Introduction
The purpose of this chapter is to provide basic information about microcontrollers that one needs to know in order to be able to use them successfully in practice. This is why this chapter doesn't contain any super interesting program or device schematic with amazing solutions. Instead, the following examples are better proof that program writing is neither a privilege nor a talent issue, but the ability of simply putting puzzle pieces together using directives. Rest assured that design and development of devices mainly consists of the following method “test-correct-repeat”. Of course, the more you are in it, the more complicated it becomes since the puzzle pieces are put together by both children and first-class architects...6.1 Basic connecting
As seen in the figure above, in order to enable the microcontroller to operate properly it is necessary to provide:
- Power supply:
- Reset signal: and
- Clock signal.
Power supply
Even though this microcontroller can operate at different power supply voltages, why to test “Murphy’s low”?! A 5V DC is most commonly used. The circuit, shown in the figure, uses a cheap integrated three-terminal positive regulator LM7805, and provides high-quality voltage stability and quite enough current to enable the microcontroller and peripheral electronics to operate normally (enough current in this case means 1Amp).Reset signal
In order that the mucrocontroller can operate properly, a logic 0 (0V) must be applied to the reset pin RS. The push button connecting the reset pin RS to power supply VCC is not necessary. However, it is almost always provided because it enables the microcontroller safe return to normal operating conditions if something goes wrong. 5V is brought to this pin, the microcontroller is reset and program starts execution from the beginning.Clock signal
Even though the microcontroller has a built-in oscillator, it cannot operate without two external capacitors and quartz crystal which stabilize its operation and determines its frequency (operating speed of the microcontroller).
Of course, it is not always possible to apply this solution so that there are always alternative ones. One of them is to provide clock signal from a special source through invertor. See the figure on the left.
6.2 Additional components
Regardless of the fact that the microcontroller is a product of modern technology, it is of no use without being connected to additional components. Simply put, the appearance of voltage on its pins means nothing if not used for performing certain operations (turn something on/off, shift, display etc.).Switches and Push buttons
There are no simpler devices than switches and push-buttons. This is the simplest way of detecting appearance of a voltage on the microcontroller input pin.
Nevertheless, it is not so simple in practice... It is about contact bounce- a common problem with m e c h a n i c a l switches. When the contacts strike together, their momentum and elasticity act together to cause bounce. The result is a rapidly pulsed electrical current instead of a clean transition from zero to full current. It mostly occurs due to vibrations, slight rough spots and dirt between contacts. This effect is usually unnoticeable when using these components in everyday life because the bounce happens too quickly. In other words, the whole this process does not last long (a few micro- or miliseconds), but it is long enough to be registered by the microcontroller. When using only a push-button as a pulse counter, errors occur in almost 100% of cases!
The simplest solution to this problem is to connect a simple RC circuit to suppress quick voltage changes. Since the bounce period is not defined, the values of components are not precisely determined. In most cases, it is recomended to use the values shown in figure below.
In addition to these hardware solutions, there is also a simple software solution. When a program tests the state of an input pin and detects a change, the check should be done one more time after a certain delay. If the change is confirmed, it means that a switch or push button has changed its position. The advantages of such solution are obvious: it is free of charge, effects of noises are eliminated and it can be applied to the poorer quality contacts as well. Disadvantage is the same as when using RC filter, i.e. pulses shorter than program delay cannot be registered.
Optocoupler
An optocoupler is a device commonly used to galvanically separate microcontroller’s electronics from any potentially dangerous current or voltage in its surroundings. Optocouplers usually have one, two or four light sources (LED diodes) on their input while on their output, opposite to diodes, there is the same number of elements sensitive to light (phototransistors, photo-thyristors or photo-triacs). The point is that an optocoupler uses a short optical transmission path to transfer a signal between the elements of circuit, while keeping them electrically isolated. This isolation makes sense only if diodes and photo-sensitive elements are separately powered. In this way, the microcontroller and expensive additional electronics are completely protected from high voltage and noises which are the most common cause of destroying, damaging or unstable operation of electronic devices in practice. The most frequently used optocouplers are those with phototransistors on their outputs. When using the optocoupler with internal base-to-pin 6 connection (there are also optocouplers without it), the base can be left unconnected. An optional connection which lessens the effects of noises by eliminating very short pulses is presented by the broken line in the figure.
