Microcontrollers & architecture

Insights

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  MCU vs MPU

  Why one chip runs your thermostat and another runs Linux.

  3 min read

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  Harvard vs von Neumann

  One bus or two: how a CPU fetches code and data.

  3 min read

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  The memory map

  Where Flash, SRAM and peripherals live in one address space.

  3 min read

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  Registers: GPRs vs SFRs

  The CPU's scratchpad vs the switches that drive hardware.

  3 min read

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  Interrupts and the kinds you meet

  How hardware gets the CPU's attention, and the kinds of interrupt you meet.

  4 min read

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  DMA: moving data without the CPU

  Let the hardware copy bytes while the CPU does something useful.

  3 min read

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  The clock system

  From a crystal to 72 MHz: oscillators, PLLs and prescalers.

  3 min read

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  Reset and boot sequence

  What happens between power-on and the first line of main().

  3 min read

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  The watchdog timer

  A timer that resets the chip unless the firmware proves it is alive.

  4 min read