what do PIC and AVR mean

[samcheetah]

what does avr stand for

ive searched alot but i couldnt find the answer to my question. can somebody please tell me the meanings of PIC and AVR. i know that this issue has always been a hot debate. so dont just tell me what u have heard from someone. please give some references.

thanx

 

[feiutm9898]

avr means

For PIC and AVR RISC tech, are different.

AVR speed is 4 times faster than PIC though same frequency of clock is used. This is due to when using PIC, the frequency will be divided by 4 for accurate requirement but avr important for speed.

search this answer at www.avrfreaks.net for further information. From avr people view.

from Microchip view, you can download this file.

Different group will give different answer to you.

 

[samcheetah]

what does avr mean

AVR speed is 4 times faster than PIC though same frequency of clock is used. This is due to when using PIC, the frequency will be divided by 4 for accurate requirement but avr important for speed

i know all that. i didnt ask for a comparison between PICs and AVRs. i want to know what do the acronyms mean.

 

[klug]

what does avr mean?

Quote from FAQ:

What does Atmel stand for?
Advanced Technology Memory and Logic.
Others say it stands for...
Absolutely Terrible, Monstrously Excessive Leadtimes.
I have also heard this...
Awful Tools, Mega Effectve Logic

What does AVR stand for?
According to Atmel, AVR stands for nothing, it's just a name.
Others say it stands for Advanced Virtual Risc.
However, the inventors of the AVR series chips are named
Alf Egil Bogen and Vegard Wollan. What do you think?
AVR is easier to say than AlfVegardRisk

 

[davorin]

what does avr stand for?

PIC comes from "Programmable Interrupt Controller"....long time ago when there was no Microchip but owned by General Instruments (o;

Look out for an old Apple motherboard and you see some old GI16C54 ROM version used for mouse/keyboard interface...

 

[manu]

avr mean

i think pic means Programmable Intelligent Controler... :?

 

[davorin]

avr microcontroller means

Okay...mix-up with PC world (o;

"Periphal Interface Controller" is the real name...way back over 20 years (o;

 

[ME]

avr means?

Here you can read all about the history of PIC, Arizona microchip and General Instruments and why it was named PIC (Peripheral Interface Controller):
www.jpixton.dircon.co.uk/pic/history.html


www.voti.nl/picfaq/index_1.html#What is a PIC?

2. What is a PIC?

(from http://www.voti.nl/swp)
A long, long time ago (when computer chips died when a cat came near on a dry day) General Instruments produced a chip called the PIC1650, described as a Programmable Intelligent Computer. This chip is the mother of all PIC chips, functionally close to the current 16C54. It was intended as a peripheral for their CP1600 microprocessor. Maybe that is why most people think PIC stands for Peripheral Interface Controller. As far as I know Microchip has never used PIC as an abbreviation, just as PIC. And recently Microchip has started calling its PICs microcontrollers PICmicro MCU's. Maybe they heard that PIC sounds like the Dutch word for dick and wanted to spare me the frowns from Dutch readers.

PIC is also the abbreviation of Peripheral Interrupt Controller - but that's an entirey different story.

I have alredy answered what the meaning of AVR is two times earlier here at EDAboard:



AVR has two meanings:

1) AVR = "Alf (Egil Bogen) and Vegard (Wollan) 's Risc processor"

Alf Egil Bogen & Vegard Wollan are the Norwegian inventors of the AVR MCU, produced by Atmel.


2) AVR = Advanced Virtual RISC (Vitrual RISC because it is an enhanced RISC core, something in between a true RISC and a CISC core).
According to a paper from Alf Egil Bogen & Vegard Wollan.

AVR Enhanced RISC Microcontrollers: www.avrfreaks.net/Tools/ToolFiles/447/RISCMCU.PDF


Here's som info about how it all started, (but in Swedish language): **broken link removed**
From the link above:

Swedish language:
1996 tog de båda studiekamraterna Vegard Wollan och Alf-Egil Bogen med sig sin AVR-teknologi (Advanced Virtual RISC) från Nordic VLSI och etablerade Atmel Norway. Från Norges tekniska högskola anslöt sig en tredje studiekamrat, Gaute Myklebust. Dessa tre utgör fortfarande företagets ledning.

Translated to English:
In 1996 the two college friends, Vegard Wollan and Alf-Egil Bogen brought along their AVR-technology (Advanced Virtual RISC) from Nordic VLSI and founded Atmel Norway. From Norways technical college (Norges tekniska högskola) a third college friends, Gaute Myklebust joined them. These three still constitute the mangement of the company.

According to Atmel, AVR doesn't mean anything, they probably say this because Atmel doesn't like to tell AVR was not invented by Atmel.
I don't believe anyone makes up such a strange name as AVR if it doesn't mean anything.
The original name of the AVR core before it was sold to Atmel was µRISC and it had 31 instructions:
http://www.quicknet.se/hdc/research/bec96p4.htm
Atmel bougth the µRISC core from Nordic VLSI and the two inventors of the core wa hired by Atmel and founded Atmel Norway in Trondheim.

Nordic VLSI still exists in Trondheim under a different name, Nordic Semiconductor: www.nvlsi.no

Link to Atmel's Norwegian AVR Development Centre:
www.atmel.no

The Swedish C-compiler company, IAR has also been involved in the devlopment of the AVR core, to make sure the core instruction set was optimized for C-compilers.
The AVR Microcontroller and C Compiler Co-Design: www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/compiler.pdf
Link to IAR: www.IAR.com


**broken link removed**

FAQ: What does AVR stand for?
This is from ATMEL's AVR FAQ:
"Question: What does "AVR" stand for?
Answer
Nothing, it's just a name."
BUT look who wrote a white paper on AVR
"AVR Enhanced RISC Microcontrollers
Alf-Egil Bogen
Vegard Wollan
ATMEL Corporation
ATMEL Development Center, Trondheim, Norway"

Perhaps "Alf" and "Vergard" can solve the remaining "R" mystery.

reference
FAQ: What does AVR stand for? (Answer 2)
First of all AVR stands for: Advanced Virtual RISC, the founders are Alf Egil Bogen Vegard Wollan RISC (also forms AVR).

Both AVR inventors still works for ATMEL Development Center, Trondheim, Norway:

Vegard Wollan
Position: Managing Director, Atmel Corporation
Address: Atmel Norway AS, Vestre Rosten 78, 7092 Tiller, Norway
Phone: +47 72 88 43 88
Fax: +47 72 88 43 99
Email: vwollan@atmel.com
Visit Address: Mediahuset, Vestre Rosten 78, Tiller

Alf-Egil Bogen
Position: Managing Director, Atmel Corporation
Address: Atmel Norway AS, Vestre Rosten 78, 7092 Tiller, Norway
Phone: +47 72 88 43 88
Fax: +47 72 88 43 99
Email: abogen@atmel.com
Visit Address: Mediahuset, Vestre Rosten 78, Tiller


If you can understand Norwegian you can read about where the AVR was invented and how ATMEL Norway was founded:
**broken link removed**

 

[arjunmv]

AVR stands for ADVANCED VIRTUAL RISC

 

[nandhu015]

AVR stands for ADVANCED VIRTUAL RISC

Where did you get this??

 

[Tahmid]

Atmel says that the name AVR is not an acronym and does not stand for anything in particular. The creators of the AVR give no definitive answer as to what the term "AVR" stands for.

Quoted from the wikipedia page:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmel_AVR

Hope this helps.
Tahmid.

 

[adityaonline]

AVR : Alf Vegard RISC :!:
PIC : Peripheral Interface Controller :idea: