Enhanced microprocessor or microcontroller

Abstract

An n-bit microprocessor device has an n-bit central processing unit (CPU); a plurality of special function registers and general purpose registers which are memory-mapped to a plurality of banks, with at least two 16-bit indirect memory address registers which are accessible by the CPU across all banks; a bank access unit for coupling the CPU with one of the plurality of banks; a data memory coupled with the CPU; and a program memory coupled with the CPU, wherein the indirect address registers are operable to access the data memory or program memory and wherein a bit in each of the indirect memory address registers indicates an access to the data memory or to the program memory.

Description

technical field [0001] The technical field of this application relates to microprocessors or microcontrollers. Background technique [0002] A microcontroller generally constitutes a system on a chip and includes a microprocessor and a plurality of peripheral components. A wide variety of such microcontrollers exist with 8-bit, 16-bit and 32-bit architectures. Existing microcontrollers, such as the 8-bit microcontrollers manufactured by Microchip Technology Inc., enable flexible architectures. Such microcontrollers include a Harvard architecture in which program memory is separated from data memory. This type of microcontroller further includes a specific bank system that allows access to the data memory. Typically, data memory is divided into banks and bank select registers define which of the banks is currently selected and accessible. To access other banks, the bank select register must be reprogrammed. Thus, even though the banking scheme only allows access to defin...

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[0003] However, there is still

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