Embedded Systems in Egypt: Microcontroller Tutorial : PIC16f84A

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Microcontroller Tutorial : PIC16f84A

I decided to start a Microcontroller Tutorial for beginners. If you like to learn about Microcontroller programming and embedded systems , this blog may be helpful.

Prerequisites:

All you need to know before start programming your microcontroller is basic programming knowledge, basic electronics and Boolean Algebra ( AND , OR & NOT gates ... ) .

And the first thing to know is:

What is the Microcontroller?

It is a smart IC that can be programmed to do some task. Unlike a typical IC which does a certain function that cannot be changed, the Microcontroller function is defined by its software code written on it. you can change the code when you want and thus change its function. Smart means it can decide and take actions according to its code.

So what 's the difference between Microcontroller(uC) and Microprocessor(uP) ??

uP needs some other devices to be able to work ( BIOS, RAM, I/O Ports , ... ) all these devices are other IC 's.

Although the uP is more general purpose than than the uC , but the fact that the uC contains all the required devices in one package ( EEPROM, RAM, IO Ports , ADC , UART , etc ... ) overcomes the limited abilities and small instruction set of the uC.

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