Microcontroller

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The die from an Intel 8742, an 8-bit microcontroller that includes a CPUrunning at 12 MHz, 128 bytes of RAM, 2048 bytes
of EPROM, and I/O in the same chip

Two ATmega microcontrollers

A microcontroller (MCU for microcontroller unit, or UC for μ-controller) is a small computer on a

single integrated circuit. In modern terminology, it is similar to, but less sophisticated than, a system
on a chip (SoC); an SoC may include a microcontroller as one of its components. A microcontroller
contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along with memory and programmable
input/outputperipherals. Program memory in the form of ferroelectric RAM, NOR flash or OTP ROM
is also often included on chip, as well as a small amount of RAM. Microcontrollers are designed for
embedded applications, in contrast to the microprocessors used in personal computersor other general
purpose applications consisting of various discrete chips.
Microcontrollers are used in automatically controlled products and devices, such as automobile engine
control systems, implantable medical devices, remote controls, office machines, appliances, power
tools, toys and other embedded systems. By reducing the size and cost compared to a design that uses
a separate microprocessor, memory, and input/output devices, microcontrollers make it economical to
digitally control even more devices and processes. Mixed signal microcontrollers are common,
integrating analog components needed to control non-digital electronic systems. In the context of the
internet of things, microcontrollers are an economical and popular means of data collection, sensing
and actuating the physical world as edge devices.
Some microcontrollers may use four-bit words and operate at frequencies as low as 4 kHz, for low
power consumption (single-digit milliwatts or microwatts). They generally have the ability to retain
functionality while waiting for an event such as a button press or other interrupt; power consumption
while sleeping (CPU clock and most peripherals off) may be just nanowatts, making many of them
well suited for long lasting battery applications. Other microcontrollers may serve performance-
critical roles, where they may need to act more like a digital signal processor (DSP), with higher clock
speeds and power consumption.
Contents
 1History
o 1.1World's smallest computer
o 1.2Volumes and cost
 2Embedded design
o 2.1Interrupts
o 2.2Programs
o 2.3Other microcontroller features
 3Higher integration
 4Programming environments
 5Types
 6Interrupt latency
 7Memory technology
o 7.1Data
o 7.2Firmware
 8See also
 9References
 10External links

History[edit]
The first microprocessor is usually claimed to be[1] the 4-bit Intel 4004 released in 1972. It was followed
by the 4-bit 4040, the 8-bit Intel 8008, and the 8-bit Intel 8080. All of these processors required
several external chips to implement a working system, including memory and peripheral interface
chips. As a result, the total system cost was several hundred (1970s US) dollars, making it impossible
to economically computerize small appliances. MOS Technology introduced sub-$100
microprocessors, the 6501 and 6502, with the chief aim of addressing this economic obstacle, but
these microprocessors still required external support, memory, and peripheral chips which kept the
total system cost in the hundreds of dollars.
One book credits TI engineers Gary Boone and Michael Cochran with the successful creation of the
first microcontroller in 1971. The result of their work was the TMS 1000, which became
commercially available in 1974. It combined read-only memory, read/write memory, processor and
clock on one chip and was targeted at embedded systems.[2]
During the early-to-mid-1970s, Japanese electronics manufacturers began producing microcontrollers
for automobiles, including 4-bit MCUs for in-car entertainment, automatic wipers, electronic locks,
and dashboard, and 8-bit MCUs for engine control.[3]
Partly in response to the existence of the single-chip TMS 1000,[4] Intel developed a computer system on a chip optimized for control applications,
the
Intel 8048, with commercial parts first shipping in 1977.[4] It combined RAM and ROM on the same chip
with a microprocessor. Among numerous applications, this chip would eventually find its way into
over one billion PC keyboards. At that time Intel's President, Luke J. Valenter, stated that the
microcontroller was one of the most successful products in the company's history, and he expanded
the microcontroller division's budget by over 25%.
Most microcontrollers at this time had concurrent variants. One had EPROM program memory, with a
transparent quartz window in the lid of the package to allow it to be erased by exposure to ultraviolet
light. These erasable chips were often used for prototyping. The other variant was either a mask
programmed ROM or a PROM variant which was only programmable once. For the latter, sometimes
the designation OTP was used, standing for "one-time programmable". In an OTP microcontroller, the
PROM was usually of identical type as the EPROM, but the chip package had no quartz window;
because there was no way to expose the EPROM to ultraviolet light, it could not be erased. Because
the erasable versions required ceramic packages with quartz windows, they were significantly more
expensive than the OTP versions, which could be made in lower-cost opaque plastic packages. For the
erasable variants, quartz was required, instead of less expensive glass, for its transparency to
ultraviolet light—to which glass is largely opaque—but the main cost differentiator was the ceramic
package itself.
In 1993, the introduction of EEPROM memory allowed microcontrollers (beginning with the
Microchip PIC16C84)[5] to be electrically erased quickly without an expensive package as required for EPROM, allowing both rapid prototyping,
and in-system programming. (EEPROM technology had been available prior to this time,[6] but the earlier EEPROM
was more expensive and less durable, making it unsuitable for low-cost mass-produced microcontrollers.) The same year, Atmel introduced the first microcontroller using
Flash memory, a special
type of EEPROM.[7] Other companies rapidly followed suit, with both memory types.
Nowadays microcontrollers are cheap and readily available for hobbyists, with large online
communities around certain processors.

