Review by p.anushri25@gmail.com
Course Offered In 2013-14
Instructors Prof. Shalabh Gupta
Prerequisites EE 224: Digital Systems
Difficulty Moderate
Course Content This is your first step to automation, an introductory course to the embedded system realm. Working on the recommended lab and course, eases your way to work with any microcontroller and microprocessor. You can be confident enough to pick any microcontroller and start programming it.
This is brief outline of course content
- 8085 / 8051 Microarchitectures
- 8085/8051 Instruction Set Architecture
- Representation of numbers in digital systems
- Interrupts and timing control
- I/O buses and devices, interfacing techniques
- Microprocessor Architectures
- MIPS Architecture
Feedback on Lectures Considerable part of the applications tested in the exam was a part of the class discussions; hence it is recommended that you follow the lectures. As there is no prescribed textbook for the course, it is difficult to gather the material a day before the exam without having attended the lectures. Slides were provided but were just meant for reference, in order to get a good grasp it is recommended that you follow the reference books or surf the net.
The real fun of this course comes with the lab work. The lab exercises are a bit challenging and time consuming, but don’t you worry, given that you are well versed with assembly language and browsed through certain example applications you will find it is of great fun.
Feedback on Evaluations Assignment questions were not graded, not meant to be submitted. Selective questions were discussed in the class. The quizzes were based on the assignment questions. The mid-term and end-term exam papers were challenging and tested your concepts and assembly language coding skills.
Attendance: 10% (minimum 80% was a must)
Quizzes: 25% (Best 5/6)
Mid-sem Exam: 25%
End-sem Exam: 40%
Study Material and References
- Kenneth J. Ayala. The 8051 Microcontroller, Penram International Publishing, 1995
- 8051 Microcontroller and Embedded System by Mazidi
- Internet ( Example : www.8052.com )
- R.S. Gaonkar, Microprocessor Architecture: Programming and applications with the 8085/8080A,Penram International Publishing
- Computer Architecture: A Quantitative Approach, 4th Edition by David A. Patterson and John L. Hennessy ( 2006 ) – online PDF available
Note: Though a strict textbook is not prescribed for this course. It is strongly recommended that you refer to either Kenneth J Ayala (1) or Mazidi (2) for 8051 Microcontroller study. These textbooks offer a systemic grasp on 8051 microcontroller architecture and assembly language, as well as introductory coding practice to kick start your lab experiments.
Periodically referring to R.S.Gaonkar (4) for the related topics taught in 8085 microprocessor study would be beneficial.
Internet is always your good friend; you may have to search around for a bit of more comprehensive study.
The Basics of Microprocessor and MIPS Architecture was covered from the reference book (5) Appendix.
Follow-up Courses EE 337 – Microprocessor Laboratory
EE 318 – Electronic Design Lab-I
EE 739 – Processor Design
Microcontrollers/Microprocessors provide the building blocks that support almost every device and piece of equipment that defines modern life. Mobile phones, digital cameras and media players are obvious examples. These are great devices to connect between the world of programming and the world of engineering; all of a sudden, everything you learn during programming becomes directly usable for engineering contraptions of any kind.
Final Takeaways NA
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