Understanding Automotive Electronics 8th - Chapter 3

The technological advances in all levels of digital computers, including those found in vehicular applications, have been and continue to be rapid. A detailed description of the present state of this technology is beyond the scope of this book. The goal of this chapter is to present models for the basic structure and operation of devices that are euphemistically termed “microcomputers.” The level of description is intended to provide a model for such devices that will assist in the explanation of their widespread vehicular electronic applications in later chapters. Each vehicular digital electronic system presented throughout the remainder of the book is illustrated by a block diagram in which the digital processing operation is represented by a “microcomputer” based subsystem.