A second edition of this book has given me the opportunity to respond to suggestions from both students and correspondents from around the world, fromdisparateregionsrangingfromScotlandtoHawaii. Sincethe time of the ?rst edition written in the late 1990s, the Microchip PIC range has become the largest volume selling 8-bit MCU. The mid-range f- ily used in the original edition has continued to expand vigorously, with some of the exemplars used becoming essentially obsolete. In addition, the enhanced-range 16-bit instruction line has been enlarged from vir- ally nothing to form a signi?cant proportion of the family. At the same time, new introductions to the original low- (or base-) end architecture continue apace. Because of the close relationship between the low-, mid-, high- and enhanced-range lines, the focus of the new edition has stayed with the mid-range line up. Virtually all diagrams have been modi?ed, many extensively, and - merous additional new ?gures have been added. Throughout the text, special attention has been paid to clarify the basic concepts. In Part I, Chapter 3 has been extensively rewritten with this in mind and to b- ter integrate with Chapters 4 and 5 in Part II, both of which bear only a super?cial relation to the original text. Chapter 7, covering interrupt handling, has also been largely rewritten to elucidate a di?cult topic.
The Quintessential PICŪ Microcontroller deals with the central `intelligence’ of most smart embedded digital systems and aims to give the reader the confidence to design, construct and program a real working system using the industrial standard and popular Microchip PIC family of devices as the exemplar.
Aimed specifically at a readership with no prior knowledge of software, electronics or logic design, this book is suitable for both industrial engineers and hobbyists. Students of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science, taking relevant courses or engaged in project work at either an under- or postgraduate level, will find it an ideal textbook.
The second edition has been extensively rewritten to both rationalize and clarify the introductory chapters and to update and extend the core material. Whilst the thrust remains with the Mid-range devices, an additional chapter has also been added on the Extended-range family.
Key features include:
• The use of current real-world hardware and software products to illustrate the material
• Numerous fully worked examples as well as self-assessment questions
• An associated web site providing solutions, further examples, listings and useful resources at http://www.engj.ulst.ac.uk/sidk/quintessential
• Clear and concise presentation of key points and underlying concepts
