Introduction to Microcontrollers

The document provides an introduction to microcontrollers. It discusses the need for programmable devices and how microcontrollers address this need by allowing their function to be selected through digital inputs. Microcontrollers contain a processor that can run programs stored in memory and contain registers used for tasks like instruction fetching. The document then describes the Von Neumann and Harvard architectures, instruction fetching, decoding, and execution processes, and how interrupts can alter program flow. It concludes by discussing the 8051 microcontroller architecture in detail, including its memory organization, registers, addressing modes, and notation.