is 8051 CPU still around?

hi;

I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for things 
like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if this CPU is 
still around and if one can buy it from some where?

I thought someone here might know. I googled a little around, and there 
seems to be number of sites related to this, even though this is a very old 
cpu?. Is it actually still used these days?

Thanks,

--Nasser 

Nasser Abbasi <nma@12000.org> wrote:
 
> I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for things 
> like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if this CPU is 
> still around and if one can buy it from some where?

I recommend Unicorn Electronics:

http://www.unicornelectronics.com/IC/8000.html

They even have the 8080 if you are looking for older CPUs,
but the 8051 is also there.  

The 8751 is the version with built-in EPROM, the 8031
is without any internal ROM, which seems to be a better
deal.  

You can also get an 8051 core to load into an FPGA and run
it that way.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_8051

-- glen

Nasser Abbasi schrieb:
> I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for things 
> like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if this CPU is 
> still around and if one can buy it from some where?

Atmel sells quite cheap 8051-based microcontrollers: 8051 core, some RAM,
some FlashROM for code, timers, UART, IO pins, optionally DAC, USB, CAN
all in a single chip package.
The basic versions are quite cheap, in Germany you can order them
for 0.80� in single quantities (89C2051: 2KB Flash, 128B RAM).

<http://atmel.com/dyn/products/param_table.asp?family_id=604&OrderBy=part_no&Direction=ASC>

Atmel also has a lot of chips based on the more modern and faster AVR
architecture.


Hendrik vdH

On Thu, 18 Dec 2008 03:08:44 -0800, Nasser Abbasi wrote:

> hi;
> 
> I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for
> things like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if
> this CPU is still around and if one can buy it from some where?
> 
> I thought someone here might know. I googled a little around, and there
> seems to be number of sites related to this, even though this is a very
> old cpu?. Is it actually still used these days?
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> --Nasser

Intel has stopped making the 8051, but plenty of other manufacturers do 
-- somehow the core passed into the public domain, so the 8051 has become 
the least common denominator of 8-bit processors.  Atmel, Crystal, Xilinx 
(as a soft core), Altera (ditto), Dallas, and Analog Devices (as part of 
an ADC, no less) are all ones that I know of, but there are many many 
more.

-- 
Tim Wescott
Control systems and communications consulting
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Need to learn how to apply control theory in your embedded system?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" by Tim Wescott
Elsevier/Newnes, http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Nasser Abbasi wrote:
> hi;
> 
> I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for things 
> like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if this CPU is 
> still around and if one can buy it from some where?
> 
> I thought someone here might know. I googled a little around, and there 
> seems to be number of sites related to this, even though this is a very old 
> cpu?. Is it actually still used these days?

There are more modern, augmented versions of the 8051 that overcome some 
of the original's serious shortcomings. The 8052 has a data pointer that 
can be incremented but not decremented, address-carry arithmetic that 
needs do be implemented by hand, and other (ahem) infelicities.

Jerry
-- 
Engineering is the art of making what you want from things you can get.
�����������������������������������������������������������������������

Nasser Abbasi wrote:
> hi;
> 
> I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for things 
> like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if this CPU is 
> still around and if one can buy it from some where?
> 
> I thought someone here might know. I googled a little around, and there 
> seems to be number of sites related to this, even though this is a very old 
> cpu?. Is it actually still used these days?

Albeit being old fashioned, the x51 is still used in our days. There are 
the numerous clones of x51 from NXP, Siemens, Atmel, etc. Also, the x51 
is often used as the soft core in ASICs.

However I wouldn't recommend spending much time learning about this 
dinosaur. The modern equivalent to x51 are the low end ARM series.

Vladimir Vassilevsky
DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
http://www.abvolt.com

On Dec 18, 7:08&#4294967295;pm, "Nasser Abbasi" <n...@12000.org> wrote:
> hi;
>
> I bought a used book on Intel 8051 and it has some code (in C) for things
> like A/D and such. It seems interesting, but was wondering if this CPU is
> still around and if one can buy it from some where?
>
> I thought someone here might know. I googled a little around, and there
> seems to be number of sites related to this, even though this is a very old
> cpu?. Is it actually still used these days?
>
> Thanks,
>
> --Nasser

Every engineering student in China learns the 8051 core in intimate
detail. Hence almost every MCU developed in China or Taiwan is based
on the 8051, unless it really needs a more powerful core. Its so much
easier to sell people something they already know.

Mountains of 8051 based MCUs are made each year.

Regards,
Steve

steveu@coppice.org wrote:

> Every engineering student in China learns the 8051 core in intimate
> detail.

Is it because x51 core became generic whereas most other CPUs are 
proprietary to their vendors?

> Hence almost every MCU developed in China or Taiwan is based
> on the 8051, unless it really needs a more powerful core. Its so much
> easier to sell people something they already know.
> 
> Mountains of 8051 based MCUs are made each year.

Yes, the x51 is the workhorse of home electronics. But it is an ugly 
core. Only PIC can be worse.


Vladimir Vassilevsky
DSP and Mixed Signal Design Consultant
http://www.abvolt.com

Vladimir Vassilevsky wrote:

> Yes, the x51 is the workhorse of home electronics. But it is an ugly 
> core. Only PIC can be worse.

Nothing is ever so bad that it can't get worse.


-- 
Jim Thomas            Principal Applications Engineer  Bittware, Inc
jthomas@bittware.com  http://www.bittware.com    (603) 226-0404 x536
A pessimist is an optimist with experience

i've used the silicon labs f-series a lot:
https://www.silabs.com/products/mcu/pages/default.aspx

i think they are ok: fast, cheap, reliable, good range of feature
sets, relatively easy to debug.

only big problem i have is being locked into stupid proprietary
devchains (silabs IDE, which is free, or Keil uVision, which isn't)...
i've had no luck finding anyone using gcc with these, so far...

On Dec 18, 8:25&#4294967295;am, Vladimir Vassilevsky <antispam_bogus@hotmail.com>
wrote:
> Nasser Abbasi wrote:
>
> ...
> However I wouldn't recommend spending much time learning about this
> dinosaur. The modern equivalent to x51 are the low end ARM series.

i like how there's really not much to learn about the 8051
architecture itself:

the opcodes:
http://www.keil.com/support/man/docs/is51/is51_opcodes.htm

and yr device registers, not much else.

ARM, on the other hand.... i'm probably never going to read all of
this:
http://infocenter.arm.com/help/index.jsp?topic=/com.arm.doc.dvi0014a/ar01s04s18.html

and hence i will forever be dealing with other people's code between
me and the device...  for me and others who are not-so-hard-core, its
more like working with an OS... for better or worse