| CODE | ESE2202 | ||||||||||||||||
| TITLE | Introduction to Microcontrollers | ||||||||||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 5 | ||||||||||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Electronic Systems Engineering | ||||||||||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | Topic 1: Processor Architecture - Historical Perspective- Memory interface - Pipelining and Instruction execution cycles - Register files - Memory organisation - Memory-mapped IO concept Topic 2: Low-level Programming - The PIC18F Instruction Set Architecture (ISA) - Instruction encoding - Assembly programming - Addressing modes - Accessing special registers (SFRs, PC, etc) - Accessing RO data (in flash) - The stack Topic 3: Basic Peripheral and Special Features - MCU start-up (power-on reset, power-up timer and oscillator start-up) - Fault recovery (watchdog, brown-out reset and low-voltage detection) - Sleep mode - Clocking system - General-purpose input/output port - Interrupts and the interrupt system Topic 4: Commonly Used Peripherals - Timers - Timer capture and compare modules - Pulse-width modulation modules - ADCs - DACs - Comparators - Voltage references Laboratory work: The laboratory work for this study-unit will consist of three practical tasks and a short project. These are intended to provide hands-on experience in the following key areas: - Designing and prototyping basic microprocessor circuits - Using IDEs and simulators to develop and debug code - Remote-debugging on the target hardware - Low-level configuration and programming - Programming microprocessors in C - Interrupt handling in C - Using the various peripherals covered during the course in a practical context. Study-unit Aims: The aims of this study-unit are: - Introducing microprocessors; - Introducing various peripherals commonly employed in the design of embedded systems; - Introducing embedded system design; - Provide an in-depth treatment of the embedded software development process. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Compare different microprocessor architectures and features; - Describe the operation of a microprocessor (instruction cycles, pipelining, memory interfacing and accessing, etc.); - Describe the ISA of the PIC18F microprocessor (as an example of an instruction set), and various low-level programming constructs; - Describe the use of various fault-recovery features commonly available on microcontrollers; - Describe the operation and use of the various peripherals covered; - Identify the requirements of embedded systems; - Describe the embedded software development process. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Configure and program a microprocessor (PIC18F) in assembly and C; - Use the various on-chip and off-chip peripherals covered; - Develop and debug software on both simulators and target hardware- Design basic embedded systems. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - DS30000684B - Microchip PIC18(L)F2X/45K50 datasheet. |
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| ADDITIONAL NOTES | Pre-requisite Study-units: CCE2013; CIS1111; ESE2104 Please note that a pass in the Project and the Examination components is obligatory for an overall pass mark to be awarded. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture, Independent Study and Practical | ||||||||||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Paul Zammit |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2024/5. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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