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What are the Microcontrollers and its applications?

Jul 24 2023

Affected by the COVID-19, the production capacity of the semiconductor industry has been compressed, and the supply of chips has been unstable. Among them, MCUs, especially automotive-grade MCUs, is one of the most severely affected categories. According to statistics, in the first quarter of this year, ST MCU are basically in the state of “Allocation”, and the lead-time has a tendency to extend. The recently popular Microchip MCU has a delivery period of 52 weeks in the first quarter, and the delivery period is also expected to be extended.

The MCU is the core component in the embedded system circuit and manages specific operations in the embedded system. It features large-scale integrated circuit technology to integrate CPU, SRAM, Flash, counter, UART, and other digital and analog modules into one chip to form a small and complete microcomputer system.

According to different aspects, the classification of MCU is as follow:

▪ Data bus width: 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit

▪ Memory structure: Harvard structure, Von Neumann structure

▪ Types of Embedded Program Memory: OTP, Mask, EPROM/EEPROM, and Flash

▪ Instruction structure: CISC (Complex Instruction Set Computer), RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)

What is microcontroller - image from internet

As one of the core elements of the MCU, the MPU acts as the brain of the device, processing and responding to various instructions that direct the functions of the microcontroller and also performing data transfer operations. Memory is used to store data accepted by the processor and in response to instructions that have been programmed to execute, whereas program memory is non-volatile and is used to store long-term information about the instructions executed by the CPU. While the data memory, on the other hand, is used temporarily while instructions are being executed Data storage, is only retained when the device is power-connected. I/O peripherals are used to handle the interface with the outside world.

In some complex applications, multiple microcontrollers are usually required to work together to handle their respective tasks. In automotive applications, it is often necessary to utilize multiple microcontrollers to control various individual systems within, such as anti-lock braking systems, traction control, fuel injection, or suspension control.

MCU application on automotive - image from internet

Microcontrollers have a wide range of applications and are ubiquitous in our daily lives. Applications include automotive, medical equipment, industrial control and automation, consumer electronics, home appliances, and more. Microcontrollers are found in any device with remote control (such as TVs, security and access control), cameras, mobile phones, washing machines, microwave ovens, and other devices with operating buttons.

When choosing the right microcontroller for a project, in addition to cost, it is also important to consider the maximum speed, amount of RAM or ROM, number or type of I/O pins on the MCU, power consumption and limitations, and development support.


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