Microcontroller

A microcontroller (MC, uC, or μC) or microcontroller unit (MCU) is a small computer on a single
integrated circuit. A microcontroller contains one or more processor cores along with memory and
programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash, OTP ROM, or
ferroelectric RAM is also often included on the chip, as well as a small amount of RAM.
Microcontrollers are designed for embedded applications, in contrast to the microprocessors used
in personal computers or other general-purpose applications consisting of various discrete chips.

The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit

microcontroller that includes a CPU
running at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM,
2048 bytes of EPROM, and I/O in the same
chip

Two ATmega microcontrollers

In modern terminology, a microcontroller is similar to, but less sophisticated than, a system on a
chip (SoC). A SoC may include a microcontroller as one of its components but usually integrates it
with advanced peripherals like a graphics processing unit (GPU), a Wi-Fi module, or one or more
coprocessors.
Microcontrollers are used in automatically controlled products and devices, such as automobile
engine control systems, implantable medical devices, remote controls, office machines, appliances,
power tools, toys, and other embedded systems. By reducing the size and cost compared to a
design that uses a separate microprocessor, memory, and input/output devices, microcontrollers
make digital control of more devices and processes practical. Mixed-signal microcontrollers are
common, integrating analog components needed to control non-digital electronic systems. In the
context of the Internet of Things, microcontrollers are an economical and popular means of data
collection, sensing and actuating the physical world as edge devices.

Some microcontrollers may use four-bit words and operate at frequencies as low as 4 kHz for low
power consumption (single-digit milliwatts or microwatts). They generally have the ability to retain
functionality while waiting for an event such as a button press or other interrupt; power
consumption while sleeping (with the CPU clock and most peripherals off) may be just nanowatts,
making many of them well suited for long lasting battery applications. Other microcontrollers may
serve performance-critical roles, where they may need to act more like a digital signal processor
(DSP), with higher clock speeds and power consumption.

History

Background
The first multi-chip microprocessors, the Four-Phase Systems AL1 in 1969 and the Garrett
AiResearch MP944 in 1970, were developed with multiple MOS LSI chips. The first single-chip
microprocessor was the Intel 4004, released on a single MOS LSI chip in 1971. It was developed by
Federico Faggin, using his silicon-gate MOS technology, along with Intel engineers Marcian Hoff and
Stan Mazor, and Busicom engineer Masatoshi Shima.[1] It was followed by the 4-bit Intel 4040, the 8-
bit Intel 8008, and the 8-bit Intel 8080. All of these processors required several external chips to
implement a working system, including memory and peripheral interface chips. As a result, the total
system cost was several hundred (1970s US) dollars, making it impossible to economically
computerize small appliances.

MOS Technology introduced its sub-$100 microprocessors in 1975, the 6501 and 6502. Their chief
aim was to reduce this cost barrier but these microprocessors still required external support,
memory, and peripheral chips which kept the total system cost in the hundreds of dollars.

Development
One book credits TI engineers Gary Boone and Michael Cochran with the successful creation of the
first microcontroller in 1971. The result of their work was the TMS 1000, which became
commercially available in 1974. It combined read-only memory, read/write memory, processor and
clock on one chip and was targeted at embedded systems.[2]

During the early-to-mid-1970s, Japanese electronics manufacturers began producing

microcontrollers for automobiles, including 4-bit MCUs for in-car entertainment, automatic wipers,
electronic locks, and dashboard, and 8-bit MCUs for engine control.[3]

Partly in response to the existence of the single-chip TMS 1000,[4] Intel developed a computer
system on a chip optimized for control applications, the Intel 8048, with commercial parts first
shipping in 1977.[4] It combined RAM and ROM on the same chip with a microprocessor. Among
numerous applications, this chip would eventually find its way into over one billion PC keyboards. At
that time Intel's President, Luke J. Valenter, stated that the microcontroller was one of the most
successful products in the company's history, and he expanded the microcontroller division's budget
by over 25%.