Relay
A relays is an electrical switch that opens and closes under control of another electrical circuit. It is therefore connected to ouput pins of the microcontroller and used to turn on/off high-power devices such as motors, transformers, heaters, bulbs, antenna systems etc. These are almost always placed away from the board sensitive components. There are various types of relays but all of them operate in the same way. When a current flows through the coil, the relay is operated by an electromagnet to open or close one or many sets of contacts. Similar to optocouplers, there is no galvanic connection (electrical contact) between input and output circuits. Relays usually demand both higher voltage and current to start operation, but there are also miniature ones which can be activated by a low current directly obtained from a microcontroller pin.
In order to prevent the appearance of self-induction high voltage, caused by a sudden stop of current flow through the coil, an inverted polarized diode is connected in parallel to the coil. The purpose of this diode is to “cut off” the voltage peak.
Light-emitting diode (LED)
Light-emitting diodes are elements for light signalization in electronics. They are manufactured in different shapes, colors and sizes. For their low price, low power consumption and simple use, they have almost completely pushed aside other light sources, bulbs at first place. They perform similar to common diodes with the difference that they emit light when current flows through them.
It is important to limit their current, otherwise they will be permanently destroyed. For this reason, a conductor must be connected in parallel to an LED. In order to determine value of this conductor, it is necessary to know diode’s voltage drop in forward direction, which depends on what material a diode is made from and what colour it is. Typical values of the most frequently used diodes are shown in table below. As seen, there are three main types of LEDs. Standard ones get ful brightness at current of 20mA. Low Current diodes get ful brightness at ten times lower current while Super Bright diodes produce more intensive light than Standard ones.
It is important to limit their current, otherwise they will be permanently destroyed. For this reason, a conductor must be connected in parallel to an LED. In order to determine value of this conductor, it is necessary to know diode’s voltage drop in forward direction, which depends on what material a diode is made from and what colour it is. Typical values of the most frequently used diodes are shown in table below. As seen, there are three main types of LEDs. Standard ones get ful brightness at current of 20mA. Low Current diodes get ful brightness at ten times lower current while Super Bright diodes produce more intensive light than Standard ones.
| Color | Type | Typical current Id (mA) | Maximal current If (mA) | Voltage drop Ud (V) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Infrared | - | 30 | 50 | 1.4 |
| Red | Standard | 20 | 30 | 1.7 |
| Red | Super Bright | 20 | 30 | 1.85 |
| Red | Low Current | 2 | 30 | 1.7 |
| Orange | - | 10 | 30 | 2.0 |
| Green | Low Current | 2 | 20 | 2.1 |
| Yellow | - | 20 | 30 | 2.1 |
| Blue | - | 20 | 30 | 4.5 |
| White | - | 25 | 35 | 4.4 |
Since the 8051 microcontroller can provide only low output current and since its pins are configured as outputs when voltage provided on them is 0V, direct connecting to LEDs is performed as shown in figure on the right (Low current LED, cathode is connected to the output pin).
LED displays
Basically, an LED display is nothing more than several LEDs moulded in the same plastic case. There are many types of displays composed of several dozens of built in diodes which can display different symbols.
Most commonly used is a so called 7-segment display. It is composed of 8 LEDs, 7 segments are arranged as a rectangle for symbol displaying and there is an additional segment for decimal point displaying. In order to simplify connecting, anodes and catodes of all diodes are connected to the common pin so that there are common anode displays and common catode displays, respectively. Segments are marked with the latters from A to G, plus dp, as shown in the figure on the left. On connecting, each diode is treated separtely, which means that each must have its own current limiting resistor.
