Asic Microcontrollers

ASIC MICROCONTROLLERS by Simon Young* This article discusses the evolution of the MCS-51 architecture and how to use ASIC technology to extend the set of generic features contained in the family members. Intel offers the MCS-51 architecture to customers in a number of ways. The first is via standard products, such as the 80051BH and 8052. These devices are designed for the general microcon- troller market, where the internal hardware resources can be closely matched to the system requirements. The second is via Application Specific Standard Products (AssPs) developed for a vertical market sharing a common set of additional features. An example is the 80051FA, which augments the MCS-51 core features with a programmable counter array, an enhanced serial port for multipro- cessor communications and an up/down timer/counter. The third way to gain access to the MCS-51 architecture is via ASIC, and this is the subject of this article. Intel offers to customers the same capability it use...