World's smallest computer[edit]

On 21 June 2018, the "world's smallest computer" was announced by the University of Michigan. The
device is a "0.04mm3 16nW wireless and batteryless sensor system with integrated Cortex-M0+
processor and optical communication for cellular temperature measurement." It "measures just 0.3
mm to a side—dwarfed by a grain of rice. [...] In addition to the RAM and photovoltaics, the new
computing devices have processors and wireless transmitters and receivers. Because they are too
small to have conventional radio antennae, they receive and transmit data with visible light. A base
station provides light for power and programming, and it receives the data."[8] The device is 1/10th the size of IBM's previously
claimed world-record-sized computer from months back in March 2018,[9] which is "smaller than a grain of salt",[10] has a million transistors, costs less than $0.10 to manufacture, and, combined with

blockchain technology, is intended for logistics and “crypto-anchors”—”digital fingerprints”

applications.[11]

Volumes and cost[edit]

In 2002, about 55% of all CPUs sold in the world were 8-bit microcontrollers and microprocessors.[12]
Over two billion 8-bit microcontrollers were sold in 1997,[13] and according to Semico, over four billion 8-bit microcontrollers were sold in 2006.[14]
More recently, Semico has claimed the MCU market grew 36.5% in 2010 and 12% in 2011.[15]

A typical home in a developed country is likely to have only four general-purpose microprocessors
but around three dozen microcontrollers. A typical mid-range automobile has about 30
microcontrollers. They can also be found in many electrical devices such as washing machines,
microwave ovens, and telephones.
Historically, the 8-bit segment has dominated the MCU market [..] 16-bit microcontrollers became the
largest volume MCU category in 2011, overtaking 8-bit devices for the first time that year [..] IC
Insights believes the makeup of the MCU market will undergo substantial changes in the next five
years with 32-bit devices steadily grabbing a greater share of sales and unit volumes. By 2017, 32-bit
MCUs are expected to account for 55% of microcontroller sales [..] In terms of unit volumes, 32-bit
MCUs are expected account for 38% of microcontroller shipments in 2017, while 16-bit devices will
represent 34% of the total, and 4-/8-bit designs are forecast to be 28% of units sold that year. The 32-
bit MCU market is expected to grow rapidly due to increasing demand for higher levels of precision
in embedded-processing systems and the growth in connectivity using the Internet. [..] In the next few
years, complex 32-bit MCUs are expected to account for over 25% of the processing power in
vehicles.
— IC Insights, MCU Market on Migration Path to 32-bit and ARM-based Devices[16]
Cost to manufacture can be under $0.10 per unit.
Cost has plummeted over time, with the cheapest 8-bit microcontrollers being available for under 0.03
USD in 2018,[17] and some 32-bit microcontrollers around US$1 for similar quantities.
In 2012, following a global crisis—a worst ever annual sales decline and recovery and average sales
price year-over-year plunging 17%—the biggest reduction since the 1980s—the average price for a
microcontroller was US$0.88 ($0.69 for 4-/8-bit, $0.59 for 16-bit, $1.76 for 32-bit).[16]
In 2012, worldwide sales of 8-bit microcontrollers were around $4 billion, while 4-bit
microcontrollers also saw significant sales.[18]
In 2015, 8-bit microcontrollers could be bought for $0.311 (1,000 units),[19] 16-bit for $0.385 (1,000 units),[20] and 32-bit for $0.378
(1,000 units, but at $0.35 for 5,000).[21]

