Microprocessor or

Microcontroller
Not just a case of you say tomarto
and I say tomayto
M. Smith, ECE
University of Calgary, Canada

Information taken from Analog Devices On-line

Manuals with permission

http://www.analog.com/processors/resources/technicalLibrary/manuals/

Information furnished by Analog Devices is believed

to be accurate and reliable. However, Analog
Devices assumes no responsibility for its use or for
any infringement of any patent other rights of any
third party which may result from its use. No license
is granted by implication or otherwise under any
patent or patent right of Analog Devices. Copyright
Analog Devices, Inc. All rights reserved.

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

2/ 29

To be tackled today

Basic microprocessor
Concept of a microcontroller
Difference between the Blackfin
microcontroller and Blackfin Ez-Kit Lite
evaluation board
Capabilities of the ADSP-BF533 Blackfin EzKit Lite evaluation board
Various acronyms that will be used in the
course

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

3/ 29

Microprocessor Basic
ADDRESS BUS
concept
32-bit / 64-bit wide
CPU
contains
CCU
ALU
data registers
and
pointer registers

CONTROL BUS
Timing signals, ready signals,
interrupts etc

DATA BUS bidirectional

8-bit / 16-bit / 32-bit / 128-bit
Microprocessor, by-itself, completely useless must have external peripherals to
Interact with outside world

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

4/ 29

MicroPROCESSOR Basic
CONTROL BUS
concept
ADDRESS
BUS
CPU
contains
CCU
ALU
data registers
and
pointer registers

BOOT
ROM
Used at
startup

Instruction
(program)
ROM

Data
RAM

Keyboard
Screen
UART
Transducers
Parallel
interface
etc

DATA BUS
Microprocessor, by-itself, completely useless must have external peripherals to
Interact with outside world

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

5/ 29

Every external device needs this

amount of support glue logic
ADDRESS BUS
to work
DECODE LOGIC
Address strobe

CS chip select

Data strobe
External
Device

Device itself with all

necessary internal logic
to do the things it needs to do

Read/Write
control

OE
Output
Enable

other signals
such as interrupt signals, etc

DATA BUS
13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

6/ 29

Issues with external devices

Many pins

Continually redesigning same thing

Mechanical failure rates increased

Design time increased routing issues
Cost increased, board size increased
Compatibility between parts
Upgrade part
Many similar options between different projects

In Real-life -- Dont need 100% flexibility

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

7/ 29

MicroCONTROLLER
Basic
CONTROL
concept
ADDRESS
BOOT
ROM

CPU
contains
CCU
ALU
data registers
and
pointer registers

Used at
startup

Instruction
(program)
ROM

Data
RAM

UART
Parallel
interface
Transducers
Etc

DATA

Microcontroller put a limited amount of most commonly used resources

inside the chip a limited amount is often enough for many applications

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

8/ 29

Advantages of
microCONTROLLER over
Pin count down
microPROCESSOR

Design time down, Board layout size down

Upgrade path easier matching between
peripherals for speed
Cost down bulk purchases
Reliability up
Common software / hardware design
environment available from manufacturer

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

9/ 29

Issues when using

microcontroller

Two types of memory speed issues when using

On-chip fast, easy to access, almost as fast as using a register,
limited amount of on-chip memory available
Off-chip slower to access additional cost
Use on-chip memory in a cache mode (copy off-chip data to onchip when processing data, then copy back)
External components still there
E.g. Video CODECs need to use DMA Direct Memory Access
so that the controller can get on with the processing and let
something else worry about moving data in and out of the chip
Real time environment
Event driven cant WAIT for a device to become ready, cant
POLL to see if device is ready, interrupt handling is key
All these resources are power hungry and compete for resources
(data busses etc) special features to control power use

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

10/ 29

Components of the Blackfin

Board

From
smallest
to largest
Processor
Core

Processor itself

One core on Blackfin ADSP-BF533 processor

Two cores on Blackfin ADSP-BF561 processor
core + some memory + some other built
incapability

