What is the difference between a microcontroller, a microcontroller and a microprocessor?

1. Question: What is the difference between a microcontroller, a microcontroller, and a microprocessor?

Answer: Processors usually refer to three types of chips: microprocessors, microcontrollers, and digital signal processors. A microprocessor (MPU) usually represents a powerful CPU, but it is not a chip designed for any specific existing computing purpose. This chip is often the core CPU of personal computers and high-end workstations. The most common microprocessors are Motorola's 68K series and Intel's X86 series. Early microcontrollers integrated a computer into a chip to implement embedded applications, so they were called single-chip microcomputers. Subsequently, in order to better meet the embedded applications in the control field, some circuit units that meet the control requirements were continuously expanded in the single-chip microcomputer. At present, single-chip microcomputers are widely called microcontrollers (MCU). There are also microcontrollers developed from microprocessors. For example, Intel's 386EX is a microcontroller version of the very successful 80386 microprocessor. Like the microprocessor for embedded applications, it is also called an embedded microprocessor. High-end embedded processors include: Advanced RISC Machines' ARM, Silicon Graphics' MIPS, IBM and Motorola's Power PC, Intel's X86 and i960 chips, AMD's Am386EM, and Hitachi's SH RISC chips. The CPU in digital signal processors (DSPs) is designed to perform discrete-time signal processing calculations very quickly, such as those required for audio and video communications. DSPs contain multipliers and adders that can perform such calculations faster than other processors. The most common are TI's TMS320CXX series and Motorola's 5600X series.

2. Question: What is an embedded system? How is it different from a general-purpose microcomputer?

Answer: An embedded system is a collection of computer hardware and software. It includes a processor, involves direct control of hardware, and is designed to be embedded in an object system to complete a specific function. It is the abbreviation of an embedded computer system. For example, a microwave oven is a good application example of an embedded system: using processors and software to help people cook. Embedded systems are in sharp contrast to microcomputers (personal computers) at home. Although they are both computer hardware and software, personal computers are not used to complete a specific function. On the contrary, they can do a variety of different things. Therefore, many people use the versatility of computers to distinguish between general-purpose computers (general-purpose microcomputers) and special-purpose computer systems such as embedded systems. An embedded system can be a microcontroller (single-chip microcomputer) or a computer system composed mainly of a microprocessor, and also includes a system composed of digital signal processors (DSPs) and a system on chip SoC (System on Chip). A single-chip microcomputer is a single-chip computer designed specifically for embedded applications. In order to meet the ever-expanding requirements of embedded applications, various unit circuits that meet control needs are continuously expanded within the chip, forming the currently widely used microcontroller. Therefore, microcontrollers are a typical popular embedded system because they have no other uses except embedded applications.

3. Question: Is the unit of data transmission rate b/s or baud?

Answer: The data transmission rate of serial communication is generally expressed in bits per second (bps), with the unit being b/s. Baud is the unit of baud rate. Baud rate refers to the number of signal changes in a channel per second, that is, the frequency at which electrical signals are sent to the communication line. Baud rate is an electrical measurement unit, not necessarily a unit of data transmission rate on a line. When a data bit is encoded in a signal cycle, bps is equal to the baud rate. If compression and encoding algorithms are used, the bit transmission rate will exceed the basic baud rate. A UART is only responsible for processing the sending and receiving of electrical signals. In this way, the setting of the UART serial port of a microcomputer and a single-chip microcomputer is to allow it to receive or send at a specified baud rate, so baud is taken as the unit of baud rate; and the unit of transmission on the data line through a MODEM, etc. should be b/s, because MODEM generally uses encoding algorithms to increase the transmission rate.