Intel 80C196 (newbie ?)

Not really. The 96 family is not a Harvard architecture and also has no accumulator.

On 3 Dec 2003 18:04:43 -0800, el_squid snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.com (Slavko Vorkapitch) wrote in comp.arch.embedded:

It depends on what you mean by similar. In the sense that they are microcontrollers with some primitive on-chip peripherals and memory, yes. From almost any other point of view, no.

The '96 and '196 series are 16-bit microcontrollers. They can do operations on 16-bit registers, like add, subtract, and, or, in a single instruction. There is a single 64K address space, not different spaces like code, data, internal data, external data, special function registers.

The first 100 hex (256) bytes is register RAM, some addresses are taken up by memory-mapped I/O, but the rest are all registers. Any address can be an 8-bit register, and two successive registers starting at an even address can be a 16-bit register.

Some of its instructions are three address instructions (like ARM), that is you can code something like:

add var1, var2, var3

...and the contents of var2 and var3 will be added together and the result stored directly in var1, without overwriting either of the input operands.

The family is still used in some high-volume automotive applications, but its life is limited. Unlike the 8051, no other manufacturer ever produced compatible parts. The last I can remember Intel introducing a new member of the family was about 8 years ago. Since then they occasionally discontinue individual family members as demand drops off.

Today there are 8-bit microcontrollers that will run rings around it, and 16 bit controllers that will leave it in the dust. I would not recommend it for any new designs.

They both originated at Intel, and the 196 core came after the C51, but there the similarities end.

The 196 is a 16 bit register-register architecture. IIRC the opcodes allowed 256 register-pages.

The 196 is still in production, but never made it into FLASH process, so is not 'for new designs'

The slightly later, and 'similar market space' Infineon C166 family did make it into FLASH.

-jg

Not entirely true. Some at least (I think all but I may not be recalling correctly) bring out a pin that distinguishes between instruction and data access. It is possible to use that to split instruction and data spaces. The last design I worked with did just that giving it a hybrid map with 32K accessible as both Instruction and data, 32K only accessible as instruction and 32K only accessible as data.

In any case since Itel is letting it die on the vine I agree with the others, I wouldn't use it on a new design. Too bad it's a nice architecture in some ways.

I agree about not using it in a new design, the 8096 is about 20 years old now. (I got the preliminary data books for it back in 1981.) The 8096 was used in BMW engine controllers from around 1992 to 1996.

I am quite sure that Siemens produced some 8096 based processors as I have seen them in BMW engine controllers.

IBM did as well. I remember trying to get information on them. I never did have any success. Also I remember seeing a note that someone in Asia (found the reference, Macronix) had licensed it.

Robert

Correction: Siemens never produced 8096 / 80196 microcontrollers but the C166 family from Siemens / Infineon now is a major step forward from the x96

Cheers, Schwob