Various PIC microcontrollers Piggyback microcontroller from

with MOSTEK
integrated EPROM

Most microcontrollers at this time had concurrent variants. One had EPROM program memory, with
a transparent quartz window in the lid of the package to allow it to be erased by exposure to
ultraviolet light. These erasable chips were often used for prototyping. The other variant was either a
mask-programmed ROM or a PROM variant which was only programmable once. For the latter,
sometimes the designation OTP was used, standing for "one-time programmable". In an OTP
microcontroller, the PROM was usually of identical type as the EPROM, but the chip package had no
quartz window; because there was no way to expose the EPROM to ultraviolet light, it could not be
erased. Because the erasable versions required ceramic packages with quartz windows, they were
significantly more expensive than the OTP versions, which could be made in lower-cost opaque
plastic packages. For the erasable variants, quartz was required, instead of less expensive glass, for
its transparency to ultraviolet light—to which glass is largely opaque—but the main cost
differentiator was the ceramic package itself. Piggyback microcontrollers were also used.[5][6][7]

In 1993, the introduction of EEPROM memory allowed microcontrollers (beginning with the
Microchip PIC16C84)[8] to be electrically erased quickly without an expensive package as required
for EPROM, allowing both rapid prototyping, and in-system programming. (EEPROM technology had
been available prior to this time,[9] but the earlier EEPROM was more expensive and less durable,
making it unsuitable for low-cost mass-produced microcontrollers.) The same year, Atmel
introduced the first microcontroller using Flash memory, a special type of EEPROM.[10] Other
companies rapidly followed suit, with both memory types.

Nowadays microcontrollers are cheap and readily available for hobbyists, with large online
communities around certain processors.

Volume and cost

In 2002, about 55% of all CPUs sold in the world were 8-bit microcontrollers and
microprocessors.[11]

Over two billion 8-bit microcontrollers were sold in 1997,[12] and according to Semico, over four
billion 8-bit microcontrollers were sold in 2006.[13] More recently, Semico has claimed the MCU
market grew 36.5% in 2010 and 12% in 2011.[14]

A typical home in a developed country is likely to have only four general-purpose microprocessors
but around three dozen microcontrollers. A typical mid-range automobile has about 30
microcontrollers. They can also be found in many electrical devices such as washing machines,
microwave ovens, and telephones.

Historically, the 8-bit segment has dominated the MCU market [..] 16-bit
microcontrollers became the largest volume MCU category in 2011, overtaking 8-bit
devices for the first time that year [..] IC Insights believes the makeup of the MCU
market will undergo substantial changes in the next five years with 32-bit devices
steadily grabbing a greater share of sales and unit volumes. By 2017, 32-bit MCUs
are expected to account for 55% of microcontroller sales [..] In terms of unit
volumes, 32-bit MCUs are expected account for 38% of microcontroller shipments in
2017, while 16-bit devices will represent 34% of the total, and 4-/8-bit designs are
forecast to be 28% of units sold that year. The 32-bit MCU market is expected to
grow rapidly due to increasing demand for higher levels of precision in embedded-
processing systems and the growth in connectivity using the Internet. [..] In the next
few years, complex 32-bit MCUs are expected to account for over 25% of the
processing power in vehicles.

— IC Insights, MCU Market on Migration Path to 32-bit and ARM-based Devices[15]

Cost to manufacture can be under US$0.10 per unit.

Cost has plummeted over time, with the cheapest 8-bit microcontrollers being available for under
US$0.03 in 2018,[16] and some 32-bit microcontrollers around US$1 for similar quantities.

