Microcomputers: A Technique for Electronic Control

The advent of microcomputers has provided an inexpensive, flexible, and sophisticated means for electronic control. This paper is an introduction to microcomputers. Typical applications are listed, and a comparison is made between minicomputers, microcomputers, and logic chips. Terminology and function of hardware components are defined. Key microcomputer selection parameters, with specifications of several microprocessors currently available, are presented. Finally, an example is presented to show programming techniques.