Re: My 2 cents on bootstrap loaders.

["Samuel A. Falvo II" <kc5tja@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Why don't they call all micro-processors micro-controllers? I don't know
>the correct definition. To me the F21 needs to much around it to make it
>go, to call it that. Microcontrollers usually have a lot more on chip

Microprocessor: a central processing unit with minimal amount of on-board
memory and minimal amount of on-board I/O.  Designed to be as general
purpose and as fast as possible.

Microcontroller: a central processing unit with sufficient RAM and ROM to
bootstrap an operating system/embedded system software and/or to run without
external assistance.  Sufficient I/O to handle a large number of
input/output processing needs.  Designed to be self-sufficient in mission
critical applications; most definately NOT general purpose.  Instruction
sets are almost never optimized for speed.  Designed for control and
communications applications (hence their name).

Based on the discussions, I'd have to say that the F21 series of CPUs are
somewhere in BETWEEN microcontroller (due to the existance of many
coprocessors on-chip), and microprocessor (due to lack of sufficient
on-board I/O capability).  I'd have to classify the F21c as a
microprocessor, not a microcontroller.

Just a thought or two... ;)

BTW: how do I send a message to the MISC mailing list?  Every reply I've
sent out so far seems to have been sent ONLY to the authors of the messages
(which is OK for this purpose; but the question asked above is general
enough to inform all readers who are interested).

Thanks for your time.
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"Tongue tied and twisted, just another Earth-bound misfit..." -- Pink Floyd

Samuel A. Falvo II                          KC5TJA/6, Technician with HF
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