Difference between Microprocessor and Microcontroller:

Microprocessor Microcontroller

It consists of an ALU to perform arithmetic and logic It consists of CPU, data and program memory, serial
manipulations, registers and control unit. and parallel I/O, timers, external and internal
interrupts.
It has address bus, data bus and control bus for interfacing It communicates with outside world through P0, P1,
with the outside world. P2 and P3 ports. Ports can be used as address and data
bus depending upon control signals.
RAM and ROM are not incorporated within chip. RAM and ROM are incorporated within chip. RAM is
smaller, but is enough for small applications. If it is not
sufficient, then external memory may be added in the
microcontroller-based-system.
These are used as the CPU in the microcomputer systems. These are used in small embedded system products
(like washing machine, micro-ovens etc.) to perform
control-oriented functions.
Instructions perform operations based on nibbles and bytes. Instructions are able to perform bit-level operations
and other operations such as: based on nibbles, bytes,
words or double words.
Microprocessors are mainly used in designing general purpose Microcontrollers are used in automatically controlled
systems from small to large and complex systems like super devices.
computers.
Microprocessors have integrated Math Coprocessor. Complex Microcontrollers do not have math coprocessors. They
mathematical calculations which involve floating point can be use software to perform floating point calculations
performed with great ease. which slows down the device.
The overall cost of a system built using a microprocessor is Cost of a system built using a microcontroller is less as
high. This is because of the requirement of external all the components are readily available.
components.
Generally power consumption and dissipation is high because Power consumption is less.
of the external devices. Hence it requires external cooling
system.
 • Embedded Memory Microcontroller – When an embedded structure is built with a microcontroller
which comprise of all the functioning blocks existing on a chip it is named as embedded memory
microcontroller. For illustration- 8051 microcontroller has all program & data memory, counters &
timers, interrupts, I/O ports and therefore its embedded memory microcontroller.

Instruction Set:

• CISC- CISC means complex instruction set computer, it allows the user to apply 1 instruction as an
alternative to many simple instructions.
• RISC- RISC means Reduced Instruction Set Computers. RISC reduces the operation time by shortening
the clock cycle per instruction.

RISC systems shorten execution time by reducing the clock cycles per instruction and CISC systems shorten
execution time by reducing the number of instructions per program. The RISC gives a better execution than
the CISC.

Memory Architecture:

• Harvard Memory Architecture Microcontroller- The point when a microcontroller unit has a dissimilar
memory address space for the program and data memory, the microcontroller has Harvard memory
architecture in the processor.
• Princeton Memory Architecture Microcontroller- The point when a microcontroller has a common
memory address for the program memory and data memory, the microcontroller has Princeton memory
architecture in the processor.

8051 Microcontroller:
The most universally employed set of microcontrollers come from the 8051 family. The two other members of
this 8051 family are-

• 8052 – This microcontroller has 3 timers & 256 bytes of RAM. Additionally it has all the features of the
traditional 8051 microcontroller. 8051 microcontroller is a subset of 8052 microcontroller.
• 8031 – This microcontroller is ROM less, other than that it has all the features of a traditional 8051
microcontroller. For execution an external ROM of size 64K bytes can be added to its chip.

AVR Microcontrollers:

The AVR microcontrollers are modified harvard RISC architecture with separate memories for data and
program and speed of AVR is high when compare to 8051 and PIC. The AVR is stands for Alf-Egil Bogen
and Vegard Wollan’s RISC processor.

AVR Microcontrollers are classified into three types:

• TinyAVR – Less memory, small size, suitable only for simpler applications
• MegaAVR – These are the most popular ones having good amount of memory (up to 256 KB), higher
number of inbuilt peripherals and suitable for moderate to complex applications
• XmegaAVR – Used commercially for complex applications, which require large program memory and high
speed

There are many AVR family microcontrollers, such as ATmega8, ATmega16 and so on.

AVR microcontrollers are used in home automation, touch screen, automobiles, medical devices and defense.

PIC Microcontroller:

PIC is peripheral interface controller. It is controlled by the software. They could be programmed to complete
many task and control a generation line and many more. PIC microcontrollers are finding their way into new
applications like smart phones, audio accessories, video gaming peripherals and advanced medical devices.

PIC microcontrollers are very popular; this is only cause of wide availability, low cost, large user base & serial
programming capability.

There are many PIC microcontrollers, such as PIC16F84, PIC16C84, PIC16F628, PIC16F877 and PIC18F452.

Advantages of PIC:
• It is a RISC design
• Its code is extremely efficient, allowing the PIC to run with typically less program memory than its larger
competitors
• It is low cost, high clock speed

Application of Microcontrollers:

• Light sensing & controlling devices