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As such, the performance of 8-bit microcontrollers vs 32-bit versions will differ. How do standard 8-bit microcontrollers compare to modern microcontrollers - 8-bit Microcontroller vs 32-bitĪs technology progresses, the capabilities of the latest CPUs increase and the increase in bit size has always been highly sought after. However, some microcontrollers such as the PIC18 range are 8-bit micros, but their instruction memory uses 14-bits (however, the RAM section is still 8-bits in width). This means that internal operations are done on 8-bit numbers, that stored variables are in 8-bit blocks, and external I/O (inputs/outputs) is accessed via 8-bit busses.
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Thus an 8-bit microcontroller is one which contains an 8-bit CPU. The term “8-bit” generally refers to the bit-width of the CPU. A microprocessor, however, is only the CPU and requires external memory, controllers, and interfaces to be usable. Microcontrollers are similar to system-on-chips (SoCs) which generally incorporate a CPU, memory, and peripherals requiring no external hardware to assist with computation. What are 8-bit microcontrollers, how do they compare to modern microcontrollers being produced, and are they still relevant? What are 8-bit microcontrollers - The 8-bit architecture explained. 8-bit microcontrollers have been around since the early 80s and have played a central role in modernising electronics.