In 2012, following a global crisis—a worst ever annual sales decline and recovery and average sales
price year-over-year plunging 17%—the biggest reduction since the 1980s—the average price for a
microcontroller was US$0.88 (US$0.69 for 4-/8-bit, US$0.59 for 16-bit, US$1.76 for 32-bit).[15]

In 2012, worldwide sales of 8-bit microcontrollers were around US$4 billion, while 4-bit
microcontrollers also saw significant sales.[17]

In 2015, 8-bit microcontrollers could be bought for US$0.311 (1,000 units),[18] 16-bit for US$0.385
(1,000 units),[19] and 32-bit for US$0.378 (1,000 units, but at US$0.35 for 5,000).[20]

In 2018, 8-bit microcontrollers could be bought for US$0.03,[16] 16-bit for US$0.393 (1,000 units, but
at US$0.563 for 100 or US$0.349 for full reel of 2,000),[21] and 32-bit for US$0.503 (1,000 units, but
at US$0.466 for 5,000).[22]

In 2018, the low-priced microcontrollers above from 2015 were all more expensive (with inflation
calculated between 2018 and 2015 prices for those specific units) at: the 8-bit microcontroller could
be bought for US$0.319 (1,000 units) or 2.6% higher,[18] the 16-bit one for US$0.464 (1,000 units) or
21% higher,[19] and the 32-bit one for US$0.503 (1,000 units, but at US$0.466 for 5,000) or 33%
higher.[20]

A PIC 18F8720 microcontroller in an 80-pin

TQFP package

Smallest computer
On 21 June 2018, the "world's smallest computer" was announced by the University of Michigan.
The device is a "0.04 mm3 16 nW wireless and batteryless sensor system with integrated Cortex-
M0+ processor and optical communication for cellular temperature measurement." It "measures
just 0.3 mm to a side—dwarfed by a grain of rice. [...] In addition to the RAM and photovoltaics, the
new computing devices have processors and wireless transmitters and receivers. Because they are
too small to have conventional radio antennae, they receive and transmit data with visible light. A
base station provides light for power and programming, and it receives the data."[23] The device is
1⁄
10th the size of IBM's previously claimed world-record-sized computer from months back in March
2018,[24] which is "smaller than a grain of salt",[25] has a million transistors, costs less than $0.10 to
manufacture, and, combined with blockchain technology, is intended for logistics and "crypto-
anchors"—digital fingerprint applications.[26]

Embedded design

A microcontroller can be considered a self-contained system with a processor, memory and

peripherals and can be used as an embedded system.[27] The majority of microcontrollers in use
today are embedded in other machinery, such as automobiles, telephones, appliances, and
peripherals for computer systems.

While some embedded systems are very sophisticated, many have minimal requirements for
memory and program length, with no operating system, and low software complexity. Typical input
and output devices include switches, relays, solenoids, LEDs, small or custom liquid-crystal displays,
radio frequency devices, and sensors for data such as temperature, humidity, light level etc.
Embedded systems usually have no keyboard, screen, disks, printers, or other recognizable I/O
devices of a personal computer, and may lack human interaction devices of any kind.

Interrupts
Microcontrollers must provide real-time (predictable, though not necessarily fast) response to
events in the embedded system they are controlling. When certain events occur, an interrupt system
can signal the processor to suspend processing the current instruction sequence and to begin an
interrupt service routine (ISR, or "interrupt handler") which will perform any processing required
based on the source of the interrupt, before returning to the original instruction sequence. Possible
interrupt sources are device-dependent and often include events such as an internal timer overflow,
completing an analog-to-digital conversion, a logic-level change on an input such as from a button
being pressed, and data received on a communication link. Where power consumption is important
as in battery devices, interrupts may also wake a microcontroller from a low-power sleep state
where the processor is halted until required to do something by a peripheral event.
Programs
Typically microcontroller programs must fit in the available on-chip memory, since it would be costly
to provide a system with external, expandable memory. Compilers and assemblers are used to
convert both high-level and assembly language code into a compact machine code for storage in
the microcontroller's memory. Depending on the device, the program memory may be permanent,
read-only memory that can only be programmed at the factory, or it may be field-alterable flash or
erasable read-only memory.

