Difference Between Microprocessor and Microcontroller

Definition of Microcontroller

Microcontroller is the modified and developed form of Microcomputer in which all the necessary components like Programmable Input/Output peripherals, Microprocessor core and Memory are present in a single microchip.
- It is also called single chip microcomputer.

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figure: Microcontroller

Definition of Microprocessor

A Microprocessor is a multipurpose, programmable, clock driven, register based, semi-conductor device that reads binary instruction from the Memory, accepts binary data as input and process the data as per the instructions and finally display the result as Output.

figure: Microprocessor

Comparison Chart Between Microprocessor and Microcontroller:

Features	Microprocessor	Microcontroller
Definition	1. Microprocessor is a silicon chip which includes ALU, register circuit and control circuits.	1. Microcontroller is a silicon chip which includes microprocessor, memory and I/O in a single chip.
Speed	2. The performance speed, i.e. clock speed of microprocessor is higher ranging frequency from MHz to GHz.	2. The performance speed of microcontroller is relatively slower than that of microprocessors, with clock speed from 3-33 MHz.
cost	3. Addition of external RAM, ROM and I/O ports makes these systems bulkier and much more expensive.	3. It has fixed memory and all peripherals are embedded together on a single chip, so are not bulkier and are cheaper than microprocessors.
Uses	4. Generally used for general purpose computers as CPU.	4. Generally microcontrollers are used for specific purposes (embedded system) e.g. traffic light controller, printer, etc.
Versatality	5. Microprocessors are more versatile than microcontrollers as the designers can decide on the amount of RAM, ROM and I/O ports needed to fit the task at hand. E.gs. Intel 8085, 8086, Motorola 68000, Intel Core i7, etc.	5. As microcontrollers have already fixed amount of RAM, ROM and I/O ports, so are not versatile as the user cannot change the amount of memory and I/O ports. E.gs. AT89C51, ATmega32, AT89S52, etc.

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