In 2018, 8-bit microcontrollers can be bought for $0.03,[17] 16-bit for $0.393 (1,000 units, but at $0.563 for 100 or $0.349 for full reel of 2,000),[22] and 32-
bit for $0.503 (1,000 units, but at $0.466 for 5,000).[23] A lower-priced 32-bit microcontroller, in units of one, can be had for $0.891.[24]

In 2018, the low-priced microcontrollers above from 2015 are all more expensive (with inflation
calculated between 2018 and 2015 prices for those specific units) at: the 8-bit microcontroller can be
bought for $0.319 (1,000 units) or 2.6% higher,[19] the 16-bit one for $0.464 (1,000 units) or 21% higher,[20] and the 32-bit one for $0.503 (1,000 units, but at $0.466
for 5,000) or 33% higher.[21]

A PIC 18F8720 microcontroller in an 80-pin TQFP package

Embedded design[edit]
A microcontroller can be considered a self-contained system with a processor, memory and
peripherals and can be used as an embedded system.[25] The majority of microcontrollers in use today are embedded in other machinery, such as automobiles,
telephones, appliances, and peripherals for computer systems.

While some embedded systems are very sophisticated, many have minimal requirements for memory
and program length, with no operating system, and low software complexity. Typical input and output
devices include switches, relays, solenoids, LED's, small or custom liquid-crystal displays, radio
frequency devices, and sensors for data such as temperature, humidity, light level etc. Embedded
systems usually have no keyboard, screen, disks, printers, or other recognizable I/O devices of a
personal computer, and may lack human interaction devices of any kind.

Interrupts[edit]
Microcontrollers must provide real-time (predictable, though not necessarily fast) response to events
in the embedded system they are controlling. When certain events occur, an interrupt system can
signal the processor to suspend processing the current instruction sequence and to begin an interrupt
service routine(ISR, or "interrupt handler") which will perform any processing required based on the
source of the interrupt, before returning to the original instruction sequence. Possible interrupt sources
are device dependent, and often include events such as an internal timer overflow, completing an
analog to digital conversion, a logic level change on an input such as from a button being pressed, and
data received on a communication link. Where power consumption is important as in battery devices,
interrupts may also wake a microcontroller from a low-power sleep state where the processor is halted
until required to do something by a peripheral event.

Programs[edit]
Typically micro-controller programs must fit in the available on-chip memory, since it would be
costly to provide a system with external, expandable memory. Compilers and assemblers are used to
convert both high-level and assembly language codes into a compact machine code for storage in the
micro-controller's memory. Depending on the device, the program memory may be permanent, read-
only memory that can only be programmed at the factory, or it may be field-alterable flash or erasable
read-only memory.
Manufacturers have often produced special versions of their micro-controllers in order to help the
hardware and software development of the target system. Originally these included EPROM versions
that have a "window" on the top of the device through which program memory can be erased by
ultraviolet light, ready for reprogramming after a programming ("burn") and test cycle. Since 1998,
EPROM versions are rare and have been replaced by EEPROM and flash, which are easier to use (can
be erased electronically) and cheaper to manufacture.
Other versions may be available where the ROM is accessed as an external device rather than as
internal memory, however these are becoming rare due to the widespread availability of cheap
microcontroller programmers.
The use of field-programmable devices on a micro controller may allow field update of the firmware
or permit late factory revisions to products that have been assembled but not yet shipped.
Programmable memory also reduces the lead time required for deployment of a new product.
Where hundreds of thousands of identical devices are required, using parts programmed at the time of
manufacture can be economical. These "mask programmed" parts have the program laid down in the
same way as the logic of the chip, at the same time.
A customized micro-controller incorporates a block of digital logic that can be personalized for
additional processing capability, peripherals and interfaces that are adapted to the requirements of the
application. One example is the AT91CAP from Atmel.

