The Essential PIC18® Microcontroller (Computer Communications and Networks)

Microprocessors are the key component of the infrastructure of our 21st-century electronic- and digital information-based society. More than four billion are sold each year for use in 'intelligent' electronic devices; ranging from smart egg-timer through to aircraft management systems. Most of these processor devices appear in the form of highly-integrated microcontrollers, which comprize a core microprocessor together with memory and analog/digital peripheral ports. By using simple cores, these single-chip computers are the cost- and size-effective means of adding the brains to previous dumb widgets; such as the credit card. Using the same winning format as the successful Springer guide, The Quintessential PIC(R) Microcontroller, this down-to-earth new textbook/guide has been completely rewritten based on the more powerful PIC18 enhanced-range Microchip MCU family. Throughout the book, commercial hardware and software products are used to illustrate the material, as readers are provided real-world in-depth guidance on the design, construction and programming of small, embedded microcontroller-based systems. Suitable for stand-alone usage, the text does not require a prerequisite deep understanding of digital systems. Topics and features: uses an in-depth bottom-up approach to the topic of microcontroller design using the Microchip enhanced-range PIC18(R) microcontroller family as the exemplar; includes fully worked examples and self-assessment questions, with additional support material available on an associated website; provides a standalone module on foundation topics in digital, logic and computer architecture for microcontroller engineering; discusses the hardware aspects of interfacing and interrupt handling, with an emphasis on the integration of hardware and software; covers parallel and serial input/output, timing, analog, and EEPROM data-handling techniques; presents a practical build-and-program case s