previous | start

5) 8051 DOCUMENTATION

5.1) Periodicals that cover the 8051

Various magazines and journals (journals seems to be THE popular name
for magazines these days) provide articles from time to time on the
8051 family of microcontrollers:

The Computer Applications Journal (Circuit Cellar Ink)
- programming and construction articles
- POB 7694, Riverton, NJ 08077-8784
- FAX: (203)872-2204
- Voice orders: (609)786-0409
- Email orders: ken.davidson@circellar.com
- BBS: (203)871-1988
WWW: http://www.circellar.com
- $21.95, $31.95 surface Canada and Mexico,
$49.95 air all other countries

Computer Design
- industry announcements and trends
- One Technology Park Drive, P.O. Box 990, Westford, MA 01886
- (508)692-0700

The Computer Journal
- programming and construction articles, specializing in 8-bit
and older computers (Z80-CP/M, TRS-80, Xerox, microcontrollers,
etc)
- programming and construction articles, specializing in old
computers (S-100, CP/M, TRS-80, Xerox, Adam, etc)
- P.O. Box 3900, Citrus Heights, CA 95611-3900
- (800)424-8825 or (916) 722-4970 FAX: (916) 722-7480
- BBS: (916) 722-5799
- Web: http://www.psyber.com/~tcj
- Email: tcj@psyber.com
Dave Baldwin: dibald@netcom.com
Bill Kibler: kibler@psyber.com
- USENET newsgroup alt.tcj

Dr. Dobbs Journal
- programming articles, concepts, and designs
- 411 Borel Ave., San Mateo, CA 94402
- (415)358-9500

EDN
- Cahners Publishing Company
8773 South Ridgeline Blvd., Highlands Ranch, CO 80126-2329
- annual microprocessor and DSP editions
- http://www.ednmag.com/

Electronic Engineering Times
- industry announcements and trends
- FREE to qualified engineers and managers involved in
engineering decisions
- Fulfillment Dept., PO Box 9055, Jericho, NY 11753-8955
- FAX: (516)733-6960

Electronics Now
- construction articles
- Box 55115, Boulder, CO 80321-5115
- $19.97 one year

Elektor Electronics
- programming and construction articles
- World Wide Subscription Service Ltd
Unit 4, Gibbs Reed Farm, Pashley Road
Ticehurst TN5 7HE, England
- 27 UK pounds
or
- Old Colony Sound Lab, P.O. Box 243, Peterborough, NH 03458
- Tel. (603)924-6371, 924-6526
- Fax: (603)924-9467
- $57 USA and Canada per year

Embedded Systems Programming
- programming and systems design articles
- Miller Freeman Publications
- 500 Howard St., San Francisco, CA 94105
- Miller Freeman: (415)905-2200
- Embedded Systems Programming phone: (800)829-5537

Forth Dimensions
- monthly magazine on Forth
- Forth Interest Group, P.O. Box 2154, Oakland, California 94621
- (510)893-6784 Fax: (510)535-1295
- Email: johnhall@aol.com
- Forth Interest Group home page:
http://taygeta.oc.nps.navy.mil/fig_home.html

Inquisitor Magazine
- If you're the type that watched Gilligan's Island for its
socio-political insights, then you'll love a new 'zine that
just crossed my desk - Inquisitor Magazine. It's general
philosophy seems to be ... well, it seems to be ... uh, yeah!
Technical in nature, bizarre, tongue in cheek, eclectic,
electric, did I mention bizarre(?), and lots of fun. Worth
looking at if you like the out of the ordinary. The moving
force behind this magazine is Daniel Drennan, who seems to have
suffered from an overdose of radiation from his computer
monitor ;-).
- Dan is offering issue 1 of Inquisitor for free except for
postage ($1.00 in the United States; $2.00 for Canada and
overseas surface mail; and $3.00 for overseas airmail). This
issue contains plans, schematics, and troubleshooting tips for
putting together a 8052-based microcontroller. If you're
thinking of putting together an 8051 system, you might want to
check this out.
- Planetarium Station, P.O.Box 132, New York, NY 10024-0132
- (212)595-8370
- Email: inquisitor@echonyc.com
- $16 per year (4 issues)

Microcomputer Journal
- programming and construction articles
- Midnight Engineering, 1700 Washington Av., Rocky Ford, CO 81067
- (719)254-4558 Fax: (719)254-4517

Midnight Engineering
- 1700 Washington Ave., Rocky Road, CO 81067
(719)254-4558 Fax: (719)254-4517