Manufacturers have often produced special versions of their microcontrollers in order to help the
hardware and software development of the target system. Originally these included EPROM
versions that have a "window" on the top of the device through which program memory can be
erased by ultraviolet light, ready for reprogramming after a programming ("burn") and test cycle.
Since 1998, EPROM versions are rare and have been replaced by EEPROM and flash, which are
easier to use (can be erased electronically) and cheaper to manufacture.

Other versions may be available where the ROM is accessed as an external device rather than as
internal memory, however these are becoming rare due to the widespread availability of cheap
microcontroller programmers.

The use of field-programmable devices on a microcontroller may allow field update of the firmware
or permit late factory revisions to products that have been assembled but not yet shipped.
Programmable memory also reduces the lead time required for deployment of a new product.

Where hundreds of thousands of identical devices are required, using parts programmed at the time
of manufacture can be economical. These "mask-programmed" parts have the program laid down in
the same way as the logic of the chip, at the same time.

A customized microcontroller incorporates a block of digital logic that can be personalized for
additional processing capability, peripherals and interfaces that are adapted to the requirements of
the application. One example is the AT91CAP from Atmel.

Other microcontroller features

Microcontrollers usually contain from several to dozens of general purpose input/output pins
(GPIO). GPIO pins are software configurable to either an input or an output state. When GPIO pins
are configured to an input state, they are often used to read sensors or external signals. Configured
to the output state, GPIO pins can drive external devices such as LEDs or motors, often indirectly,
through external power electronics.
Many embedded systems need to read sensors that produce analog signals. However, because they
are built to interpret and process digital data, i.e. 1s and 0s, they are not able to do anything with the
analog signals that may be sent to it by a device. So, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) is used to
convert the incoming data into a form that the processor can recognize. A less common feature on
some microcontrollers is a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) that allows the processor to output
analog signals or voltage levels.

In addition to the converters, many embedded microprocessors include a variety of timers as well.
One of the most common types of timers is the programmable interval timer (PIT). A PIT may either
count down from some value to zero, or up to the capacity of the count register, overflowing to zero.
Once it reaches zero, it sends an interrupt to the processor indicating that it has finished counting.
This is useful for devices such as thermostats, which periodically test the temperature around them
to see if they need to turn the air conditioner on/off, the heater on/off, etc.

A dedicated pulse-width modulation (PWM) block makes it possible for the CPU to control power
converters, resistive loads, motors, etc., without using many CPU resources in tight timer loops.

A universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) block makes it possible to receive and

transmit data over a serial line with very little load on the CPU. Dedicated on-chip hardware also
often includes capabilities to communicate with other devices (chips) in digital formats such as
Inter-Integrated Circuit (I²C), Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and
Ethernet.[28]

Higher integration

Die of a PIC12C508 8-bit, fully static,

EEPROM/EPROM/ROM-based CMOS
microcontroller manufactured by Microchip
Technology using a 1200 nanometer
process
 Die of a STM32F100C4T6B ARM Cortex-
M3 microcontroller with 16 kilobytes flash
memory, 24 MHz central processing unit
(CPU), motor control and Consumer
Electronics Control (CEC) functions.
Manufactured by STMicroelectronics.

Microcontrollers may not implement an external address or data bus as they integrate RAM and
non-volatile memory on the same chip as the CPU. Using fewer pins, the chip can be placed in a
much smaller, cheaper package.

Integrating the memory and other peripherals on a single chip and testing them as a unit increases
the cost of that chip, but often results in decreased net cost of the embedded system as a whole.
Even if the cost of a CPU that has integrated peripherals is slightly more than the cost of a CPU and
external peripherals, having fewer chips typically allows a smaller and cheaper circuit board, and
reduces the labor required to assemble and test the circuit board, in addition to tending to decrease
the defect rate for the finished assembly.

