Microprocessor Fundamentals

Course Description

CET 2123 Microprocessor Fundamentals covers how a microprocessor works and how it is programmed at the lowest level. The statewide description lists the "architecture of microprocessors, bus organization, instruction set, analysis of clocks and timing, code conversion, semiconductor memories (RAM & ROM), and interfacing with input/output devices," organised as "instruction set, memory, registers, addressing modes, buses, support devices."

⚠⚠ Only one institution teaches this bare number, and it splits the lab off

This page covers CET 2123, the lecture-only number. Its only carrier is Florida A&M University, at 3 credits, with a separate 1-credit lab, CET 2123L Microprocessor Fundamentals Lab. FAMU's catalog: "Study of architecture and microprocessor programming. Microcomputers will be discussed in detail."

Everywhere else in Florida the course is CET 2123C, with the lab built in. That version has its own guide on this site:

⚠ At FAMU, take the lecture and the lab together; the four credits match the four-credit C versions elsewhere. A student transferring CET 2123 without the lab may be asked to make it up.

What varies between carriers

• The processor taught. Valencia names the classic 8085/8080A and 8088; others use a current microcontroller family. The architecture concepts carry over, but the instruction set you practise differs.
• Digital communications. Daytona State's version adds an introduction to serial and parallel I/O and digital communication.

Learning Outcomes

Required Outcomes

• Describe the architecture of a microprocessor: ALU, registers, control unit and clock.
• Explain bus organisation (address, data and control buses) and how the processor communicates with memory and I/O.
• Use an instruction set and its addressing modes to write assembly-language programs.
• Write programs that use loops, counting, indexing, time delays and subroutines.
• Analyse clocks and timing in a read or write cycle.
• Describe semiconductor memory (RAM, ROM, EPROM, flash) and build a memory map.
• Interface the processor with input/output devices, including code conversion.

Optional Outcomes

• Handle interrupts.
• Program a modern microcontroller in C alongside assembly.
• Explain serial communication protocols (UART, SPI, I²C).

Major Topics

Required Topics

• Number systems and code conversion
• Microprocessor architecture and registers
• Bus organisation
• Instruction set and addressing modes
• Assembly-language programming
• Clocks and timing
• Memory devices and memory maps
• Input/output interfacing and support devices

Optional Topics

• Interrupts and their handling
• Microcontrollers and embedded systems
• Digital communications

Resources & Tools

• A microprocessor or microcontroller trainer board, and an assembler and debugger for it.
• Gaonkar, Microprocessor Architecture, Programming, and Applications with the 8085, for 8085-based sections; a microcontroller text for others.
• A logic analyser or oscilloscope for the timing work.

Career Pathways

• Electrical and electronic engineering technologists and technicians (SOC 17-3023). See this site's Electronics Engineering Technician career path.
• Embedded-systems test and support roles in Florida's defence and aerospace employers.
• A foundation for computer hardware engineering (SOC 17-2061) for students who continue to a bachelor's degree.

Special Information

Offering Notes

FAMU is the only carrier of the bare number. The guide records 45 contact hours, the Florida convention for a three-credit lecture course; the lab adds its own hours.

Prerequisites

The statewide record says "none". In practice a digital logic course comes first everywhere (binary arithmetic, gates, flip-flops), and you will struggle without it. Check FAMU's catalog for its stated prerequisite.