3.

MICROCONTROLLERS
3.1 INTRODUCTION:
Microprocessors and microcontrollers are widely used in embedded systems
products. Microcontroller is a programmable device. A microcontroller has a CPU in
addition to a fixed amount of RAM, ROM, I/O ports and a timer embedded all on a single
chip. The fixed amount of on-chip ROM, RAM and number of I/O ports in
microcontrollers makes them ideal for many applications in which cost and space are
critical.
The Intel 8051 is Harvard architecture, single chip microcontroller (C) which
was developed by Intel in 1980 for use in embedded systems. It was popular in the 1980s
and early 1990s, but today it has largely been superseded by a vast range of enhanced
devices with 8051-compatible processor cores that are manufactured by more than 20
independent manufacturers including Atmel, Infineon Technologies and Maxim
Integrated Products.
8051 is an 8-bit processor, meaning that the CPU can work on only 8 bits of data
at a time. Data larger than 8 bits has to be broken into 8-bit pieces to be processed by the
CPU. 8051 is available in different memory types such as UV-EPROM, Flash and NVRAM.
The microcontroller used in this project is At89s52. Atmel Corporation introduced
this at89s52 microcontroller. This microcontroller belongs to 8051 family. This
microcontroller had 128 bytes of RAM, 4K bytes of on-chip ROM, two timers, one serial
port and four ports (each 8-bits wide) all on a single chip. At89s52 is Flash type 8051.
The present project is implemented on Keil Uvision. In order to program the
device, proload tool has been used to burn the program onto the microcontroller.

The features, pin description of the microcontroller and the software tools used are
discussed in the following sections.

3.2 FEATURES OF At89s52:

4K Bytes of Re-programmable Flash Memory.
RAM is 128 bytes.
2.7V to 6V Operating Range.
Fully Static Operation: 0 Hz to 24 MHz.
Two-level Program Memory Lock.
128 x 8-bit Internal RAM.
32 Programmable I/O Lines.
Two 16-bit Timer/Counters.
Six Interrupt Sources.
Programmable Serial UART Channel.
Low-power Idle and Power-down Modes.

3.3 DESCRIPTION:
The At89s52 is a low-voltage, high-performance CMOS 8-bit microcomputer with
4K bytes of Flash programmable memory. The device is manufactured using Atmels
high-density nonvolatile memory technology and is compatible with the industrystandard MCS-51 instruction set. By combining a versatile 8-bit CPU with Flash on a
monolithic chip, the Atmel At89s52 is a powerful microcomputer, which provides a
highly flexible and cost-effective solution to many embedded control applications.
In addition, the At89s52 is designed with static logic for operation down to zero
frequency and supports two software selectable power saving modes. The Idle Mode
stops the CPU while allowing the RAM, timer/counters, serial port and interrupt system
to continue functioning. The power-down mode saves the RAM contents but freezes the
oscillator disabling all other chip functions until the next hardware reset.

3.4

PIN DIAGRAM

Fig 4.2.1: Pin diagram

Fig 4.2.2: Block diagram of at89s52

3.5 PIN DESCRIPTION:

3.5.1 VCC: Pin 40 provides supply voltage to the chip. The voltage source is +5V.
3.5.2 GND:

Pin 20 is the ground.

3.5.3 XTAL1

and XTAL2:

XTAL1 and XTAL2 are the input and output, respectively, of an inverting
amplifier that can be configured for use as an on-chip oscillator, as shown in Figure 11.
Either a quartz crystal or ceramic resonator may be used. To drive the device from an
external clock source, XTAL2 should be left unconnected while XTAL1 is driven, as
shown in the below figure. There are no requirements on the duty cycle of the external
clock signal, since the input to the internal clocking circuitry is through a divide-by-two
flip-flop, but minimum and maximum voltage high and low time specifications must be
observed.