Other microcontroller features[edit]

Microcontrollers usually contain from several to dozens of general purpose input/output pins (GPIO).
GPIO pins are software configurable to either an input or an output state. When GPIO pins are
configured to an input state, they are often used to read sensors or external signals. Configured to the
output state, GPIO pins can drive external devices such as LEDs or motors, often indirectly, through
external power electronics.
Many embedded systems need to read sensors that produce analog signals. This is the purpose of the
analog-to-digital converter (ADC). Since processors are built to interpret and process digital data, i.e.
1s and 0s, they are not able to do anything with the analog signals that may be sent to it by a device.
So the analog to digital converter is used to convert the incoming data into a form that the processor
can recognize. A less common feature on some microcontrollers is a digital-to-analog converter
(DAC) that allows the processor to output analog signals or voltage levels.
In addition to the converters, many embedded microprocessors include a variety of timers as well.
One of the most common types of timers is the programmable interval timer (PIT). A PIT may either
count down from some value to zero, or up to the capacity of the count register, overflowing to zero.
Once it reaches zero, it sends an interrupt to the processor indicating that it has finished counting. This
is useful for devices such as thermostats, which periodically test the temperature around them to see if
they need to turn the air conditioner on, the heater on, etc.
A dedicated pulse-width modulation (PWM) block makes it possible for the CPU to control power
converters, resistive loads, motors, etc., without using lots of CPU resources in tight timer loops.
A universal asynchronous receiver/transmitter (UART) block makes it possible to receive and
transmit data over a serial line with very little load on the CPU. Dedicated on-chip hardware also
often includes capabilities to communicate with other devices (chips) in digital formats such as Inter-
Integrated Circuit (I²C), Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI), Universal Serial Bus (USB), and Ethernet.[26]

Higher integration[edit]

Die of a PIC12C508 8-bit, fully static, EEPROM/EPROM/ROM-based CMOS microcontroller manufactured by Microchip
Technology using a 1200 nanometre process

Die of a STM32F100C4T6B ARM Cortex-M3 microcontroller with 16 kilobytes flash memory, 24 MHz central processing
unit (CPU), motor controland Consumer Electronics Control(CEC) functions. Manufactured by STMicroelectronics.

Micro-controllers may not implement an external address or data bus as they integrate RAM and non-
volatile memory on the same chip as the CPU. Using fewer pins, the chip can be placed in a much
smaller, cheaper package.
Integrating the memory and other peripherals on a single chip and testing them as a unit increases the
cost of that chip, but often results in decreased net cost of the embedded system as a whole. Even if
the cost of a CPU that has integrated peripherals is slightly more than the cost of a CPU and external
peripherals, having fewer chips typically allows a smaller and cheaper circuit board, and reduces the
labor required to assemble and test the circuit board, in addition to tending to decrease the defect rate
for the finished assembly.
A micro-controller is a single integrated circuit, commonly with the following features:

 central processing unit – ranging from small and simple 4-bit processors to complex 32-bit or
64-bit processors
 volatile memory (RAM) for data storage
 ROM, EPROM, EEPROM or Flash memory for program and operating parameter storage
 discrete input and output bits, allowing control or detection of the logic state of an individual
package pin
 serial input/output such as serial ports (UARTs)
 other serial communications interfaces like I²C, Serial Peripheral Interface and Controller
Area Network for system interconnect
 peripherals such as timers, event counters, PWM generators, and watchdog
 clock generator – often an oscillator for a quartz timing crystal, resonator or RC circuit
 many include analog-to-digital converters, some include digital-to-analog converters
 in-circuit programming and in-circuit debugging support
This integration drastically reduces the number of chips and the amount of wiring and circuit board
space that would be needed to produce equivalent systems using separate chips. Furthermore, on low
pin count devices in particular, each pin may interface to several internal peripherals, with the pin
function selected by software. This allows a part to be used in a wider variety of applications than if
pins had dedicated functions.
Micro-controllers have proved to be highly popular in embedded systems since their introduction in
the 1970s.
Some microcontrollers use a Harvard architecture: separate memory buses for instructions and data,
allowing accesses to take place concurrently. Where a Harvard architecture is used, instruction words
for the processor may be a different bit size than the length of internal memory and registers; for
example: 12-bit instructions used with 8-bit data registers.
The decision of which peripheral to integrate is often difficult. The microcontroller vendors often
trade operating frequencies and system design flexibility against time-to-market requirements from
their customers and overall lower system cost. Manufacturers have to balance the need to minimize
the chip size against additional functionality.
Microcontroller architectures vary widely. Some designs include general-purpose microprocessor
cores, with one or more ROM, RAM, or I/O functions integrated onto the package. Other designs are
purpose built for control applications. A micro-controller instruction set usually has many instructions
intended for bit manipulation (bit-wise operations) to make control programs more compact.[27] For example, a
general purpose processor might require several instructions to test a bit in a register and branch if the bit is set, where a micro-controller could have a single instruction to provide that commonly required function.

