8051: The Core That’s Still Probably in Your House or Car

8051: The Core That’s Still Probably in Your House or Car
by Don Dingee on 06-29-2026 at 6:00 am

CAST T8051XC3 IP core block diagram

When a small team at Intel began work on its second-generation 8-bit microcontroller in the summer of 1978, they took lessons from their first effort, the 8048, hoping to create something more flexible and enduring. Approaching five decades later, their creation, the 8051, is still going strong, although the current offerings… Read More


Migrating to Andes from 8051

Migrating to Andes from 8051
by Paul McLellan on 02-11-2014 at 5:21 pm

The 8051 microcontroller has been around for years…decades in fact. It was originally developed in 1980 by Intel. Back then it required 12 clock cycles per instruction but modern cores use just one. While it is still widely used, mostly as an IP core for SoCs, it is running out of steam despite running over 50 times faster than… Read More


MCU Performance Customers: The Cavalry is Coming Over The Hill

MCU Performance Customers: The Cavalry is Coming Over The Hill
by Ed McKernan on 07-31-2011 at 7:30 pm

cavalry lg

The under the radar, sleepy microcontroller market is about to undergo a rapid transformation the next several years with new entrants and the rise of 32 bit cores that will redefine the parameters for success. This will revive growth and result in new winners and losers. But lots of questions remain.

My first job out of college in… Read More