Fig 4.2.3: Oscillator Connections

C1, C2 = 30 pF 10 pF for Crystals

= 40 pF 10 pF for Ceramic Resonators

Fig 4.2.4: External Clock Drive Configuration

3.5.4 RESET:

Pin9 is the reset pin. It is an input and is active high. Upon applying a high pulse
to this pin, the microcontroller will reset and terminate all the activities. This is often
referred to as a power-on reset.
3.5.5 EA (External access):

Pin 31 is EA. It is an active low signal. It is an input pin and must be connected to
either Vcc or GND but it cannot be left unconnected.
The 8051 family members all come with on-chip ROM to store programs. In such
cases, the EA pin is connected to Vcc. If the code is stored on an external ROM, the EA
pin must be connected to GND to indicate that the code is stored externally.
3.5.6 PSEN (Program store enable):

This is an output pin.

3.5.7 ALE (Address latch enable):

This is an output pin and is active high.

3.6 PORTS 0, 1, 2 & 3:

The four ports P0, P1, P2 and P3 each use 8 pins, making them 8-bit ports. All the
ports upon RESET are configured as input, since P0-P3 have value FFH on them.
3.6.1 PORT 0(P0):

Port 0 is also designated as AD0-AD7, allowing it to be used for both address and
data. ALE indicates if P0 has address or data. When ALE=0, it provides data D0-D7, but
when ALE=1, it has address A0-A7. Therefore, ALE is used for demultiplexing address
and data with the help of an internal latch.
When there is no external memory connection, the pins of P0 must be connected
to a 10K-ohm pull-up resistor. This is due to the fact that P0 is an open drain. With
external pull-up resistors connected to P0, it can be used as a simple I/O, just like P1 and

P2. But the ports P1, P2 and P3 do not need any pull-up resistors since they already have
pull-up resistors internally. Upon reset, ports P1, P2 and P3 are configured as input ports.

3.6.2 PORT 1 & PORT 2:

With no external memory connection, both P1 and P2 are used as simple I/O.
With external memory connections, port 2 must be used along with P0 to provide the 16bit address for the external memory. Port 2 is designated as A8-A15 indicating its dual
function. While P0 provides the lower 8 bits via A0-A7, it is the job of P2 to provide bits
A8-A15 of the address.
3.6.3 PORT 3:

Port 3 occupies a total of 8 pins, pins 10 through 17. It can be used as input or
output. P3 does not need any pull-up resistors, the same as port 1 and port 2. Port 3 has an
additional function of providing some extremely important signals such as interrupts.

Table 4.2.1: Port 3 Alternate Functions

3.7 Addressing Modes:

While operating, processor processes data according to the program instructions.
Each instruction consists of two parts. One part describes what should be done and
another part indicates what to use to do it. This later part can be data (binary number) or
address where the data is stored. All 8051 microcontrollers use two ways of addressing
depending on which part of memory should be accessed:
3.7.1 Direct Addressing:

On direct addressing, a value is obtained from a memory location while the

address of that location is specified in instruction. Only after that, the instruction can
process data (how depends on the type of instruction: addition, subtraction, copy).
Obviously, a number being changed during operating a variable can reside at that
specified address. For example: Since the address is only one byte in size ( the greatest

number is 255), this is how only the first 255 locations in RAM can be accessed in this
case the first half of the basic RAM is intended to be used freely, while another half is
reserved for the SFRs.
3.7.2 Indirect Addressing:

On indirect addressing, a register which contains address of another register is

specified in the instruction. A value used in operating process resides in that another
register. For example:
Only RAM locations available for use are accessed by indirect addressing (never
in the SFRs). For all latest versions of the microcontrollers with additional memory block
(those 128 locations in Data Memory), this is the only way of accessing them. Simply,
when during operating, the instruction including @ sign is encountered and if the
specified address is higher than 128 (7F hex.), the processor knows that indirect
addressing is used and jumps over memory space reserved for the SFRs.

