Modern Component Families and Circuit Block Design

Chapter 4

Microprocessors and Microcontrollers

Kithsiri Samarasinghe

4.1 Introduction

The human race accumulates knowledge and develops intelligence from generation to generation. The engineered systems around us have increased the amount of intelligence embedded in the microelectronic components used in the industrial designs as well as consumer electronics such as personal phones, watches, television, entertainment systems, and cameras. The components became more sophisticated as engineers and software designers acquired more knowledge and experience on processor families since the commercial single-chip microprocessor was developed in 1971. As system designers strive to combine human intelligence with nanosecond- and picosecond-order microelectronics, ...