Displays connected to the microcontroller usually occupy a large number of valuable I/O pins, which can be a big problem especially if it is needed to display multy digit numbers. The problem is more than obvious if, for example, it is needed to display two 6-digit numbers (a simple calculation shows that 96 output pins are needed in this case). The solution to this problem is called MULTIPLEXING. This is how an optical illusion based on the same operating principle as a film camera is made. Only one digit is active at a time, but they change their state so quickly making impression that all digits of a number are simultaneously active.
Here is an explanation on the figure above. First a byte representing units is applied on a microcontroller port and a transistor T1 is activated at the same time. After a while, the transistor T1 is turned off, a byte representing tens is applied on a port and a transistor T2 is activated. This process is being cyclically repeated at high speed for all digits and corresponding transistors.
The fact that the microcontroller is just a kind of miniature computer designed to understand only the language of zeros and ones is fully expressed when displaying any digit. Namely, the microcontroller doesn't know what units, tens or hundreds are, nor what ten digits we are used to look like. Therefore, each number to be displayed must be prepared in the following way:
First of all, a multy digit number must be split into units, tens etc. in a particular subroutine. Then each of these digits must be stored in special bytes. Digits get familiar format by performing “masking”. In other words, a binary format of each digit is replaced by a different combination of bits in a simple subroutine. For example, the digit 8 (0000 1000) is replaced by the binary number 0111 111 in order to activate all LEDs displaying digit 8. The only diode remaining inactive in this case is reserved for the decimal point. If a microcontroller port is connected to the display in such a way that bit 0 activates segment “a”, bit 1 activates segment “b”, bit 2 segment “c” etc., then the table below shows the “mask” for each digit.
| Digits to display | Display Segments | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dp | a | b | c | d | e | f | g | |
| 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
If the event that common chatode displays are used all units in the table should be replaced by zeros and vice versa. Additionally, NPN transistors should be used as drivers as well.
Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD)
An LCD display is specifically manufactured to be used with microcontrollers, which means that it cannot be activated by standard IC circuits. It is used for displaying different messages on a miniature liquid crysal display.
The model described here is for its low price and great capabilities most frequently used in practice. It is based on the HD44780 microcontroller (Hitachi) and can display messages in two lines with 16 characters each. It displays all the letters of alphabet, Greek letters, punctuation marks, mathematical symbols etc. In addition, it is possible to display symbols made up by the user. Other useful features include automatic message shift (left and right), cursor appearance, LED backlight etc.
LCD Pins
There are pins along one side of a small printed board. These are used for connecting to the microcontroller. There are in total of 14 pins marked with numbers (16 if it has backlight). Their function is described in the table bellow:| Function | Pin Number | Name | Logic State | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ground | 1 | Vss | - | 0V |
| Power supply | 2 | Vdd | - | +5V |
| Contrast | 3 | Vee | - | 0 - Vdd |
| Control of operating | 4 | RS | 0 1 | D0 – D7 are interpreted as commands D0 – D7 are interpreted as data |
| 5 | R/W | 0 1 | Write data (from controller to LCD) Read data (from LCD to controller) | |
| 6 | E | 0 1 From 1 to 0 | Access to LCD disabled Normal operating Data/commands are transferred to LCD | |
| Data / commands | 7 | D0 | 0/1 | Bit 0 LSB |
| 8 | D1 | 0/1 | Bit 1 | |
| 9 | D2 | 0/1 | Bit 2 | |
| 10 | D3 | 0/1 | Bit 3 | |
| 11 | D4 | 0/1 | Bit 4 | |
| 12 | D5 | 0/1 | Bit 5 | |
| 13 | D6 | 0/1 | Bit 6 | |
| 14 | D7 | 0/1 | Bit 7 MSB |
LCD screen
An LCD screen consists of two lines each containing 16 characters. Each character consists of 5x8 or 5x11 dot matrix. This book covers the most commonly used display, i.e. the 5x8 character display.