3.8 MACHINE CYCLE FOR 8051:

The CPU takes a certain number of clock cycles to execute an instruction. In the
8051 family, these clock cycles are referred to as machine cycles. The length of the
machine cycle depends on the frequency of the crystal oscillator. The crystal oscillator,
along with on-chip circuitry, provides the clock source for the 8051 CPU.
The frequency can vary from 4 MHz to 30 MHz, depending upon the chip rating
and manufacturer. But the exact frequency of 11.0592 MHz crystal oscillator is used to
make the 8051 based system compatible with the serial port of the IBM PC.

In the original version of 8051, one machine cycle lasts 12 oscillator periods.
Therefore, to calculate the machine cycle for the 8051, the calculation is made as 1/12 of
the crystal frequency and its inverse is taken.
The assembly language program is written and this program has to be dumped into
the microcontroller for the hardware kit to function according to the software. The
program dumped in the microcontroller is stored in the Flash memory in the
microcontroller. Before that, this Flash memory has to be programmed and is discussed in
the next section.

3.9 PROGRAMMING THE FLASH

The At89s52 is normally shipped with the on-chip Flash memory array in the
erased state (that is, contents = FFH) and ready to be programmed. The programming
interface accepts either a high-voltage (12-volt) or a low-voltage (VCC) program enable
signal. The low-voltage programming mode provides a convenient way to program the
At89s52 inside the users system, while the high-voltage programming mode is
compatible with conventional third party Flash or EPROM programmers. The At89s52 is
shipped with either the high-voltage or low-voltage programming mode enabled. The
respective top-side marking and device signature codes are listed in the following table.
Table 4.3.1: Top side marking & Device Signature codes

The At89s52 code memory array is programmed byte-byte in either programming

mode. To program any nonblank byte in the on-chip Flash Memory, the entire memory
must be erased using the Chip Erase Mode.
3.9.1 Programming Algorithm:

Before programming the At89s52, the address, data and control signals should be
set up according to the Flash programming mode table. To program the At89s52, the
following steps should be considered:
1. Input the desired memory location on the address lines.
2. Input the appropriate data byte on the data lines.
3. Activate the correct combination of control signals.
4. Raise EA/VPP to 12V for the high-voltage programming mode.
5. Pulse ALE/PROG once to program a byte in the Flash array or the lock bits. The bytewrite cycle is self-timed and typically takes no more than 1.5 ms.
Repeat steps 1 through 5, changing the address and data for the entire array or until the
end of the object file is reached.
3.9.2 Data Polling:

The At89s52 features Data Polling to indicate the end of a write cycle. During a
write cycle, an attempted read of the last byte written will result in the complement of the
written datum on PO.7. Once the write cycle has been completed, true data are valid on

all outputs, and the next cycle may begin. Data Polling may begin any time after a write
cycle has been initiated.
3.9.3 Ready/Busy:

The progress of byte programming can also be monitored by the RDY/BSY output
signal. P3.4 is pulled low after ALE goes high during programming to indicate BUSY.
P3.4 is pulled high again when programming is done to indicate READY.
3.9.4 Chip Erase:

The entire Flash array is erased electrically by using the proper combination of
control signals and by holding ALE/PROG low for 10 ms. The code array is written with
all 1s. The chip erase operation must be executed before the code memory can be reprogrammed.
3.9.5 Reading the Signature Bytes:

The signature bytes are read by the same procedure as a normal verification of
locations 030H, 031H, and 032H, except that P3.6 and P3.7 must be pulled to a logic low.
The values returned are as follows.
(030H) = 1EH indicates manufactured by Atmel
(031H) = 51H indicates at89s52
(032H) = FFH indicates 12V programming
(032H) = 05H indicates 5V programming
3.9.6 Programming Interface:

Every code byte in the Flash array can be written and the entire array can be
erased by using the appropriate combination of control signals. The write operation cycle
is self timed and once initiated, will automatically time itself to completion. All major
programming vendors offer worldwide support for the Atmel microcontroller series.

Table 4.3.2: Flash Programming Mode

Fig 4.3.1: Programming the Flash