Tina: an improbable 3-pin microcontroller

ABSTRACT

The twenty-first century is rapidly becoming the age of nanotechnology. Everything seems to be getting smaller these days, especially in the electronic and scientific fields. The fuel-efficient Mazda Miata and Toyota MR2 have become the city commuter's must-have vehicles. The bulky boom-box has been replaced by the more socially responsible Apple iPod, with its miniscule rotating hard disk drive. The familiar 5-inch CD is being replaced by 3-inch versions, with smaller ones on the horizon. The playing-card sized (86 by 54 mm) PCMCIA storage device has been supplanted by fingernail-sized (10 by 15 mm) TransFlash memory cards [1]. This miniaturizing effect feeds upon itself as smaller products require even smaller components of every description, fueling the demand for yet tinier devices.

REFERENCES

• 1: Dipert, B., "Pick a Card", EDN, July 8, 2004, pg.5361.
• 2: Frenger, P., "Nanocontrollers for Biomedical Applications", Biomed. Sci. Instrum., 32, 1996, pg. 313--322.
• 3: http://www.microchip.com.
• 4: http://www.cypressmicro.com.
• 5: Frenger, P., "Nanocontroller Update: Building a Better Artificial Neuron", Biomed. Sci. Instrum., 38, 2002, pg. 441--446.
• 6: http://www.digikey.com.
• 7: http://www.newarkinone.com.
• 8: Osborne, A., and Kane, G., Osborne 4 & 8-Bit Microprocessor Handbook, 1975, McGraw-Hill, Berkeley, CA, pg. 15--1 to 15--15.
• 9: Frenger, P., "Simplest Ever Digital / Analog Neuron: SEDAN-6", Biomed. Sci. Instrum., 41, 2005, (in press).
• 10: McCulloch, W., and Pitts, W., "A logical calculus of the ideas immanent in nervous activity", Bull. Math. Biophysics, 5, 1943, pg. 115--133.
• 11: Lancaster, D., CMOS Cookbook, 1977, Howard W. Sams & Co., Indianapolis, IN, pg. 174--176.
• 12: Rosenblatt, F., "The Perceptron: a probabilistic model for information storage and organization in the brain", Psych. Review, 65, 1958, pg. 386--408.
• 13: "D/A Conversion Using PWM and R-2R Ladders to Generate Sine and DTMF Waveforms", Application Note AN655, Microchip Technology, 1997.
• 14: "Using PWM to Generate Analog Output", Application Note AN538, Microchip Technology, 1997.
• 15: "Tip # 19: Logic XOR/XNOR Gate", PICmicro Comparator Tips 'n Tricks, Microchip Technology, 2003, pg. 50--52.
• 16: ibid., pg. 31--32.
• 17: "1-Wire Software Resource Guide and Device Description", Application Note 155, Dallas Semiconductor, 2002, pg. 1--28. http://www.maxim-ic.com.
• 18: "1-Wire Communication with a Microchip PICmicro Microcontroller", Application Note 2420, Dallas Semiconductor, 2003, pg. 1--10.
• 19: "Synthesizable 1-Wire Bus Master", Product DSIWM, Dallas Semiconductor, 2004.
• 20: Frenger, P., "Simple C. Elegans Nervous System Emulator", Proc 22nd Ann Houston Conf Biomed Engr Research, Feb 10-11, 2005, (in press).
• 21: Edgley, M., "What is Caenorhabditis elegans and why work on it? An introduction to ... The Worm". http://www.biotech.missouri.edu/Dauer-World/Worminro.html.
• 22: BASIC Stamp Manual v2.0. http://www.parallax.com.
• 23: http://www.dalsemi.com.
• 24: Vahid, F., and Gordon-Ross, A., "A Self-Optimizing Embedded Microprocessor using a Loop Table for Low Power", Dept. Comp. Sci. Engr., Univ. Calif. Riverside. pg. 1--7. http: // www. cs. ucr. edu/~vahid/pubs /islped01-loop.
• 25: Philip J. Koopman, Jr., Stack computers: the new wave, Halsted Press, New York, NY, 1989
• 26: http://www.mpeltd.demon.co.uk.
• 27: http://www.ultratechnology.com/chips.htm.
• 28: Moore, C., and Ting, C., "MuP21: A High Performance MISC Processor". Forth Dimensions, January 1995.
• 29: P. A. Laplante, A novel single instruction computer architecture, ACM SIGFORTH Newsletter, v.2 n.4, p.23-26, June 1991 [doi>10.1145/122084.122087]
• 30: Reference 11, pg. 184--186.
• 31: http://www.brouhaha.com/~eric/retrocomputing/motorola/mc14500b.
• 32: Charles P. Howerton, Forth is alive and well and living in a hypercube somewhere in Wyoming, Proceedings of the second and third annual workshops on Forth, p.115-120, March 1991, San Antonio, Texas, United States [doi>10.1145/259965.260013]

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  B. Hardware
  B.7 INTEGRATED CIRCUITS
      B.7.1 Types and Design Styles
          Subjects: Microprocessors and microcomputers

Additional Classification:
  C. Computer Systems Organization
  C.5 COMPUTER SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION
      C.5.3 Microcomputers
          Subjects: Portable devices (e.g., laptops, personal digital assistants)

General Terms:
Design