MW Media - Product Directories
- 8051 Product Directory
(survey of various 8051 products)
- Intel Development Tools Handbook
(survey of commercial development tools for the 8051, 8096,
and 80186 lines of Intel microprocessors)
- This documents could very well be a "must" if you're into
serious development using one of these chips. If you are
"just" a hobbyist, see how the "other half" lives.
- other guides on Intel development tools, Embedded Intel 386,
Intel 486/Pentium, 8051 products, Hitachi microcontroller
development tools, AMD FusionE86, AMD 29K; low power products,
DSP, multimedia CD
- FREE to qualified developers
- MW Media
- Fairmont Plaza, 50 W. San Fernando, #675, San Jose, CA 95113
- (408)288-4721 and (408)286-4200
- FAX: (408)288-4728

Nuts & Volts Magazine
- A National Publication for the Buying and Selling of
Electronic Equipment
- 430 Princeland Court, Corona, CA 91719
- Mailed third class, USA only: $17.00 one year
$31.00 two years
- Mailed first class, one year only: $34.00-USA
$35.00-Canada/Mexico
- Foreign/Air Mail - $70.00; Foreign/Surface - $39.00
- (800)783-4624
- Email: 74262.3664@compuserve.com

5.2) Books on the 8051

5.2.1) List of books

I don't have information on all of these, only that they exist. I
would greatly appreciate it if someone could provide a short synopsis
and the complete book name if you are familiar with any of these
titles.

The 8051 Family of Microcontrollers
- Richard H. Barnett
- Prentice-Hall, 1995
- ISBN 0-02-306281-9

8051 Interfacing and Applications
- Applied Logic Engineering
- 13008 93rd Place North, Maple Grove, MN 55369
- (612)494-3704

The 8051 Microcontroller
- I. Scott MacKenzie
- Prentice Hall
- 2nd edition, 1995
- ISBN 0-02-373660-7
- includes schematics for a single-board computer,
assembly-language source code for a monitor program, and
interfaces to a keypad, LEDs, and loudspeaker

The 8051 Microcontroller
- James W. Stewart
- Regents/Prentice-Hall, 1993
- $27.50, 273 pages
- includes many interfacing examples (switches, solenoids,
relays, shaft encoders, displays, motors, and A/D converters)
and a chapter on top-down design method

The 8051 Microcontroller: Architecture, Programming and Applications
- Kenneth J. Ayala
- 241 pages, soft cover
- 5.25" diskette with assembler and simulator
- ISBN 0-314-77278-2, Dewey 004.165-dc20
- West Publishing Company
- P.O. Box 64526, St. Paul, MN 55164
- (800)328-9352
- see review in next section

Assembly Language Programming (for the MCS-51 family)
- F. A. Lyn
- L. S. Electronic Systems Design

Basic-52 Programmer's Guide
- Systronix, Inc. (they also sell a Basic compiler)

Beginner's Guide
- Suncoast Technologies

C and the 8051
- Thomas W. Schultz
- Prentice Hall
- ISBN 0-13-753815-4

Data book / Handbook / Users' Guide
- Advanced Micro Devices
- Dallas (User's guide for the DS5000)
- Intel
- Philips
- Siemens

Embedded Controller Forth for the 8051 Family
- Academic Press (I think)
- William H. Payne
- uses a Forth development system available on the Internet
(see above in the Forth software section)

Embedded Systems Programming in C and Assembler
- John Forrest Brown
- Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1994
- 304 pages, $49.95
- ISBN 0-442-01817-7
- covers Motorola and Intel processors
- includes diskette with code from the book
- book review in Dr. Dobb's Journal, November 1994, page 121

Experimenter's guide
- Rigel Corporation

Flow Design for Embedded Systems
- Barry Kauler
- R&D Books / Miller Freeman (USA), 1997
distributed in Europe by McGraw-Hill
- ISBN 0-87930-469-3
- http://www.rdbooks.com/
- bundled with a sophisticated graphical diagrammer and CASE
tool, K-Flow diagrammer, that runs on Windows 3.1 or 95
- source code for the TERSE RTOS is supplied

Introduction to Microcontroller Design, Based on the 8051 family of
Processors
- Business Data Computers
- P.O. Box 1549, Chester, CA 96020

The Microcontroller Idea Book
- Jan Axelson (of Microcomputer Journal fame)
- features the 8052-BASIC microcontroller
- hands-on guide with complete plans (schematics, design theory,
program listings, construction details, etc)
- explains how to use sensors, relays, displays, clock/calendars,
keypads, wireless links, and more
- 1994, 273 pages, $31.95 + shipping
- Lakeview Research, 2209 Winnebago St., Madison, WI 53704
(608)241-5824
- contact the author at jaxelson@lvr.com
- WWW: http://www.lvr.com/
- Lakeview Research's microcontroller page (resources for
8052-Basic projects): http://www.lvr.com/microc.htm

