PIC Projects and Applications using C

Chapter 1

Introduction to the Microcontroller and C

A microcontroller is an integrated circuit that has a number of memory locations embedded inside it which are used to store instructions that are to be executed. These locations are called registers, and instructions are written to these registers to enable the microcontroller to perform an operation.

The memory location is 8 bits wide which means it can store 8 bits of information (Figure 1.1). The 8 bits in the memory are identified by numbers starting on the right with the least significant bit, bit 0, and moving to the left to the most significant bit, bit 7.

Figure 1.1 A microcontroller ...