Microcontrollers traditionally do not have a math coprocessor, so floating point arithmetic is

performed by software. However, some recent designs do include an FPU and DSP optimized
features. An example would be Microchip's PIC32 MIPS based line.

Programming environments[edit]
Microcontrollers were originally programmed only in assembly language, but various high-level
programming languages, such as C, Python and JavaScript, are now also in common use to target
microcontrollers and embedded systems.[28] Compilers for general purpose languages will typically
have some restrictions as well as enhancements to better support the unique characteristics of
microcontrollers. Some microcontrollers have environments to aid developing certain types of
applications. Microcontroller vendors often make tools freely available to make it easier to adopt their
hardware.
Microcontrollers with specialty hardware may require their own non-standard dialects of C, such as
SDCC for the 8051, which prevent using standard tools (such as code libraries or static analysis tools)
even for code unrelated to hardware features. Interpreters may also contain nonstandard features, such
as MicroPython, although a fork, CircuitPython, has looked to move hardware dependencies to
libraries and have the language adhere to a more CPython standard.
Interpreter firmware is also available for some microcontrollers. For example, BASIC on the early
microcontrollers Intel 8052;[29] BASIC and FORTH on the Zilog Z8[30] as well as some modern devices.
Typically these interpreters support interactive programming.
Simulators are available for some microcontrollers. These allow a developer to analyze what the
behavior of the microcontroller and their program should be if they were using the actual part. A
simulator will show the internal processor state and also that of the outputs, as well as allowing input
signals to be generated. While on the one hand most simulators will be limited from being unable to
simulate much other hardware in a system, they can exercise conditions that may otherwise be hard to
reproduce at will in the physical implementation, and can be the quickest way to debug and analyze
problems.
Recent microcontrollers are often integrated with on-chip debug circuitry that when accessed by an
in-circuit emulator (ICE) via JTAG, allow debugging of the firmware with a debugger. A real-time
ICE may allow viewing and/or manipulating of internal states while running. A tracing ICE can
record executed program and MCU states before/after a trigger point.

Types[edit]
See also: List of common microcontrollers
As of 2008, there are several dozen microcontroller architectures and vendors including:

 ARM core processors (many vendors)

o ARM Cortex-M cores are specifically targeted toward microcontroller applications
 Microchip Technology Atmel AVR (8-bit), AVR32 (32-bit), and AT91SAM (32-bit)
 Cypress Semiconductor's M8C core used in their PSoC (Programmable System-on-Chip)
 Freescale ColdFire (32-bit) and S08 (8-bit)
 Freescale 68HC11 (8-bit), and others based on the Motorola 6800 family
 Intel 8051, also manufactured by NXP Semiconductors, Infineon and many others
 Infineon: 8-bit XC800, 16-bit XE166, 32-bit XMC4000 (ARM based Cortex M4F), 32-bit
TriCore and, 32-bit Aurix Tricore Bit microcontrollers[31]
 Maxim Integrated MAX32600, MAX32620, MAX32625, MAX32630, MAX32650,
MAX32640
 MIPS
 Microchip Technology PIC, (8-bit PIC16, PIC18, 16-bit dsPIC33 / PIC24), (32-bit PIC32)
 NXP Semiconductors LPC1000, LPC2000, LPC3000, LPC4000 (32-bit), LPC900, LPC700
(8-bit)
 Parallax Propeller
 PowerPC ISE
 Rabbit 2000 (8-bit)
 Renesas Electronics: RL78 16-bit MCU; RX 32-bit MCU; SuperH; V850 32-bit MCU; H8;
R8C 16-bit MCU
  Silicon Laboratories Pipelined 8-bit 8051 microcontrollers and mixed-signal ARM-based 32-
bit microcontrollers
 STMicroelectronics STM8 (8-bit), ST10 (16-bit), STM32 (32-bit), SPC5 (automotive 32-bit)
 Texas Instruments TI MSP430 (16-bit), MSP432 (32-bit), C2000 (32-bit)
 Toshiba TLCS-870 (8-bit/16-bit)
Many others exist, some of which are used in very narrow range of applications or are more like
applications processors than microcontrollers. The microcontroller market is extremely fragmented,
with numerous vendors, technologies, and markets. Note that many vendors sell or have sold multiple
architectures.

