Embedded Systems

3. Microcontroller

We have mentioned that a standard CPU chip can be used in an embedded system - that is true. But that chip will definitely need some input-output interfaces to be able to deal with the real world.

And so the idea of a microcontroller with an in-built input-output interface came about.

An embedded system needs to have the following features

• Handle a set of inputs
• Provide a set of outputs
• Be programmable
• Low power consumption
• Be cheap
• Be reliable
• Be compact

All of these requirement point to one thing - it would be best if all of these features were available as a single chip.

This single chip is called a microcontroller.

As you can see, a microcontroller is different to a standard microprocessor in that it has built-in input\outputs along with ROM to store permanent code.

The chip usually comes with its own 'design kit' that provides the means to program it. This often includes support of a high level language such as 'C'.