Display contrast depends on the power supply voltage and whether messages are displayed in one or two lines. For this reason, varying voltage 0-Vdd is applied on the pin marked as Vee. Trimmer potentiometer is usually used for that purpose. Some LCD displays have built-in backlight (blue or green LEDs). When used during operation, a current limiting resistor should be serially connected to one of the pins for backlight power supply (similar to LEDs).
If there are no characters displayed or if all of them are dimmed when the display is on, the first thing that should be done is to check the potentiometer for contrast regulation. Is it properly adjusted? The same applies if the mode of operation has been changed (writing in one or two lines).
LCD Memory
The LCD display contains three memory blocks:- DDRAM Display Data RAM;
- CGRAM Character Generator RAM; and
- CGROM Character Generator ROM.
DDRAM Memory
DDRAM memory is used for storing characters to be displayed. The size of this memory is sufficient for storing 80 characters. Some memory locations are directly connected to the characters on display.
It works quite simply: it is sufficient to configure the display so as to increment addresses automatically (shift right) and set the starting address for the message that should be displayed (for example 00 hex).
After that, all characters sent through lines D0-D7 will be displayed in the message format we are used to- from left to right. In this case, displaying starts from the first field of the first line since the address is 00 hex. If more than 16 characters are sent, then all of them will be memorized, but only the first sixteen characters will be visible. In order to display the rest of them, a shift command should be used. Virtually, everything looks as if the LCD display is a “window” which moves left-right over memory locations containing different characters. This is how the effect of message “moving” on the screen is made.
If the cursor is on, it appears at the location which is currently addressed. In other words, when a character appears at the cursor position, it will automatically move to the next addressed location.
Since this is a sort of RAM memory, data can be written to and read from it, but its contents is irretrievably lost when the power goes off.
CGROM Memory
CGROM memory contains the default chracter map with all characters that can be displayed on the screen. Each character is assigned to one memory location.
The addresses of CGROM memory locations match the characters of ASCII. If the program being currently executed encounters a command “send character P to port”, then the binary value 0101 0000 appears on the port. This value is the ASCII equivalent to the character P. It is then written to LCD, which results in displaying the symbol from 0101 0000 location of CGROM. In other words, the character “P” is displayed. This applies to all letters of alphabet (capitals and small), but not to numbers.
As seen on the previous “map”, addresses of all digits are pushed forward by 48 relative to their values (digit 0 address is 48, digit 1 address is 49, digit 2 address is 50 etc.). Accordingly, in order to display digits correctly, each of them needs to be added a decimal number 48 prior to be sent to LCD.
From their inception till today, computers can recognize only numbers, but not letters. It means that all data a computer swaps with a peripheral device has a binary format, even though the same is recognized by the man as letters (keyboard is an excellent example). Every character matches the unique combination of zeroes and ones. ASCII is character encoding based on the English alphabet. ASCII code specifies correspondance between standard character symbols and their numerical equivalents.
CGRAM memory
Apart from standard characters, the LCD display can also display symbols defined by the user itself. It can be any symbol in the size of 5x8 pixels. RAM memory called CGRAM in the size of 64 bytes enables it.
Memory registers are 8 bits wide, but only 5 lower bits are used. Logic one (1) in every register represents a dimmed dot, while 8 locations grouped together represent one character. It is best illustrated in figure below:
Symbols are usually defined at the beginnig of the program by simply writing zeros and ones to registers of CGRAM memory so that they form desired shapes. In order to display them it is sufficient to specify their address. Pay attention to the first coloumn in the CGROM map of characters. It doesn't contain RAM memory addresses, but symbols being discussed here. In this example, “display 0” means - display “č”, “display 1” means - display “ž” etc.
LCD Basic Commands
All data transferred to LCD through the outputs D0-D7 will be interpreted as a command or a data, which depends on the pin RS logic state:
RS = 1 - Bits D0-D7 are addresses of the characters to be displayed. LCD processor addresses one character from the character map and displays it. The DDRAM address specifies the location on which the character is to be displayed. This address is defined before the character is transferred or the address of previously transferred character is automatically incremented.
