Microcomputer Engineering

To the Student Microcomputer Engineering,Third Edition, was written for students studying engineering and related disciplines in a first microcomputers course. Knowledge of microprocessors and single-chip microcomputers is essential to the design of products, manufacturing equipment, and laboratory instrumentation. Many schools now require at least one microcomputers course that includes laboratory work with these devices. Practicing engineers with some digital systems background can learn this material without an instructor by using this book. The best background includes courses in electrical circuits, electronics, digital systems, and high-level language programming. Digital systems is the most important of these. This textbook will help you learn the fundamentals of microcomputers; it is not a computer manual. Examples demonstrate conceptual topics, since most people learn examples before they can generalize. Small sections cover only a few details at a time. I introduce the computer instructions only when the topic requires them; a table of the instructions appears only in an appendix. You should experience the computer by hands-on work with microcomputer training hardware. In using such hardware, you will see all its features simultaneously, and that is a problem. You cannot force parts of the hardware to stop operating until you learn about them; the hardware operates whether you know about it or not. You must learn to ignore those things that you are not yet prepared to comprehend. Similarly, in this book, unnecessary details are ignored until you are ready for them. Implement all the small program examples on trainer hardware as you read for the best learning experience. I recommend the Motorola M68HCIIEVB or M68HC11EVBU2 microcomputer trainers for implementing the examples and exercises. Additional reference material is available through the Internet on the World Wide Web at WWW.PRENHALL.COM. I sincerely hope that this book will be useful to students. If the opportunity arises, I will improve it based upon the recommendations and other feedback that I receive. I invite and urge you to write to me to comment on this book; student opinion about books is hardly ever heard, but always appreciated. To the Instructor Microcomputer Engineeringis a complete course-teaching aid that encourages hands-on laboratory work. The exercises in this third edition have been greatly expanded and improved. An associated website at WWW.PRENHALL.COM supports the text material. The Motorola 68HCII single-chip microcomputer/microprocessor is the only hardware discussed. I recommend the Motorola M68HC 11EVB or the M68HC 11EVBU2 microcomputer trainer with a personal computer system running Microsoft Windows NT or its successors for laboratory work. Considering the low cost of microcomputer trainers, I prefer them over software simulators. All the example programs and exercises can be run on the recommended trainers. I also recommend the PFE freeware editor and the 2500AD assembler. Material related to this support equipment and software is provided on the Web site. Other equipment and software can be used, although with greater effort. The aforementioned Web site also describes how to set up a complete laboratory. The text makes teaching easy. The order of the chapters is the order in which I present the material. I want students working on a trainer as soon as possible, so I deliberately simplified the early topics. Reading assigned by section is possible since the sections are mostly independent of one another. Small laboratory/homework exercises are at the end of each chapter. Larger projects are on the Web site. Chapter 1 reviews the digital systems and computer fundamentals required. The section on number systems is essential to understanding later chapters. Chapter 2 introduces some of the microprocessor registers, theMiller, Gene H. is the author of 'Microcomputer Engineering', published 2003 under ISBN 9780131428041 and ISBN 0131428047.