Programming and Interfacing the 8051 Microcontroller
- Sencer Yeralan and Ashutosh Ahluwalia
- wealth of information, including: 8051 architecture,
programming basics and techniques, on-chip features, building
your own 8051 system, and interfacing to various peripherals
- hardware experiments contains plans and code for: scanning a
keypad, stepper motor control, a frequency generator, measuring
light and temperature intensity (analog to digital), digital to
analog conversion, DC motor speed regulation, interfacing to
intelligent Liquid Crystal Displays, and implementing a
multi-drop RS-485 network
- accompanying diskette has an 8051 simulator and all source code
for the projects in the book
- must have book for the hobbyist or professional
- $34.38, 352 pages, paperback, ISBN 0-201-63365-5
- Addison-Wesley


5.2.2) Book reviews

My review of the book:
Programming and Interfacing the 8051 Microcontroller
by Sencer Yeralan and Ashutosh Ahluwalia

Addison-Wesley has just released a GREAT new book, "Programming
and Interfacing the 8051 Microcontroller" by Sencer Yeralan and
Ashutosh Ahluwalia. I had actually reviewed the manuscript some
time back, and the book has now finally been released. This book
contains a wealth of information - it answers a lot of Frequently
Asked Questions that often appear in comp.robotics,
sci.electronics, and comp.arch.embedded.

Among the some of the basic subjects covered include: 8051
architecture, programming basics and techniques, on-chip features,
building your own 8051 system, and interfacing to various
peripherals. A section on hardware experiments contains plans and
code for: scanning a keypad, stepper motor control, a frequency
generator, measuring light and temperature intensity (analog to
digital), digital to analog conversion, DC motor speed regulation,
interfacing to intelligent Liquid Crystal Displays, and
implementing a multi-drop RS-485 network.

The book comes with a diskette containing an 8051 simulator and
all source code for the projects in the book. This is a must have
book for the hobbyist or professional. Available for $34.38, 352
pages, paperback, ISBN 0-201-63365-5. Run, don't walk, to your
bookstore and get one now. I mean it, this is a great book.


My review of the book:
The Microcontroller Idea Book
by Jan Axelson

This book is loosely based on a series of articles Jan wrote for
ComputerCraft magazine (now the Microcomputer Journal). If you
are at all familiar with her work, you already realize that you're
wasting your time by reading this review and you might as well
just order your copy now.

This is an excellent book for hobbyists and tinkerers, as it
includes complete circuit schematics and parts lists, design
theory, example program listings, construction and debugging tips,
and vendor listings. The example circuits and programs are based
on the 8052-BASIC chip (a favorite with hobbyists due to its ease
of use), and there is a lot of material on programming in BASIC52.
The book is [very] useful even if you use a standard 8051 part.
Lots of different interfacing ideas including: sensors, motors,
LEDs, LCDs, wireless links, and a LOT more.

Chapter titles: microcontroller basics, inside the 8052-
BASIC, powering up, saving programs, programming, inputs and
outputs, switches and keypads, displays, using sensors to
detect and measure, clocks and calendars, control circuits,
wireless links, calling assembly-language routines, running
BASIC-52 from external memory, related products

If you are just starting out with microcontrollers, and don't have
a clue where to start or what to control, this book is just what
you need. As the title of the book says, it's an idea book.

The Microcontroller Idea Book
Jan Axelson
1994, 273 pages, $31.95 + shipping
Lakeview Research, 2209 Winnebago St., Madison, WI 53704
(608)241-5824
Email: jaxelson@lvr.com
Web: http://www.lvr.com/


My review of the book:
The 8051 Family of Microcontrollers
by Richard H. Barnett

This book VERY thoroughly discusses the design and implementation
of controllers using the 8051. Dick says his book is "lots of
meat, very little filler", but he's a bit off the mark here. What
he means to say is this book is many large chunks of meat, no
vegetables, and no potatoes - we are NOT talking Hamburger Helper
here gang. The introduction alone contains circuits for 3
controllers (one 8085 design used as a comparison). Many hardware
and softare examples are included. Everywhere you turn in this
book, you'll find circuit diagrams and sample code, including
complete designs for three different microcontroller projects in
the last chapter. Clear and in-depth coverage of interfacing and
peripheral use leaves very little to the imagination.

This is a good book for both students and professionals who are
trying to figure out how to start designing there own
microcontroller. Experienced hobbyists will also appreciate the
many examples. Novices might be a bit overwhelmed by this book.

