicates cesses, or events.
only with the top location of the stack. Any device that measures, stores, controls, calcu-
In the 6800 and 6502 microprocessors, the content lates, or displays information has a microcontroller
of the register is stored in the stack, and then the stack inside. In today’s society, microcontrollers con-
pointer is decremented by 1. This allows the stack trol many appliances (e.g., microwaves, toasters, and
pointer to point to the next memory location where stoves), operate high-tech toys, run the engines in au-
data can be saved. The stack pointer is a 16-bit register tomobiles, and play music in greeting cards. Many of
that is used to define the memory location that acts as the devices they control are taken for granted today.
the top of the stack. When the pull instruction is used, A microcontroller is a single-chip computer. It con-
the stack pointer is incremented by 1, and the data are tains limited memory, I/O interfacing, and a central
retrieved from the stack and placed in the appropriate processing unit (CPU) on the chip (Figure 46-7). This
register. In the 8080A, the top of the stack contains the makes it ideal for monitoring and controlling func-
pointer to the last memory location. The push instruc- tions. Because it is on a chip, the microcontroller and
tion first decrements the stack pointer by 1 and then its support circuits are often built into the device they
stores the register content in the stack. control.
input/output (i/o) instructions deal specifi- Microcontrollers are designed for machine-control
cally with controlling I/O devices. The 8080A, 8085, applications and do not require human interaction to
and Z80 have I/O instructions. The 6800 and 6502 do operate. For example, toasters and microwave ovens
not have specific I/O instructions. If a microprocessor have one or two fixed, repetitive programs. A micro-
uses an I/O instruction to deal with external devices, controller does not require any human interface de-
the technique is called an isolated I/O. vice such as a keyboard, monitor, or mouse.
Some instructions do not fall in any of the catego- One example of a microcontroller-integrated cir-
ries mentioned. These instructions are grouped to- cuit is the 8051, an 8-bit processor with ROM and
gether and are called miscellaneous instructions. RAM located on the chip as well as the I/O circuitry.
Among these instructions are those used to enable or The 8051 is a popular chip that is being produced and
disable interrupt lines, clear or set flag bits, or allow developed by several companies. Intel’s version of the
the microprocessor to perform BCD arithmetic. Also 8051 chip is the MCS 251, which is 15 times faster
included is the instruction to halt or break the pro- than the MCS 51. A block diagram of the MCS 51 is
gram sequence. shown in Figure 46-8.

Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
 Microcomputer Basics CHAPTER 46 445

■■FiguRE 46-7
Block diagram of a microcontroller.

Input

Address bus

Control bus
Data bus
Memory
Address
Microprocessor ROM &
decoder
RAM

© 2014 Cengage Learning

Output

The MCS 51 features 4 kbytes of EPROM/ ROM; a family of microcontrollers made by Microchip
128 bytes of RAM; 32 input/out lines; two 16-bit timer/ Technology that use reduced instruction set
counters; five-source, two-level interrupt structures; a computer (risC) . RISC is based on the strategy
full-duplex serial port; and an on-chip oscillator and that fewer basic instructions allow for higher perfor-
clock circuitry. mance. Basing microcontrollers on this architecture is
The 68HC11 is a powerful 8-bit, 16-bit address a strategy that was derived from the original PIC1640
microcontroller developed by Motorola, now pro- microcontroller.
duced by Freescale Semiconductor. It has an in- PIC microcontrollers are widely available, inex-
struction set that is similar to the older 68xx (6801, pensive, and do not require a lot of prerequisites be-
6805, and 6809) family. Depending on the applica- fore running in an application. The PIC development
tion, the 68HC11 comes with a variety of features environment is freely available and up to date. There
including built-in windowed EPROM/ EEPROM/ is a broad range of different PIC microcontrollers, to
OTPROM (one-time programmable), static RAM, fit any application. The hardware programming is easy
digital I/O, timers, A/D converter, PWM generator, and does not require a lot of additional equipment
and synchronous and asynchronous communication or programmers. The various PIC packages available
channels. Freescale Semiconductor offers a low-cost include pDip (plastic dual in-line package), ssop
evaluation board to explore the capabilities of the (shrink small outline package), soiC (small outline
68HC11. package), pLCC (plastic leaded chip carrier), and QFN
The Microelectronics Division of General Instru- (quad flat no-lead package) (Figure 46-9). PIC pack-
ment developed the first version of a program- ages allow for convenient prototyping without a lot of
mable interface controller (piC). PICs are now effort.

Copyright 2013 Cengage Learning. All Rights Reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part. Due to electronic rights, some third party content may be suppressed from the eBook and/or eChapter(s).
Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.
446 sECTi ON 6 D IgItAL ELECtRONIC CIRCUItS

■■FiguRE 46-8
Microcontroller block diagram of the MCS 51.
P0.0–P0.7 P2.0–P2.7

VCC

VSS Port 0 Port 2

drivers drivers

Ram addr.
register

Port 0 Port 2 EPROM/

RAM
latch latch ROM

Program
addr.
ACC Stack register
pointer
Buffer
B TMP2 TMP1
Register
Interrupt, serial port, PC
ALU
and timer blocks incrementer

Program
PSW
counter
PSEN
Instruction

Timing
register

ALE
and DPTR
EA
control
RST
Port 1 Port 3
latch latch

Port 1 Port 3
Osc.
drivers drivers

© 2014 Cengage Learning

XTAL1 XTAL2
P1.0–P1.7 P3.0–P3.7

■■FiguRE 46-9
Various PIC package outlines.
28
27
26
25
24
23
22

1 18 1 20 1 21
44
43
42
41
40
39
38
37
36
35
34

2 19 2 20
2 17 1 33
3 18 2 32 3 19
4 17 3 31 4 18
3 16
5 16 4 30 5 17
4 15 6 15 5 29 6 16
7 14 6 28
5 14 7 15
8 13 7
12
13
14
10

27
11
8
9

9 12 8 26
6 13 10 11 9 25 QFN
7 12 10 24
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SSOP 11 23
20
21
22
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19

8 11
9 10
PLCC
PDIP, SOIC

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Editorial review has deemed that any suppressed content does not materially affect the overall learning experience. Cengage Learning reserves the right to remove additional content at any time if subsequent rights restrictions require it.