jbn@glacier.STANFORD.EDU (John B. Nagle) (07/25/88)
Does Intel, or someone else, make a microcontroller that executes 808x instructions and comes with many useful on-chip peripherals, such as timers, A/Ds, and such? I'm aware of Intel's various strange micro- controllers, but I'd prefer something that was reasonably PC compatible. John Nagle
hollen@spot.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck) (07/25/88)
From article <17583@glacier.STANFORD.EDU>, by jbn@glacier.STANFORD.EDU (John B. Nagle): > > Does Intel, or someone else, make a microcontroller that executes > 808x instructions and comes with many useful on-chip peripherals, such > as timers, A/Ds, and such? I'm aware of Intel's various strange micro- > controllers, but I'd prefer something that was reasonably PC compatible. > Yes, the best bang for the buck is the 80186 at about $9 in quantity for the 8 mHz version. Although it does not have any A/D capabilities, it has 3 16-bit timers (2 can be cascaded), interrupt controller, 2 DMA channels (which can be driven by timer2), clock generator, programmable memory and peripheral chip select logic and programmable wait state generator. We use the 16mHz version for our VME based 8 serial port peripheral controller. Supports the 808x instruction set as well as some nifty extensions. Address calculation is the same regardless of how complex (base + index + constant...) (not like the 808x which has different number of cycles depending on addressing mode). Most of the standard language compilers for 808x support 80186 code generation and if they do not, the 186 runs 808x directly. The only differences will be in how the actual hardware is set up, and since it appears that you are doing embedded development, you must be hardware specific in each new environment anyway. Host-based simulators and separate In-Circuit Emulators are available from many different companies. For the price, you can easily glue on some external A/D chips (we do this for audio output generation). Dion Hollenbeck (619) 455-5590 x2814 Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA 92121 seismo!s3sun!megatek!hollen ames!scubed/
brad_bhare_hare@cup.portal.com (07/26/88)
A very quick glance at the Intel Microcont. data book seems to
indicate that they are a world unto themselves. The 80186 and 80188
CPU's have most of the useful stuff built into them and can be used
to construct very compact systems. Check out Ampro Computers (Mountain
View CA.) and their line of PC compatable single board machines for an
example.
- Brad Hare -