Talk:Microcontrollers Atmel

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Why Only ATMEL and other questions on this course

 * Most wiki pepole will not like the direct tie to 1 company. this is understood.
 * This is not avoidable and anyone who has experience in more than 1 micro controller topology will understand this.
 * The differences in different topology's will complicate learning and muddy a micro controller class so it is best to focus on 1 type/topology/manufacture at once.
 * Other people who are good at other microcontrollers motorola(6800), xylink?, silicon labs will need to do a 211 for those micro controllers.

LOGIC, ALU, Micro processor, Microcontroller, DSP, CPU

 * Why not combine all of these in to one?
 * Logic is the base level of abstraction for digital witch is written with transistors and cmos
 * ALU arithmetic logic unit is a collection of logic gates that makes up the core of a processor
 * micro processor mostly just another name for CPU.
 * Microcontroller has a CPU but it also has on die storage for its program  as well as ram and eeprom of some form. also will likely include other common features timers, counters, comparators, ADC, DAC, PWM. Microcontrollers are not intended to be the primary data path in most systems they are more meant to control all the other devices that make up the actual high speed data path, but for smaller systems, with lower speed requirements on data, they are capable of operating directly on the data.
 * DSP is everything that a Microcontroller is but it is expanded with features to help it be the primary data path. As well as preforming many functions that would normally be static hardware in pure software.
 * CPU don't normally have as many fancy obscure features( timers, counters, comparators, ADC, DAC, PWM ) but they are meant to run complex and or multiple programs at once. Usually part of a expandable system where other hardware devices will take over for the missing features. also most CPU's do not hold any program on there dies and require the assistance of a micro controller or EEPROM to start functioning.

lesson plan
currently i have material partly done for I plan to do some or most of this, this weekend also this course will use avr studio 3.x by default as well as 4.x  3.x will work in wine on non windows systemsEadthem 03:10, 8 August 2008 (UTC)
 * central processor theory  potentially 2 lessons
 * ALU layout
 * register ALU interconnection
 * operand setups
 * stack theory
 * basic commands (ATMEL AVR ASSEMBLY)
 * precompiler commands .org .def...
 * ld ldi
 * out
 * push pop
 * call ret

PORTS PINS AND DDR
pin reads logic 1 or 0 based on what the true value of the pin is. dumping info Eadthem 17:54, 11 January 2009 (UTC)
 * TTL pin = port unless its shorted out
 * high Z pin is = to input it may float high or low
 * Pull up pin = 1  unless its shorted to ground by a switch or other device