International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET)
e-ISSN: 2395-0056
Volume: 10 Issue: 10| Oct 2023
p-ISSN: 2395-0072
www.irjet.net
Peripheral Libraries and Drivers for Microcontrollers: A Comprehensive Survey Santosh N1, Shanta Rangaswamy2 1Student, Dept. of Computer Science, V College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
2Professor, Dept. of Computer Science, V College of Engineering, Bangalore, India
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Abstract - Microcontrollers are fundamental components
Motorola 68HC11, and PIC microcontrollers emerged as pioneers. These architectures laid the foundation for subsequent developments, despite their limited processing power, memory capacity, and basic peripheral offerings. Their role in controlling basic tasks like timers and communication interfaces underscored the potential of microcontrollers in a variety of applications.
of embedded systems, enabling a wide range of applications across industries. To harness their full potential, efficient and reliable interaction with the hardware peripherals is crucial. Peripheral libraries and drivers act as intermediaries between the microcontroller's core and the peripherals, providing abstraction and standardization for seamless integration and utilization. This survey paper presents a comprehensive overview of the landscape of peripheral libraries and drivers for microcontrollers. It examines their role, architecture, features, challenges, and the trends shaping their evolution. The paper also discusses key considerations for selecting, designing, and optimizing these software components to ensure robust and efficient operation in embedded systems.
Challenges of Direct Hardware Interaction: Developers faced formidable challenges when directly interacting with hardware peripherals in early microcontrollers. The need to write intricate, hardware-specific code for each peripheral led to time-consuming and error-prone development processes. Lack of standardization across different microcontroller families further compounded the complexity, resulting in code that was often non-portable and difficult to maintain.
Key Words: Embedded Systems, Peripheral Libraries, Microcontrollers
Evolution of Microcontroller Features: As technology advanced, so did the capabilities of microcontrollers. Increased clock speeds, expanded memory, and the integration of diverse peripheral interfaces became key features of modern microcontrollers. This evolution was driven by the demand for microcontrollers that could handle more complex embedded applications, ranging from automotive control systems to smart appliances.
1.INTRODUCTION Microcontrollers serve as the heart of numerous embedded systems, controlling devices and processes in sectors such as automotive, industrial automation, consumer electronics, healthcare, and more. Peripheral libraries and drivers play a pivotal role in facilitating communication between the microcontroller's core processing unit and its peripherals, enabling software developers to interface with hardware components without having to deal with low-level details. This paper aims to provide an extensive survey of the peripheral libraries and drivers ecosystem for microcontrollers, covering their characteristics, challenges, and emerging trends.
Emergence of Peripheral Libraries and Drivers: The challenges associated with direct hardware interaction prompted the development of peripheral libraries and drivers. These software components aimed to standardize and simplify the process of interfacing with peripherals. By providing a consistent, abstracted layer of interaction, developers could write code that was more portable across different microcontroller architectures.
2. BACKGROUND AND EVOLUTION
Role of Standards and Abstraction: Industry standards played a crucial role in shaping the evolution of peripheral libraries and drivers. Efforts to establish uniform APIs and methodologies for peripheral interaction paved the way for higher-level abstractions. These abstractions shielded developers from low-level hardware intricacies, allowing them to focus on creating robust and efficient applications.
Microcontrollers are the cornerstone of modern embedded systems, facilitating the seamless integration of computational intelligence into a wide range of applications across industries. These compact integrated circuits combine processing units, memory, and various peripheral interfaces onto a single chip, enabling them to perform specific tasks with efficiency and precision.
Transition to Higher-Level Abstractions: With the rise of peripheral libraries and drivers, the transition from writing low-level, hardware-specific code to using higher-
Early Microcontroller Architectures: In the early days of microcontrollers, architectures such as the Intel 8051,
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