The 8051 Family of Microcontrollers
Richard H. Barnett
Prentice-Hall, 1995
ISBN 0-02-306281-9

For more info contact the author - rbarnett@purdue.edu


Richard Kendrick's review of the book:
8051 Interfacing and Applications
from Applied Logic Engineering

IN BRIEF

An excellent collection of interfacing circuits and well commented
source code in assembly. This is not a book for beginners as it
assumes the user is very familiar with the architecture of the
8051 and its registers. A disk of assembly source code listings
is included.

CHAPTERS

1 - 8051 Interfacing and Applications
1.1 - Introduction
1.2 - Main System Core
1.3 - Simple Methods of User Input
1.4 - Interfacing a 16 digit keypad to the 8031
1.5 - Centronics Parallel Input Port
1.6 - Centronics Parallel Output Port
1.7 - Interfacing to the built-in Serial Port
1.8 - Interfacing to a Dual Channel UART
1.9 - Interfacing to an LCD
1.10 - Bank Selection of Memory
- Appendix A: List of Vendors
- Appendix B: Connection to an External Computer
0.1 RS-232 Serial Connection
0.2 Centronics Interface Cabling

COMMENTS

This spiral bound book is thin (74 pages) but manages to cover a
lot of information. All of the sub-chapters have excellent code
listings with full comments, partial schematic diagrams, and an
occasional timing diagram. The chapter on using the serial port
is based on the MAX232 chip becoming so popular. A table of timer
reload values is provided to get standard baud rates but the book
only mentions the required clock frequency of 11.0592 mHz in the
first chapter. It also doesn't explain why a seemingly
non-standard crystal frequency was chosen. The dual UART channel
features the 2681 chip. The LCD chapter gives a small but
adequate explaination of the Hitachi controller chip usage on LCD
displays and a tiny fragment of data on display characteristics of
LCDs. The bank selection of memory is useful showing code and
schematic using five 62256 chips for 160K bytes of read/write
memory.


Richard Kendrick's review of the book:
Microprocessor/Controller Design
by Wayne P. Lichti of Business Data Computers

A lame little book better bypassed. As an introductory text,
Kenneth Ayala's book is the winner hands down. This book is a
poor rehash of the same information in Intel's or AMD's data book.
There is one code listing in the book and does little more than
tell the reader that the 8051 family of processors exist.

This book is 134 pages of wasted time. The schematics were
printed on a dot matrix printer and poorly reproduced. Many of
the sections are just a table or a paragraph with two or three
sentences. Use Ayala's book, you'll learn a lot more useful
information.


John Little's review of the book:
The 8051 Microcontroller: Architecture, Programming and Applications
by Kenneth J. Ayala

IN BRIEF

A good book for those who are already moderately familiar with
assembly language programming and wish to learn more about 8051
specifics. Has many example listings, all of which are very well
documented in terms of comments and explanations in the text. NOT
a book for absolute beginners OR hardware hackers looking for
circuits and applications.


CHAPTERS

1 - Microprocessors and Microcontrollers.
2 - The 8051 Architecture.
3 - Moving Data.
4 - Logical Operations.
5 - Arithmetic Operations.
6 - Jump and Call Opcodes.
7 - An 8051 Microcontroller Design.
8 - Applications.
9 - Serial Data Communication.
A - 8051 Operational Code Mnemonics.
B - How to Use the Assembler.
C - how to Use the Simulator.
D - The 8255 Programmable I/O Port.
E - Control Registers.


COMMENTS

In his preface to the book, Mr Ayala states that that it is
intended for "... a diverse audience. It is meant for use
primarily by those who work in the area of electronic design and
assembly language programming of small, dedicated computers".
Later, he goes on to refer the reader to the manufacturer's data
books for more information on hardware issues. This sets the tone
for the whole book, which is very much software orientated.

Anyone buying the book expecting to find reams of circuit diagrams
and details on how to build their own 8051 driven, automated car
assembly plant will be disappointed. In fact, most of the circuits
and applications shown are very much conceptual, with generic,
black-box outlines for most of the components. The single
exception to this is a fairly complete system (8031, EPROM & RAM,
jumper selectable memory sizes) in the chapter on microcontroller
design. Even then, there's no I/O shown (the txd/rxd are
unconnected).

Having said that, Mr Ayala does do a fairly thorough job of
working through the peculiarities of the 8051, with detailed
coverage of memory organisation, bit/byte level operations,
timers, interrupts and, at the end of the book, a complete chapter
on 8051 communication modes. Each area has relevant assembly
language listings, along with a detailed explanation of the
workings of the code.