A microcontroller is a single integrated circuit, commonly with the following features:

central processing unit – ranging from small and simple 4-bit processors to complex 32-bit or 64-
bit processors

volatile memory (RAM) for data storage

ROM, EPROM, EEPROM or Flash memory for program and operating parameter storage

discrete input and output bits, allowing control or detection of the logic state of an individual
package pin

serial input/output such as serial ports (UARTs)

 other serial communications interfaces like I²C, Serial Peripheral Interface and Controller Area
Network for system interconnect

peripherals such as timers, event counters, PWM generators, and watchdog

clock generator – often an oscillator for a quartz timing crystal, resonator or RC circuit

many include analog-to-digital converters, some include digital-to-analog converters

in-circuit programming and in-circuit debugging support

This integration drastically reduces the number of chips and the amount of wiring and circuit board
space that would be needed to produce equivalent systems using separate chips. Furthermore, on
low pin count devices in particular, each pin may interface to several internal peripherals, with the
pin function selected by software. This allows a part to be used in a wider variety of applications
than if pins had dedicated functions.

Microcontrollers have proved to be highly popular in embedded systems since their introduction in
the 1970s.

Some microcontrollers use a Harvard architecture: separate memory buses for instructions and
data, allowing accesses to take place concurrently. Where a Harvard architecture is used, instruction
words for the processor may be a different bit size than the length of internal memory and registers;
for example: 12-bit instructions used with 8-bit data registers.

The decision of which peripheral to integrate is often difficult. The microcontroller vendors often
trade operating frequencies and system design flexibility against time-to-market requirements from
their customers and overall lower system cost. Manufacturers have to balance the need to minimize
the chip size against additional functionality.

Microcontroller architectures vary widely. Some designs include general-purpose microprocessor

cores, with one or more ROM, RAM, or I/O functions integrated onto the package. Other designs are
purpose-built for control applications. A microcontroller instruction set usually has many
instructions intended for bit manipulation (bit-wise operations) to make control programs more
compact.[29] For example, a general-purpose processor might require several instructions to test a
bit in a register and branch if the bit is set, where a microcontroller could have a single instruction to
provide that commonly required function.

Microcontrollers historically have not had math coprocessors, so floating-point arithmetic has been
performed by software. However, some recent designs do include FPUs and DSP-optimized
features. An example would be Microchip's PIC32 MIPS-based line.
Programming environments

Microcontrollers were originally programmed only in assembly language, but various high-level
programming languages, such as C, Python and JavaScript, are now also in common use to target
microcontrollers and embedded systems.[30] Compilers for general-purpose languages will typically
have some restrictions as well as enhancements to better support the unique characteristics of
microcontrollers. Some microcontrollers have environments to aid developing certain types of
applications. Microcontroller vendors often make tools freely available to make it easier to adopt
their hardware.

Microcontrollers with specialty hardware may require their own non-standard dialects of C, such as
SDCC for the 8051, which prevent using standard tools (such as code libraries or static analysis
tools) even for code unrelated to hardware features. Interpreters may also contain nonstandard
features, such as MicroPython, although a fork, CircuitPython, has looked to move hardware
dependencies to libraries and have the language adhere to a more CPython standard.

Interpreter firmware is also available for some microcontrollers. For example, BASIC on the early
microcontroller Intel 8052;[31] BASIC and FORTH on the Zilog Z8[32] as well as some modern
devices. Typically these interpreters support interactive programming.

Simulators are available for some microcontrollers. These allow a developer to analyze what the
behavior of the microcontroller and their program should be if they were using the actual part. A
simulator will show the internal processor state and also that of the outputs, as well as allowing
input signals to be generated. While on the one hand most simulators will be limited from being
unable to simulate much other hardware in a system, they can exercise conditions that may
otherwise be hard to reproduce at will in the physical implementation, and can be the quickest way
to debug and analyze problems.

Recent microcontrollers are often integrated with on-chip debug circuitry that when accessed by an
in-circuit emulator (ICE) via JTAG, allow debugging of the firmware with a debugger. A real-time ICE
may allow viewing and/or manipulating of internal states while running. A tracing ICE can record
executed program and MCU states before/after a trigger point.

