I am aware about the basic theoretical differences between the two. Like micro controllers have ROM RAM memory etc., but microprocessor has none. But I am still confused.
Why is it said "A microcontroller based on microprocessor" (the very first line).
If ARM is a microprocessor, then why STMs use it and call it as micro controller. What's the difference?
Is eval board like "TI c-series launchpad" has a micro controller or a micro processor or both.
Kindly correct me if I am wrong anywhere.
ARM is the CPU core, which can be used to implement a microprocessor or a microcontroller.
The full sentence you referenced is:
The STM32 family of 32‑bit Flash microcontrollers based on the ARM® Cortex®‑M processor is designed to offer new degrees of freedom to MCU users.
Clearly this is largely content-free marketing babble. Don't pay much attention to it. It actually never says "microprocessor". It refers to the ARM core as a "processor", which isn't strictly right either. It's just a core, which can be used to implement various kinds of processors.
The core is more like the engine of a car. You license the design from ARM, but can heavily configure it to your needs, and putting the chassis and wheels around it is your job. You can make the result a sports car, a pickup truck, or various other types of vehicles. The marketing babble above is like saying "We've based this pickup truck on a sports car". No, they haven't. They've base the pickup truck on the same basic engine technology others have used to make a sports car with.
Again though, the important point is that this is all marketing babble. There is nothing useful to see here. Move along everyone.
A microprocessor is effectively a computer without any peripherals (I/O, ADC, timers, etc). A microcontroller is a processor with those peripherals connected and all combined into one package. Therefore, a microcontroller is based on a microprocessor, and adds peripherals to it.
Microcontrollers are said to be "complete" systems(human body), while microprocessor is just a "brain". When you consider purchasing microcontroller, you usually assume that it has many features required for your design, and main thing is to achieve a task, not the speed. When you consider purchasing a microprocessor, you know that you are good in terms of speed, but you will have to put additional effort to integrate it to your system. So, in your particular example, saying that a microcontroller based on certain microprocessor would imply that this microcontroller's computation power is fast compared to other microcontrollers. So, think of it like someone used that microprocessor and built a system for you so you don't have to do additional work. That's my understanding, correct me if I am wrong.