Blackfin Evaluation board

Dont forget the software development package

VisualDSP++

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

11/ 29

Blackfin ADSP-BF533 CORE

THIS IS
ANIMATED

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

12/ 29

Some key discussed elements

from the previous slide

Why did the processor designers allow 2 loads from

memory at the same time, a load and store at the
same time, but not two stores at the same time?
Why would the processor designers place 8-bit
ALUs operations available on a processor that has
32-bit registers?
Give an example of an instruction where four 8-bit
ALU operations occur at the same time
Give an example of an instruction where two 16-bit
ALU operations occur at the same time

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

13/ 29

CORE

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

The chip itself

14/ 29

Enter the key elements from

previous slide

Will you learn to flash memory in this class,

and how would you do it and why?
What does a watch-dog timer do and how
do you find out how to feed it?
What does the acronym MMU stand for?
What does the acronym SPI stand for, and in
what labs will we be using the SPI?
When is the PPI used?
Whats a real time clock?

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

15/ 29

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
EVALUATION
Canada

BOARD

16/ 29

Lab. 1 demonstration of
microcontroller capability

Use the microcontroller

Configure the FLASH memory

Contains memory and also I/O components (input /

output)

Use the FLASH memory I/O capability to control

the LED
Configure the PF I/O lines (Programmable flags)

Used to control many of the external devices (chip select

and timing lines)
Used as input (Lab. 2) and / or interrupt lines (Lab. 3)

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

17/ 29

Push-button switches (PF lines)

LED (controlled by FLASH
memory logic)

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

18/ 29

Need to learn how to configure the flash memory so that

We can control the LEDs
If we can control the LEDs then we have signals that
could be used for a radio-controlled car

Parallel
interfaces
present on
the
FLASH
memory
chips

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

19/ 29

Configure the PF lines

(Programmable Flags Input
and output pins)
Animated

Replace one button input with the input

of a temperature transducer and you
have designed a Software controlled
thermometer

TMP03 will be used in Laboratory 2

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

20/ 29

Control of the PF lines

how / why?
FIO_FLAG_D Data register
FIO_EDGE -- Edge register
FIO_DIR
-- Direction register
FIO_POLAR -- Polarity register

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

21/ 29

PF lines being used already to

control other devices We are
FIO_FLAG_D register has 16 I/O pins
Whenalone!!
we change the
not
(Flag pins) available
PF registers bits, we

must ONLY change

those over which we
have control
PF8, PF9, PF10, PF11
Must learn the
instructions to safely
change some register
bits and not others
(AND and OR
instructions)

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

22/ 29

Enter the key elements from

previous slide

Which A/D is used on the Blackfin board?

Why are the signals that control the LEDs
coming from the FLASH?
What does SPORT1 means, and what
external device is being controlled by it?
How does the SPORT device allow time
sharing of the bus by several different
external devices?

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

23/ 29

Audio-Video Interaction of
ADSP-BF533 Ez-Kit Lite with
the outside world

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

24/ 29

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

25/ 29

Review quiz

CPU stands for

CCU stands for

ALU stands for

DMA stands for

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

26/ 29

Review Quiz

How come the FLASH memory must be used to

control the LEDs and not the GPIO register pins
(general purpose I/O)?

Why cant we use PF0 line in Lab. 2 to read

temperature transducer input signals?

Why will AND and OR operations be necessary

when we control the PF I/O lines?

What does PF stand for?

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

27/ 29

Tackled today

Basic microprocessor
Concept of a microcontroller
Difference between the Blackfin
microcontroller and Blackfin Ez-Kit Lite
evaluation board
Capabilities of the ADSP-BF533 Blackfin EzKit Lite evaluation board
Various acronyms that will be used in the
course

13 September 2006

Differences between a microprocessor and a

microcontroller M. Smith, University of Calgary,
Canada

28/ 29