Microcontrollers and Memory Devices (results: 2422)

Microcontrollers as ubiquitous control systems

Nowadays microcontrollers are present in basically every electronic device. Those small computers revolutionised the world by automatizing countless everyday activities. You will find every most popular kind of microcontroller in our offer. We offer products from the best brands, which meet the highest quality standards. Lets however explain in short what exactly a microcontroller is and how it works. What are the most popular models of those devices?

What are microcontrollers?

Basically, we can call a microcontroller a microcomputer. It has all the necessary components allowing it to use this nomenclature. At the same time, it is just a single integrated circuit. Every microcontroller has a central processing unit, that is a processor. The so-called processing unit can be characterised by different power, depending on a type of device. Moreover, microcontrollers also have data and program memory. Among other important elements there are also input/output ports and timer-counter circuits.

Elements mentioned above are basically common for every microcontroller. However there are various types of microcontrollers which differentiate not only by values of individual parameters, but also by their construction. This means that those small computers also feature a number of additional elements. They may include for example analog to digital converters or also ones that convert the signal in the opposite direction. Various external parameters sensors, supervisory circuit for monitoring operating correctness, serial communication controller and much more.

What is the microcontroller used for?

Its main purpose is to control the operation of devices. What does it mean in practice? In fact, various things, depending on what computer we are talking about. Whether it is most commonly used 8051 microcontroller, or STM32 microcontroller which has above-average computing power. Devices in which microcontrollers are applied should also be taken into consideration. They serve different purposes in audiovisual devices, different in home appliances, and yet different in measurement equipment or industrial process automation systems. However, basically, the microcontroller collects all signals sent by receivers installed in the device. In other words, setting a washing machine program, turning on given operating mode in a power tool, or changing the volume or brightness settings in the television, sends a signal to a microcontroller. Then, in a microcontroller, a conversion of the signal takes place, which results in a reaction of sending the signal further in an appropriate direction.

What kinds of microcontrollers are there?

As it was mentioned above, there are various kinds of microcontrollers. It is impossible to distinguish every kind, because there are a lot of them. Among the most popular ones we can name:

• 8051 Microcontrollers
• STM32 Microcontrollers
• AVR Microcontrollers

Without a doubt, as the most groundbreaking and as to today the most important to electronics, we have to consider the 8051 microcontrollers. They were created by Intel. It took place over 40 years ago, however this kind of microcontrollers are being manufactured to this day. For years, other companies referred to this standard, which somehow marked the direction in which the technology in this field should develop. Whereas STMicroelectronics manufactures STM32 microcontrollers, which are 32-bit computers, that means they have exceptionally high computing power. AVR microcontrollers, on the other hand, are advanced voltage regulators by Atmel company. Every microcontroller mentioned above is available in our offer. We encourage you to get acquainted with the full range of stock in our store.