Intel MCS-48

The MCS-48 microcontroller series, Intel's first microcontroller, was originally released in 1976. Its first members were 8048, 8035 and 8748. The 8048^[1] is arguably the most prominent member of the family. Initially, this family was produced using NMOS (n-type metal–oxide–semiconductor) technology. In the early 1980s, it became available in CMOS technology. It was manufactured into the 1990s to support older designs that still used it.

Intel 8048 microcontroller

The 8749 with UV EPROM

An Intel 8049 microcontroller, as used in a HP3478A multimeter. This chip was manufactured in the second week of 1984.

Intel 8749 die

Intel 8048 registers

09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01 00 (bit position) Main registers   A Accumulator PC Program Counter Program Status Word   CY AC FO BS 1 Stack Note: All other programmer-visible registers and stack are allocated in RAM.

The MCS-48 series has a modified Harvard architecture, with internal or external program ROM and 64 to 256 bytes of internal (on-chip) RAM. The I/O is mapped into its own address space, separate from programs and data.

Though the MCS-48 series was eventually replaced by the very successful MCS-51 series, it remained quite popular even by the year 2000 due to its low cost, wide availability, memory-efficient one-byte instruction set, and mature development tools. Because of this, it is used in high-volume, cost-sensitive consumer electronics devices such as TV remotes, computer keyboards, and toys.

Variants

The 8049 has 2 KB of masked ROM (the 8748 and 8749 had EPROM) that can be replaced with a 4 KB external ROM, as well as 128 bytes of RAM and 27 I/O ports.^[2] The microcontroller's oscillator block divides the clock input frequency by three and then further divides the result into five machine states. Using the 11 MHz maximum crystal frequency will produce 0.73 MIPS of single-cycle instructions. Some 70% of instructions are single byte and single cycle ones, but 30% need two cycles or two bytes, so its typical performance would be closer to 0.5 MIPS.

Microcontroller^{[citation needed]}

Device	Internal	Memory	Remarks
8020	1K × 8 ROM	64 × 8 RAM	subset of 8048, 20 pins, only 13 I/O lines
8021	1K × 8 ROM	64 × 8 RAM	subset of 8048, 28 pins, 21 I/O lines
8022	2K × 8 ROM	64 × 8 RAM	subset of 8048, A/D-converter
8035	none	64 × 8 RAM
8038	none	64 × 8 RAM
8039	none	128 × 8 RAM
8040	none	256 × 8 RAM
8048	1K × 8 ROM	64 × 8 RAM	27× I/O ports
8049	2K × 8 ROM	128 × 8 RAM	27× I/O ports
8050	4K x 8 ROM	256 × 8 RAM
8648	1K × 8 OTP EPROM	64 × 8 RAM	Factory OTP EPROM
8748	1K × 8 EPROM[3]	64 × 8 RAM[3]	4K program memory expandable,[3] 2× 8-bit timers, 27× I/O ports
8749	2K × 8 EPROM	128 × 8 RAM	2× 8-bit timers, 27× I/O ports
87P50	ext. ROM socket	256 × 8 RAM	Has piggy-back socket for 2758/2716/2732 EPROM

Intel P8242 - keyboard controller with Phoenix firmware for AT-compatible computers

National Semiconductor NS87P50D-6 – Second source for the 87P50 piggyback microcontroller

Universal Peripheral Interface

Device	Internal	Memory	Remarks
8041	1K × 8 ROM	64 × 8 RAM	Universal Peripheral Interface (UPI)
8041AH	1K × 8 ROM	128 × 8 RAM	UPI
8741A	1K × 8 EPROM	64 × 8 RAM	UPI, EPROM version of 8041
8741AH	1K × 8 OTP EPROM	128 × 8 RAM	UPI, OTP EPROM version of 8041AH
8042AH	2K × 8 ROM	256 × 8 RAM	UPI
8242	2K × 8 ROM	256 × 8 RAM	UPI, preprogrammed with keyboard controller firmware[4]
8742	2K × 8 EPROM	128 × 8 RAM	UPI, EPROM version
8742AH	2K × 8 OTP EPROM	256 × 8 RAM	UPI, OTP EPROM version of 8042AH

Uses

The MCS-48 series was commonly used in computer and terminal keyboards, converting key presses into protocols that can be understood by digital circuits. This also allows the possibility of serial communication, reducing the number of conductors needed in cables on external keyboards. Microprocessors had been used in keyboards since at least 1972, simplifying earlier discrete designs. The 8048 has been used in this application since its introduction in 1978.^{[citation needed]}

The Tandy/Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II, released in 1979, used the 8021 in its keyboard.^[5] The 8021 processor scans the key matrix, converts switch closures to an 8-bit code and then transmits that code serially to the keyboard interface on the main system. It will also accept commands to turn indicator LEDs on or off. The 8021 was also used in the keyboards for the TRS-80 Model 12, 12B, 16, 16B and the Tandy 6000/6000HD.^[6]

The original IBM PC keyboard used an 8048 as its internal microcontroller.^[7] The PC AT replaced the PC's Intel 8255 peripheral interface chip at I/O port addresses 0x60–63 with an 8042 accessible through port addresses 0x60 and 0x64.^[8] As well as managing the keyboard interface, the 8042 controlled the A20 line gating function for the AT's Intel 80286 CPU and could be commanded by software to reset the 80286 (unlike the 80386 and later processors, the 80286 had no way of switching from protected mode back to real mode except by being reset). Later PC compatibles integrate the 8042's functions into their super I/O devices.

The 8048 was used in the Magnavox Odyssey² video game console, the Korg Trident series,^[9] and the Korg Poly-61,^[10] Roland Jupiter-4 and Roland ProMars^[11] analog synthesizers. The Sinclair QL used the closely related Intel 8049 to manage its keyboard, joystick ports, RS-232 inputs and audio. The ROM-less 8035 variant was used in Nintendo's arcade game Donkey Kong to generate the background music.

Derived microcontrollers

Philips Semiconductors (now NXP) owned a license to produce this series and developed their MAB8400-family based on this architecture. These were the first microcontrollers with an integrated I²C-interface and were used in the first Philips (Magnavox in the US) Compact Disc players (e.g. the CD-100).^[12]

• Intel MCS-48 second sources
• 
  Mitsubishi Electric M5M80C39P-6
• 
  Fujitsu MBL8742H
• 
  Kvazar Kiev KM1816VE48 (Soviet Union – 8748 clone)
• 
  National Semiconductor NS87PC48D (piggyback variant)
• 
  Signetics SCN8048A
• 
  NEC μPD8749HD
• 
  Philips MAF 8049H

See also

• HSE-49 emulator