Microprocessor Interface Design

In order to come up with a reasonably optimized result when designing a hardware interface for a microprocessor or a specialized application, a designer must be quite knowledgeable and constantly keep abreast of new developments. Not only must he master traditional methods used for logic systems but he must also be familiar with a wide range of solutions and a technology which never stops progressing. The CMOS and TTL integrated circuit families include the basic bricks used to build an interface, although prefabricated modules of various sizes may improve the performance/price ratio. Programmable networks (PLD, PAL ®, GAL ®, etc.) are becoming more and more diversified and gate arrays can justifiably be used for smaller and smaller series. When signals work on low frequencies, they can be read or activated by an appropriately programmed microcontroller, which may work out cheaper than wired logic. Therefore, engineers must never stop improving their knowledge and questioning the developing techniques which they learnt to master and which have proved reliable. This book does not only deal with digital circuits, although the basic idea is to interconnect functional blocks only through logic connections. The word interface here really refers to an interface between a microproces.