Microprocessor and microcontroller
What separates a bare processor from a chip that carries its own memory and inputs and outputs, the system on a chip, embedded systems, real time and the main families x86, ARM, AVR and RISC-V.
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Microprocessor: what is it?
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A chip that holds the central processing unit alone: the working memory, the storage and the inputs and outputs stay outside, on the board.
It is what powers a PC or a server: powerful and flexible, but it needs memory modules, a chipset and controllers around it.
A microprocessor alone, placed on a board, cannot work without:
- memory and I/O controllers placed outside the chip
- an operating system burned into the chip by its maker
- a dedicated arithmetic and logic unit that must be added separately on the board
- a program counter fitted on a support chip separate from the processor
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memory and I/O controllers placed outside the chip
The arithmetic unit, the registers and the program counter are part of the processor. What it lacks is working memory, storage and interfaces, which a microcontroller carries instead.
On an Arduino Uno board, the ATmega328P microcontroller stores the program in … of flash memory and its variables in … of SRAM.
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On an Arduino Uno board, the ATmega328P microcontroller stores the program in 32 KB of flash memory and its variables in 2 KB of SRAM.
The flash keeps the program without power; the volatile SRAM holds the variables and the stack. An 8-bit microcontroller makes do with tiny amounts.
Microcontroller: what is it?
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A single chip that gathers a processor, program memory, working memory, input and output ports, timers and often an analog-to-digital converter.
Once powered, it can drive a sensor or a motor with nothing else: cheap and frugal, but far less powerful than a microprocessor.