How to make Embedded Circuit:

X bit microcontroller refers to the processing capability of ALU of a

microcontroller.

In simple terms, it is the number of bits of data an ALU can process at a time.

For example, 8 bit microcontroller has an 8 bit ALU. If the data register of any such
microcontroller are more or less than 8 bit, they are made 8 bit by segmenting or rounding
off before processing data in ALU.

The simplest 8 bit microcontroller architectures have mostly the 8 bit data registers and 8
bit data bus to avoid circuit complexity.

A microcontroller is a device that usually packs a CPU, some memory and a few peripherals
(GPIO, ADC, DAC, UART, I2C, SPI, etc) in one chip.

All the components mentioned above need to communicate with each other in order to
make the device work. An 8-bit microcontroller uses instructions that are 8-bits long which
could be a limitation for some applications since you’d only have 256 (2828) possible
instructions. Also the size of the memory, memory addresses, data bus and the registers are
8-bits wide which can be limiting for some applications. Nonetheless, there are ways of
manipulating the data to fit 16-bit integers, and many 8-bit microcontrollers have 16-bit
address buses to be able to use more memory.

Microcontrollers are like small computers that can carry out small
programs and are often used for automation and robotics. The
most popular to those who are just starting out are 8 bit and 16 bit
microcontrollers. The main difference between 8 bit and 16 bit
microcontrollers is the width of the data pipe. As you may have
already deduced, an 8 bit microcontroller has an 8 bit data pipe
while a 16 bit microcontroller has a 16 bit data pipe.

This fundamental difference between 8 bit and 16 bit

microcontrollers is felt during mathematical operations. A 16 bit
number gives you a lot more precision than 8 bit numbers.
Although relatively rare, using an 8 bit microcontroller may not
suffice the required accuracy of the application. 16 bit
microcontrollers are also more efficient in processing math
operations on numbers that are longer than 8 bits. A 16 bit
microcontroller can automatically operate on two 16 bit numbers,
like the common definition of an integer. But when you are using
an 8 bit microcontroller, the process is not as straightforward. The
functions implemented to operate on such numbers will take
additional cycles. Depending on how processing intensive your
application is and on how many calculations you do, this may
affect the performance of the circuit.

Another key difference between 8 bit and 16 bit microcontrollers

is in their timers. 8 bit microcontrollers can only use 8 bits,
resulting in a final range of 0x00 – 0xFF (0-255) every cycle. In
contrast, 16 bit microcontrollers, with its 16 bit data width, has a
range of 0x0000 – 0xFFFF (0-65535) for every cycle. A longer
timer maximum value can surely come in handy in certain
applications and circuits.

Initially, the price of 16 bit microcontrollers was way above that of

8 bit microcontrollers. But as time progressed and designs
improved, the price of 8 bit and 16 bit microcontrollers has
reduced quite a lot. 8 bit microcontrollers can be purchased dirt
cheap. While 16 bit microcontroller cost more, prices tend to vary
a lot depending on the features that are included in the
microcontroller.

Summary:

16 bit microcontrollers have twice as long data pipe than the 8 bit
microcontroller

16 bit microcontrollers are more accurate at math than

16 bit microcontrollers are more efficient than 8 bit

microcontrollers in math operation greater than 8 bits

16 bit microcontrollers have longer timers than 8 bit

microcontrollers

16 bit microcontrollers are slightly more expensive than 8 bit

microcontrollers