Interrupt latency[edit]
In contrast to general-purpose computers, microcontrollers used in embedded systems often seek to
optimize interrupt latency over instruction throughput. Issues include both reducing the latency, and
making it be more predictable (to support real-time control).
When an electronic device causes an interrupt, during the context switch the intermediate results
(registers) have to be saved before the software responsible for handling the interrupt can run. They
must also be restored after that interrupt handler is finished. If there are more processor registers, this
saving and restoring process may take more time, increasing the latency. (If an ISR does not require
the use of some registers, it may simply leave them alone rather than saving and restoring them, so in
that case those registers are not involved with the latency.) Ways to reduce such context/restore
latency include having relatively few registers in their central processing units (undesirable because it
slows down most non-interrupt processing substantially), or at least having the hardware not save
them all (this fails if the software then needs to compensate by saving the rest "manually"). Another
technique involves spending silicon gates on "shadow registers": One or more duplicate registers used
only by the interrupt software, perhaps supporting a dedicated stack.
Other factors affecting interrupt latency include:

 Cycles needed to complete current CPU activities. To minimize those costs, microcontrollers
tend to have short pipelines (often three instructions or less), small write buffers, and ensure
that longer instructions are continuable or restartable. RISC design principles ensure that most
instructions take the same number of cycles, helping avoid the need for most such
continuation/restart logic.
 The length of any critical section that needs to be interrupted. Entry to a critical section
restricts concurrent data structure access. When a data structure must be accessed by an
interrupt handler, the critical section must block that interrupt. Accordingly, interrupt latency
is increased by however long that interrupt is blocked. When there are hard external
constraints on system latency, developers often need tools to measure interrupt latencies and
track down which critical sections cause slowdowns.
o One common technique just blocks all interrupts for the duration of the critical
section. This is easy to implement, but sometimes critical sections get uncomfortably
long.
o A more complex technique just blocks the interrupts that may trigger access to that
data structure. This is often based on interrupt priorities, which tend to not correspond
well to the relevant system data structures. Accordingly, this technique is used mostly
in very constrained environments.
o Processors may have hardware support for some critical sections. Examples include
supporting atomic access to bits or bytes within a word, or other atomic access
primitives like the LDREX/STREX exclusive access primitives introduced in the
ARMv6 architecture.
  Interrupt nesting. Some microcontrollers allow higher priority interrupts to interrupt lower
priority ones. This allows software to manage latency by giving time-critical interrupts higher
priority (and thus lower and more predictable latency) than less-critical ones.
 Trigger rate. When interrupts occur back-to-back, microcontrollers may avoid an extra
context save/restore cycle by a form of tail call optimization.
Lower end microcontrollers tend to support fewer interrupt latency controls than higher end ones.

Memory technology[edit]
Two different kinds of memory are commonly used with microcontrollers, a non-volatile memory for
storing firmware and a read-write memory for temporary data.

Data[edit]
From the earliest microcontrollers to today, six-transistor SRAM is almost always used as the
read/write working memory, with a few more transistors per bit used in the register file. FRAM or
MRAM could potentially replace it as it is 4 to 10 times denser which would make it more cost
effective.
In addition to the SRAM, some microcontrollers also have internal EEPROM for data storage; and
even ones that do not have any (or not enough) are often connected to external serial EEPROM chip
(such as the BASIC Stamp) or external serial flash memory chip.
A few recent[when?] microcontrollers beginning in 2003 have "self-programmable" flash memory.[7]

Firmware[edit]
The earliest microcontrollers used mask ROM to store firmware. Later microcontrollers (such as the
early versions of the Freescale 68HC11 and early PIC microcontrollers) had EPROM memory, which
used a translucent window to allow erasure via UV light, while production versions had no such
window, being OTP (one-time-programmable). Firmware updates were equivalent to replacing the
microcontroller itself, thus many products were not upgradeable.
Motorola MC68HC805 [6] was the first microcontroller to use EEPROM to store the firmware. EEPROM microcontrollers
became more popular in 1993 when Microchip introduced PIC16C84[5] and Atmel introduced an
8051-core microcontroller that was first one to use NOR Flash memory to store the firmware.[7] Today's
microcontrollers almost exclusively use flash memory, with a few models using FRAM, and some ultra-low-cost parts still use OTP or Mask-ROM.