89C51 Microcontroller

89C51 Microcontroller

A microcontroller (MCU) is a computer-on-a-chip, containing a processor, memory, and Input-output functions. It is a microprocessor emphasizing high integration, in contrast to a general purpose microprocessor. In addition to the usual arithmetic and logic elements of a general purpose microprocessor, the microcontroller integrates additional elements such as read-write memory for data storage, read-only memory for program storage, EEPROM for permanent data storage, peripheral devices, and input/output interfaces. At clock speeds of as little as a few MHz or even lower, microcontrollers often operate at very low speed compared to modern day microprocessors, but this is adequate for typical applications. They consume relatively little power (mill watts), and will generally have the ability to sleep while waiting for an interesting peripheral event such as a button press to wake them up again to do something. Power consumption while sleeping may be just nano watts, making them ideal for low power and long lasting battery applications. The AT89C51 microcontroller is a low power hi performance CMOS microcomputer (8 bit). It has 4k bytes of downloadable and erasable read only memory and 128 bytes of ram. The device is manufactured using Atmel’s high-density nonvolatile memory technology and is compatible with the industry-standard 80C51 instruction set and pin-out.