Contents Chapter 1 Introduction to Computer and Microcontroller 1 1.1 Objectives 1 1.2 A Brief History of the Computer 1 1.2.1 Mainframe Computer 3 1.2.2 Minicomputer 4 1.2.3 Microcomputers 5 1.2.4 Supercomputers 6 1.3 Computer Hardware Organization 8 1.4 The Processor 9 1.4.1 The Arithmetic Logic Unit 9 1.4.2 Registers 11 1.4.3 The Control Unit 11 1.4.4 The Language Issue 12 1.5 The Microprocessor 13 1.6 Microcontroller 14 1.7 Embedded System 15 1.7.1 Characteristics of Embedded Systems 16 1.7.2 User Interfaces 16 1.8 Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) 17 1.9 Internet of Things (IoT) 18 1.10 Memory 19 1.10.1 Magnetic Memory 19 1.10.2 Optical Memory 20 1.10.3 Semiconductor Memory 20 1.11 Memory System Operation 24 1.11.1 Read Operation 25 1.11.2 Write Operation 26 1.12 Program Execution 26 1.12.1 The Program Counter Circuit 27 1.12.2 Starting Program Execution 28 1.12.3 Instruction Execution Process 29 1.13 Overview of the 8051 Microcontroller 29 1.14 Summary 31 1.15 Exercises 33