Each section also has highlighted "comment" passages which point
out common pitfalls and reinforce critical points. Each chapter
ends with a summary of the important points covered and a series
of ten to twenty pertinent problems for the reader to solve. For
the most part, the answers to the problems can be found in the
text. In later chapters though, the reader is asked to elaborate
on various programming themes and to write assembly language
programs of their own to perform various tasks. The problems range
from the bland "Name twenty items which have a built in
microcontroller" (Chapter 1), to the more esoteric "Compose a
40-value lookup table that will generate a sawtooth wave using a
D/A converter" (Chapter 8).

It should be noted that the book is not aimed at the complete
novice. For instance, although assembly language listings are used
throughout, it is not until Appendix B that the reader finds out
what the assembler actually does and how the listings relate to
machine code. Even then, the complete neophyte will be left with a
rather empty feeling, as there are pages and pages of code, the
schematic for a (more or less) complete system and instructions on
how to use the assembler, but no information at all on how the
object code should be utilised (other than with the included
simulator - see below). If you don't already know how to blow an
EPROM, you're in trouble.

The diskette which accompanies the book contains the PseudoSam
assembler (which is used throughout) and an 8051 simulator. Both
being intended for use on a PC (it's a measure of how fast the
computer industry is evolving that a 5.25 inch diskette seems a
little archaic just three years after the publication date of the
book). The PseudoSam assembler ran fine on my system and I was
able to assemble several of the examples from the book and
successfully run them on a small, home-brew 8031 system. I was
totally unable to get the simulator to run. However, as it failed
on several different systems I'm prepared to believe that my
particular copy of the diskette was at fault.


SUMMARY

All in all, a recommended book for those who have previous
assembly language experience and wish to get to know details
relating to the 8051 microcontroller. While the internal
architecture of the chip is covered in detail, external hardware
and peripheral interfacing is not. Only the basic 8051/31 is
covered, with little mention of the other variants available.
There are extensive listings in the text, covering routines for
handling keyboards and displays, as well as timing loops and
communications. A large, clear typeface ensures that all of the
listings are completely legible. The layout and presentation of
the book is excellent, with a consistent, unambiguous style used
throughout.


Tim McDonough's review of the book:
C and the 8051: Programming for Multitasking
by Thomas W. Schultz

Schultz's book provides a brief overview of the 8051 architecture
but is primarily a discussion of multi-tasking software in an 8051
environment. He presents quite a few code examples. The examples
and the accompanying text show comparisons of how to accomplish
things in assembler, PLM, and C. The C examples presented are
based on Version 3 of the Franklin compiler but should be easily
understandable by anyone already familiar with C.

Later chapters in the book deal with more advanced topics.
Chapters are devoted to Real-Time Ideas, Timing and Scheduling,
Communications and Synchronization, Interrupts, Priority, and
Context, and Distributed Systems. The Real-Time Ideas chapter
briefly discusses six Real Time Operating System (RTOS) kernels
offered by several vendors. Later in the book some examples are
given to simple applications with and without using a RTOS.

All in all, a useful addition to my technical library. It is one
of the few 8051 books that goes beyond the basics and would be
particularly of interest to those contemplating their first
non-trivial 8051 design.


My review of the book:
Basic-52 Programming
by Bruce Boyes, Will Bagley, and Scott Kendall of Systronix, Inc.

A must have book for Basic-52 programmers. The book starts out
with an introduction to BASIC-52 programming, program editing, and
techniques. About a hundred of the book's 160 pages are a
detailed and quite useful reference of the commands and
statements. Six appendixes covering advanced topics round out
this most useful volume. A quick index to commands, operators,
and instructions printed on the back cover of the book is a nice
finishing touch. For only $20.00, it's a bargain at twice the
price. Well, let's not get carried away, but if you're
programming in Basic-52, this book is indispensible.

5.3) Miscellaneous documentation on the 8051

Advanced Micro Devices
- application notes

Intel Corporation
- application notes

L.S. Electronic Systems Design
- application notes (source code on diskette and schematics)

Philips Semiconductors (Signetics)
- application notes

Software Science
- application notes


__________________________________________________________

I disclaim everything. The contents of this article might be totally
inaccurate, inappropriate, misguided, or otherwise perverse - except for
my name (hopefully I got that right).

Copyright (c) 1997 by Russ Hersch, all rights reserved.
This FAQ may be posted to any USENET newsgroup, on-line service, or BBS
as long as it is posted in its entirety and includes this copyright
statement.
This FAQ may not be distributed for financial gain.
This FAQ may not be included in commercial collections or compilations
without express permission from the author.

-----------------------------------
Russ Hersch - russ@shani.net



previous | start