© December 2020| IJIRT | Volume 7 Issue 7 | ISSN: 2349-6002
IJIRT 150555 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH IN TECHNOLOGY 274
A Framework for Developing a Microchip PIC
Microcontroller Based Application
Kiran Dhamansure
1
, Shripad. G. Desai
2
1
Student, Department of Electrical Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to Be University), College
of Engineering, Pune, India
2
Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering, Bharati Vidyapeeth (Deemed to Be
University), College of Engineering, Pune, India
Abstract - This paper presents a framework for
developing applications based on a Microchip PIC
microcontroller (μC). Consisting of hardware and
software tools it supports the development and transfer
of program code from a personal computer to the
microcontroller, and evaluation of its execution on rapid
prototyping hardware. The first part of the paper focuses
on hardware design, which is based on a modular
approach, i.e., recomposed for the design of each
application, in order to ensure maximum adaptability.
The MPIC development system (MPICds) thus consists
of a programmer, a main board including adapters for a
variety of chip packages, and plug-in modules. All these
hardware components are designed so that they can be
fabricated by any potential user. Selected
microcontroller is programmed in the standard ICSP
mode using one of the freely available PC programs.
These are presented in the second part of the paper
describing the software part of the framework, which
besides programming tools also discusses the code
development tools. The stress is given to the use of high-
level tools, where the algorithms are described in the
form of different graphical notations, i.e., block
diagrams, instead in C or assembly code. Throughout the
paper, a special attention is given to the use of framework
in the electrical engineering education process. Besides
giving some suggestions for the use at different
educational levels, the emphasis is on the implication of
contemporary design methods, and the hardware’s
robust design, which is deliberately planned in such a
way that even an incorrect use cannot harm any of its
components.
Index Terms - PIC microcontrollers, Development
system, High-level design tools, Electrical engineering
education
1.INTRODUCTION
A range of devices we use today in our everyday lives
(e.g., telephones, household appliances, cars) contain
so called “smart” electronics, which is usually
implemented as an embedded system. In its fundament
this is a microcomputer designed to control a
particular process of the application. Most often, the
central part of embedded systems is based upon a
microcontroller (μC) or digital signal processing
(DSP) device. These are a special kind of
microcomputers integrated on a single chip, which in
addition to a central processing unit and a memory
consists of numerous application dependent
peripherals (e.g., AD and DA converters, timers,
communication modules, etc.) [1]. Being the most
widely manufactured processing devices,
microcontrollers play a pivotal role in electronic
control systems. Concerning a broad range of potential
consumers, they are a product of interest not only in
electrical, but also in mechanical and industrial
engineering.
With components being ever more complex, a design
methodology and the ability to easily test and verify
the designed system on a real object are becoming
increasingly important. Building of application
prototypes, be in hardware or software, therefore plays
an important role in the design process. Since
microcontroller-based application design can be
described as a combination of computer programming
and digital circuits constructing [2], it is important to
master both fields at the same time. With the
technology advancing very fast, the progress in this
field also has to reflect in the pedagogical process [3,
4]. Educational institutions, responsible to provide
students with appropriate skills and knowledge, thus
need to be aware of the industry needs and practices.
On the other hand, industry is the one responsible to
make its specifics and requirements well known [5, 6].