Hardware description Microcontroller A programmable device used in majority of embedded applications is microcontroller.

By the mid-1980s, the most of the processors previously external system components moved onto the same chip. Such integrated systems were called microcontrollers rather than microprocessors, and widespread adoption became feasible. At such low costs per part, it became a very attractive alternative to building dedicated logic systems. A microcontroller is essentially a microprocessor with several other features embedded onto a single chip. The reduced chip count, reduced power consumption and reduced design cost of the microcontroller allows it to used in embedded applications. In fact, industry uses 10 times as many. Microcontrollers as microprocessors for embedded system applications. The embedded system is also called as microcontroller based systems. The microcontrollers used in embedded applications which contains extra logic such as Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART), PWM unit, Analog to Digital converter (ADC), Digital to Analog Converter(DAC), and etc., to help talk to the real world is called as embedded controllers. Programmable Interrupt Controller PIC is a family of Harvard architecture microcontrollers made by Microchip Technology, derived from the PIC 1640 originally developed by General Instruments Microelectronics Division. The name PIC initially referred to Programmable Interface Controller. PICs are popular with both industrial developers and hobbyists alike due to their cost, wide availability, large user base, extensive collection of application notes , availability of low cost or free development tools, and serial programming (and re-programming with flash memory ) capability. High-performance, enhanced PIC flash microcontroller in 40-pin dip The PIC 16F877A CMOS FLASH-based 8-bit microcontroller is upward compatible with the PIC 16C5x, PIC 12 Cxxx and PIC16C7x devices. Its features are 900 ns instruction execution, 256 bytes of EEPROM data memory , self programming, an ICD, 2 comparators, 8 channels of 10-bit Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter, 2 capture/compare/PWM functions , a synchronous serial port that can be configured as either 3-wire SPI or 2-wire I2C bus, a USART, and a Parallel Slave Port.

Microchip PIC 16f877A microcontroller features High-performance RISC CPU Lead-free; RoHS-compliant Operating speed: 20MHz, 200 ns instruction cycle Operating voltage: 4.0-5.5v Industrial temperature range (-40 to +85C) 15 Interrupt Sources 35 single-word instructions All single-cycle instructions except for program branches (two cycle)

Special Microcontroller Features Flash Memory: 14.3 K bytes (8192 words) Data SRAM: 368 bytes Data EEPROM: 256 bytes Self-reprogrammable under software control In-Circuit Serial Programming via two pins (5v) Watchdog Timer with on-chip RC oscillator Programmable code protection Power-saving Sleep mode Selectable oscillator options In-Circuit Debug via two pins

Peripheral Features 33 I/O pins; 5 I/O ports Timer0: 8-bit timer/counter with 8-bit pre-scale Timer1: 16-bit timer/counter with pre-scale Can be incremented during Sleep via external crystal/clock Timer2: 8-bit timer/counter with 8-bit period register, pre-scale and post-scalar. Capture/Compare/PWM modules 16-bit Capture input; max resolution 12.5ns 16-bit Compare; max resolution 200ns 10-bit PWM Synchronous Serial Port with two modes: SPI master 12C Master and Slave

Analog features 10-bit, 8-channel A/D Converter Brown-Out Reset Analog Comparator module 2 analog comparators Programmable on-chip voltage reference module Programmable input multiplexing from device inputs and internal VREF Comparator outputs are externally accessible

I/O ports Some pins for these I/O ports are multiplexed with an alternate function for the peripheral features on the device. In general, when a peripheral is enabled, that pin may not be used as a general purpose I/O pin. Additional information on I/O ports may be found in the PIC micro Mid-Range Reference Manual (DS33023). PORTA is a 6-bit wide, bidirectional port. The corresponding data direction register is TRISA. Setting a TRISA bit (=1) will make the corresponding PORTA pin an input (i.e. put the corresponding output driver in a High-Impedance mode). Clearing a TRISA bit (=0) will make the corresponding PORTA pin an output (i.e. put the contents of the output latch on the selected pin). Reading the PORTA register reads the status of the pins, whereas writing to it will write to the port latch.

ARCHITECTURE of PIC

PIN DIAGRAM