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Introduction: World of microcontrollers
The situation we find ourselves today in the field of microcontrollers had its beginnings
in the development of technology of integrated circuits. This development has enabled
us to store hundreds of thousands of transistors into one chip. That was a precondition
for the manufacture of microprocessors. The first computers were made by adding
externalperipherals such as memory, input/output lines, timers and others to it. Further
increasing of package density resulted in creating an integrated circuit which contained
both processor and peripherals. That is how the first chip containing a microcomputer
later known as a microcontroller has developed.

This is how it all got started...
In the year 1969, a team of Japanese engineers fromBUSICOM came to the USA with
a request that a few integrated circuits for calculators were to be designed according to
their projects. The request was sent to INTEL and Marcian Hoff was in charge of the
project there. Having experience working with a computer, the PDP8, he came up with
an idea to suggest fundamentally different solutions instead of the suggested design.
This solution presumedthat the operation of integrated circuit was to be determined by
the program stored in the circuit itself. It meant that configuration would be simpler, but
it would require far more memory than the project proposed by Japanese engineers.
After a while, even though the Japanese engineers were trying to find an easier solution,
Marcian‟s idea won and the first microprocessor was born. A major helpwith turning an
idea into a ready-to-use product was Federico Faggin. Nine months after hiring him,
Intel succeeded in developing such a product from its original concept. In 1971 Intel
obtained the right to sell this integrated circuit. Before that Intel bought the license from
BUSICOM which had no idea what a treasure it had. During that year, a microprocessor
called the 4004 appeared onthe market. That was the first 4-bit microprocessor with the
speed of 6000 operations per second. Not long after that, an American company CTC
requested from Intel and Texas Instruments to manufacture an 8-bit microprocessor to
be applied in terminals. Even though CTC gave up this project, Intel and Texas
Instruments kept working on the microprocessor and in April 1972 the first 8-bitmicroprocessor called the 8008 appeared on the market. It was able to address 16Kb of
memory, had 45 instructions and the speed of 300 000 operations per second. That
microprocessor was the predecessor of all today‟s microprocessors. Intel kept on
developing it and in April 1974 it launched an 8-bit processor called the 8080. It was
able to address 64Kb of memory, had 75 instructions and initial pricewas $360.
Another American company called Motorola, quickly realized what was going on, so
they launched 8-bit microprocessor 6800. Their chief constructor was Chuck Peddle.
Apart from the processor itself, Motorola was the first company that also manufactured
other peripherals such as the 6820 and 6850. At that time many companies recognized
the greater importance of microprocessors andbegan their own development. Chuck
Peddle left Motorola to join MOS Technology and kept working intensively on
developing microprocessors.
At the WESCON exhibition in the USA in 1975, a crucial event in the history of the
microprocessors took place. MOS Technology announced that it was selling processors
6501 and 6502 at $25 each, that interested customers could purchase immediately. It
wassuch a sensation that many thought it was a kind of fraud, considering that

competing companies were selling the 8080 and 6800 at $179 each. On the first day of
the exhibit, in response to the competitor, both Motorola and Intel cut the prices of their
microprocessors to $69.95. Motorola accused MOS Technology and Chuck Peddle of
plagiarizing the protected 6800. Because of that, MOS...