How To Interface The 8085 Microprocessor?

We know that a microprocessor is the CPU of a computer. A microprocessor can perform some operation on a data and give the output. But to perform the operation we need an input to enter the data and an output to display the results of the operation. So we are using a keyboard and monitor as Input and output along with the processor. Microprocessors engineering involves a lot of other concepts and we also interface memory elements like ROM, EPROM to access the memory.

Interfacing Types

There are two types of interfacing in context of the 8085 processor.

Memory Interfacing.

I/O Interfacing.

Memory Interfacing:

While executing an instruction, there is a necessity for the microprocessor to access memory frequently for reading various instruction codes and data stored in the memory. The interfacing circuit aids in accessing the memory.

Memory requires some signals to read from and write to registers. Similarly the microprocessor transmits some signals for reading or writing a data.

But what is the purpose of interfacing circuit here?

The interfacing process involves matching the memory requirements with the microprocessor signals. The interfacing circuit therefore should be designed in such a way that it matches the memory signal requirements with the signals of the microprocessor. For example for carrying out a READ process, the microprocessor should initiate a read signal which the memory requires to read a data. In simple words, the primary function of a memory interfacing circuit is to aid the microprocessor in reading and writing a data to the given register of a memory chip.

I/O Interfacing:

We know that keyboard and Displays are used as communication channel with outside world. So it is necessary that we interface keyboard and displays with the microprocessor. This is called I/O interfacing. In this type of interfacing we use latches and buffers for interfacing the keyboards and displays with the microprocessor.

But the main disadvantage with this interfacing is that the microprocessor can perform only one function. It functions as an input device if it is connected to buffer and as an output device if it is connected to latch. Thus, the capability is very limited in this type of interfacing.