Types

As of 2008, there are several dozen microcontroller architectures and vendors including:

ARM core processors (many vendors)

 ARM Cortex-M cores are specifically targeted toward microcontroller applications

Microchip Technology Atmel AVR (8-bit), AVR32 (32-bit), and AT91SAM (32-bit)

Cypress Semiconductor's M8C core used in their Cypress PSoC

Freescale ColdFire (32-bit) and S08 (8-bit)

Freescale 68HC11 (8-bit), and others based on the Motorola 6800 family

Intel 8051, also manufactured by NXP Semiconductors, Infineon and many others

Infineon: 8-bit XC800, 16-bit XE166, 32-bit XMC4000 (ARM based Cortex M4F), 32-bit TriCore and,
32-bit Aurix Tricore Bit microcontrollers[33]

Maxim Integrated MAX32600, MAX32620, MAX32625, MAX32630, MAX32650, MAX32640

MIPS

Microchip Technology PIC, (8-bit PIC16, PIC18, 16-bit dsPIC33 / PIC24), (32-bit PIC32)

NXP Semiconductors LPC1000, LPC2000, LPC3000, LPC4000 (32-bit), LPC900, LPC700 (8-bit)

Parallax Propeller

PowerPC ISE

Rabbit 2000 (8-bit)

Renesas Electronics: RL78 16-bit MCU; RX 32-bit MCU; SuperH; V850 32-bit MCU; H8; R8C 16-bit
MCU

Silicon Laboratories Pipelined 8-bit 8051 microcontrollers and mixed-signal ARM-based 32-bit
microcontrollers

STMicroelectronics STM8 (8-bit), ST10 (16-bit), STM32 (32-bit), SPC5 ([Link]

omotive-microcontrollers/[Link]?querycriteria=productId=SC963)
(automotive 32-bit)

Texas Instruments TI MSP430 (16-bit), MSP432 ([Link] (32-bit), C2000

(32-bit)

Toshiba TLCS-870 (8-bit/16-bit)

Many others exist, some of which are used in very narrow range of applications or are more like
applications processors than microcontrollers. The microcontroller market is extremely fragmented,
with numerous vendors, technologies, and markets. Note that many vendors sell or have sold
multiple architectures.
Interrupt latency
In contrast to general-purpose computers, microcontrollers used in embedded systems often seek
to optimize interrupt latency over instruction throughput. Issues include both reducing the latency,
and making it be more predictable (to support real-time control).

When an electronic device causes an interrupt, during the context switch the intermediate results
(registers) have to be saved before the software responsible for handling the interrupt can run. They
must also be restored after that interrupt handler is finished. If there are more processor registers,
this saving and restoring process may take more time, increasing the latency. (If an ISR does not
require the use of some registers, it may simply leave them alone rather than saving and restoring
them, so in that case those registers are not involved with the latency.) Ways to reduce such
context/restore latency include having relatively few registers in their central processing units
(undesirable because it slows down most non-interrupt processing substantially), or at least having
the hardware not save them all (this fails if the software then needs to compensate by saving the
rest "manually"). Another technique involves spending silicon gates on "shadow registers": One or
more duplicate registers used only by the interrupt software, perhaps supporting a dedicated stack.

Other factors affecting interrupt latency include:

Cycles needed to complete current CPU activities. To minimize those costs, microcontrollers tend
to have short pipelines (often three instructions or less), small write buffers, and ensure that
longer instructions are continuable or restartable. RISC design principles ensure that most
instructions take the same number of cycles, helping avoid the need for most such
continuation/restart logic.

The length of any critical section that needs to be interrupted. Entry to a critical section restricts
concurrent data structure access. When a data structure must be accessed by an interrupt
handler, the critical section must block that interrupt. Accordingly, interrupt latency is increased by
however long that interrupt is blocked. When there are hard external constraints on system
latency, developers often need tools to measure interrupt latencies and track down which critical
sections cause slowdowns.
One common technique just blocks all interrupts for the duration of the critical section. This
is easy to implement, but sometimes critical sections get uncomfortably long.