RS = 0 - Bits D0 - D7 are commands which determine the display mode. The commands recognized by the LCD are given in the table below:
| Command | RS | RW | D7 | D6 | D5 | D4 | D3 | D2 | D1 | D0 | Execution Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clear display | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1.64mS |
| Cursor home | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | x | 1.64mS |
| Entry mode set | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | I/D | S | 40uS |
| Display on/off control | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | D | U | B | 40uS |
| Cursor/Display Shift | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | D/C | R/L | x | x | 40uS |
| Function set | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | DL | N | F | x | x | 40uS |
| Set CGRAM address | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | CGRAM address | 40uS | |||||
| Set DDRAM address | 0 | 0 | 1 | DDRAM address | 40uS | ||||||
| Read “BUSY” flag (BF) | 0 | 1 | BF | DDRAM address | - | ||||||
| Write to CGRAM or DDRAM | 1 | 0 | D7 | D6 | D5 | D4 | D3 | D2 | D1 | D0 | 40uS |
| Read from CGRAM or DDRAM | 1 | 1 | D7 | D6 | D5 | D4 | D3 | D2 | D1 | D0 | 40uS |
I/D 1 = Increment (by 1) R/L 1 = Shift right 0 = Decrement (by 1) 0 = Shift left S 1 = Display shift on DL 1 = 8-bit interface 0 = Display shift off 0 = 4-bit interface D 1 = Display on N 1 = Display in two lines 0 = Display off 0 = Display in one line U 1 = Cursor on F 1 = Character format 5x10 dots 0 = Cursor off 0 = Character format 5x7 dots B 1 = Cursor blink on D/C 1 = Display shift 0 = Cursor blink off 0 = Cursor shift
What is the Busy flag?
Compared to the microcontroller, the LCD is an extremely slow component. Because of this, it was necessary to provide a signal which will, upon command execution, indicate that the display is ready to receive a new data. That signal, called the busy flag, can be read from line D7. When the BF bit is cleared (BF=0), the display is ready to receive a new data.LCD Connection
Depending on how many lines are used for connecting the LCD to the microcontroller, there are 8-bit and 4-bit LCD modes. The appropriate mode is selected at the beginning of the operation. This process is called “initialization”. 8-bit LCD mode uses outputs D0-D7 to transfer data in the way explained on the previous page. The main purpose of 4-bit LED mode is to save valuable I/O pins of the microcontroller. Only 4 higher bits (D4-D7) are used for communication, while other may be left unconnected. Each data is sent to the LCD in two steps: four higher bits are sent first (normally through the lines D4-D7), then four lower bits. Initialization enables the LCD to link and interpret received bits correctly. Data is rarely read from the LCD (it is mainly transferred from the microcontroller to LCD) so that it is often possible to save an extra I/O pin by simple connecting R/W pin to ground. Such saving has its price. Messages will be normally displayed, but it will not be possible to read the busy flag since it is not possible to read the display either.
Fortunately, there is a simple solution. After sending a character or a command it is important to give the LCD enough time to do its job. Owing to the fact that execution of the slowest command lasts for approximately 1.64mS, it will be sufficient to wait approximately 2mS for LCD.
LCD Initialization
The LCD is automatically cleared when powered up. It lasts for approximately 15mS. After that, the display is ready for operation. The mode of operation is set by default. It means that:- Display is cleared
- Mode
- DL = 1 Communication through 8-bit interface
- N = 0 Messages are displayed in one line
- F = 0 Character font 5 x 8 dots
- Display/Cursor on/off
- D = 0 Display off
- U = 0 Cursor off
- B = 0 Cursor blink off
- Character entry
- ID = 1 Displayed addresses are automatically incremented by 1
- S = 0 Display shift off
Refer to the figure below for the procedure on 8-bit initialization:
It is not a mistake!
In this algorithm, the same value is transferred three times in a row.
In case of 4-bit initialization, the procedure is as follows:
