Microprocessors: From Assembly Language to C Using the PICI8FXX2 (Electrical and Computer Engineering Series) (Hardcover)

~ Robert B. Reese (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This book is designed for a first course in microprocessors or it may be used as a reference for practicing engineers. The book is unique in presenting a balanced, integrated topic coverage of assembly language programming, microcontroller programming via the C language, and hardware interfacing. Programming topics are discussed using both assembly language and C, while hardware interfacing examples use C to keep code complexity low and improve clarity. A goal of this book is to prepare students for advanced courses in embedded systems or computer architecture. As such, the topic coverage is wide, with a mixture of software and hardware topics. The assembly language programming topics emphasize the linkage between C language constructs and their assembly language equivalents, so that students clearly understand the impact of C coding choices in terms of execution time and memory requirements. Hardware interface topics included in the textbook cover the fundamentals (parallel, serial, interrupts, A/D, D/A) using devices that do not require an extensive circuits background. Laboratory Projects These provide an extensive off-the-shelf lab experience (13 experiments) for using the PIC18: one experiment on introductory computer architecture topics, four experiments on PIC18 assembly language, and eight hardware experiments. The hardware experiments require the read to breadboard a PIC18F242 system that includes a serial EEPROM, external 8-bit Digital-to-Analog converter, and RS232 interface, and an infrared receiver module. The hardware labs cover all major subsystems on the PIC18: A/D, timers, asynchronous serial interface, and the 12C interface. All hardware labs are programmed in C, using the HI-TECH PICC18 compiler. A supplemental website (www.reesemicro.com) has book C code examples that have been modified to be compatible with both the Microchip MCC18 and HI-TECH PICC18 compilers, as well as lecture notes and sample quizzes.

About the Author

Robert B. Reese is an associate professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering department of Mississippi State University. He holds a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University and has been teaching digital systems, microprocessors, and CVLSI design for almost two decades. His research interests focus on computer-aided design for asynchronous systems.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 652 pages
• Publisher: Charles River Media; 1 edition (August 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584503785
• ISBN-13: 978-1584503781
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 7.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #247,000 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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• This item is part of The Charles River Media Computer Engineering Series.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Microprocessor? or Microcontroller?, December 27, 2005

By	Soon Yau Cheong (Malaysia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Unlike other PIC books which covers on assembly language only, the assembly language + C language approach in this book is pretty good. It helps to enhance the understanding of programming PIC from low to high level.

I think this book is focusing on programming, rather than building the hardware circuitry such as button debounce, voltage regulator etc. Therefore, I would recommend this book to reader who already has knowledge in building PIC or other microcontroller circuitry. Indeed, the author covers almost all the essential functions in PIC, such as I2C, UART, timer, which I think it helps beginner who used to write in assembly language, to move on to programming in higher system level. For advanced programmer who has practiced the functions mentioned above and integrate all of them into a system, perhaps you won't find this book to help a lot.

Dissapointedly, almost all the topic covers are more toward PIC16 than PIC18 which is more powerful. I expected to learn some powerful features such as USB, TCP/IP to be run on PIC18.

One more opinion, isn't Microcontrollers a more suitable term to be used in the book title instead of Microprocessors?

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Clarification on book examples and target compiler, December 23, 2005

By	Robert B. Reese - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just want to clarify for anybody considering this book that the book's examples are compatible 'as is' with the Hi-Tech PICC18 compiler. The supplemental website (www.reesemicro.com) contains a ZIP archive of modified book examples that are compatible with both the Microchip MCC18 and Hi-Tech PICC18 compilers. The compiler differences are hidden in an include file, so the modified book examples that are compatible with both compilers are practically identical to the examples in the book. The reviewer below (Mr. Estrade) contacted me, and he had attempted to compile the book's original examples with the MCC18 compiler. (I am the author of this book, and unfortunately to post this I had to assign a number value for the review - so I chose a '3' since it was in the middle of the range).

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars gives good grounding in assembly ideas, September 10, 2005

By	W Boudville (Terra, Sol 3) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Reese's book explores the microprocessor, using the specific instance of the PIC18fxx2. He develops the concept of assembly programming, with plenty of examples for the reader to understand. Plus, he then takes the next step in showing the evolution of computer languages. By showing how C code can be implemented for hardware interfacing and microcontrollers.

For the hardware being interfaced to, Reese makes the standard choice of an analog to digital converter and a digital to analog converter. Some things never change. I remember in 1982 a course in microprocessors where we tackled the same problems.

The idea is for the student to get a good grasp of how software ultimately is expressed in controlling a piece of silicon. The microprocessor is a Neumann architecture. So the ideas here can be seen to apply all the way up to supercomputers that use the same architecture.

Even if the reader is intent on programming higher level tasks, the book gives good grounding in showing how code optimisation can work at the lowest level.