A more complex technique just blocks the interrupts that may trigger access to that data
structure. This is often based on interrupt priorities, which tend to not correspond well to the
relevant system data structures. Accordingly, this technique is used mostly in very
constrained environments.
 Processors may have hardware support for some critical sections. Examples include
supporting atomic access to bits or bytes within a word, or other atomic access primitives
like the LDREX/STREX exclusive access primitives introduced in the ARMv6 architecture.

Interrupt nesting. Some microcontrollers allow higher priority interrupts to interrupt lower priority
ones. This allows software to manage latency by giving time-critical interrupts higher priority (and
thus lower and more predictable latency) than less-critical ones.

Trigger rate. When interrupts occur back-to-back, microcontrollers may avoid an extra context
save/restore cycle by a form of tail call optimization.

Lower end microcontrollers tend to support fewer interrupt latency controls than higher end ones.

Memory technology

Two different kinds of memory are commonly used with microcontrollers, a non-volatile memory for
storing firmware and a read–write memory for temporary data.

Data
From the earliest microcontrollers to today, six-transistor SRAM is almost always used as the
read/write working memory, with a few more transistors per bit used in the register file.

In addition to the SRAM, some microcontrollers also have internal EEPROM and/or NVRAM for data
storage; and ones that do not have any (such as the BASIC Stamp), or where the internal memory is
insufficient, are often connected to an external EEPROM or flash memory chip.

A few microcontrollers beginning in 2003 have "self-programmable" flash memory.[10]

Firmware
The earliest microcontrollers used mask ROM to store firmware. Later microcontrollers (such as the
early versions of the Freescale 68HC11 and early PIC microcontrollers) had EPROM memory, which
used a translucent window to allow erasure via UV light, while production versions had no such
window, being OTP (one-time-programmable). Firmware updates were equivalent to replacing the
microcontroller itself, thus many products were not upgradeable.

Motorola MC68HC805[9] was the first microcontroller to use EEPROM to store the firmware.
EEPROM microcontrollers became more popular in 1993 when Microchip introduced PIC16C84[8]
and Atmel introduced an 8051-core microcontroller that was first one to use NOR Flash memory to
store the firmware.[10] Today's microcontrollers almost all use flash memory, with a few models
using FRAM and some ultra-low-cost parts still using OTP or Mask ROM.
See also
Microprocessor
Electronics portal
System on a chip

List of common microcontrollers

List of Wi-Fi microcontrollers

List of open-source hardware projects

Microbotics

Programmable logic controller

Single-board microcontroller

References
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[Link]/siliconengine/microprocessor-integrates-cpu-function-onto-a-single-chip/) . The
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2. Augarten, Stan (1983). "The Most Widely Used Computer on a Chip: The TMS 1000" ([Link]
[Link]/web/20100217065617/[Link] .
State of the Art: A Photographic History of the Integrated Circuit. New Haven and New York:
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3. "Trends in the Semiconductor Industry" ([Link]

[Link]/english/trends/[Link]) . Semiconductor History Museum of Japan.
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Retrieved 2019-06-27.

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p://[Link]/resources/access/text/2013/05/[Link])
(PDF). Computer History Museum Oral History, 2008. p. 4. Retrieved 2016-04-04.

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8. "Chip Hall of Fame: Microchip Technology PIC 16C84 Microcontroller" ([Link]

rg/chip-hall-of-fame-microchip-technology-pic-16c84-microcontroller) . IEEE. 2017-06-30.
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9. Motorola. Advance Information, 8-Bit Microcomputers MC68HC05B6, MC68HC05B4,

MC68HC805B6, Motorola Document EADI0054RI. Motorola Ltd., 1988.

10. Odd Jostein Svendsli (2003). "Atmel's Self-Programming Flash Microcontrollers" ([Link]
[Link]/downloads/en/DeviceDoc/[Link]) (PDF). Retrieved 2024-06-18.

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External links