Introduction to

Microcontroller

Introduction
A microcontroller is a small computer on a single
Integrated Circuit containing a processor core, memory,
and programmable input/output peripherals

ATmega16

Desktop PC

Clock Frequency

16 MHz

3GHz

CPU data size

8 bits

32bits

RAM

1KB

1GB

ROM

16KB

160GB

I/O

32 pins

keyboard

20mW

65W

Power
Consumption
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Microcontroller

Microprocessor
CPU is stand-alone, RAM, ROM, I/O,
timer are separate

designer can decide on the amount of

ROM, RAM and I/O ports.

fix amount of on-chip ROM, RAM, I/O

port

expansive

Less expensive

versatility

for applications in which cost, power and

space are critical

general-purpose

single-purpose

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CPU, RAM, ROM, I/O and timer are

all on a single chip

Features
Microcontrollers are electronic circuits that can be
programmed to carry out a vast range of tasks
Multifunction, Bi-directional General Purpose I/O
ports with configurable, built-in pull-up resistors
In-System Programmable using ISP, JTAG, or High
Voltage methods

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Why use a microcontroller?

It is programmable
A code decides what it does (controll)
Very easy to write a code then design and make a
custom circuit for complex jobs
example : Micromouse
Robotics
Solar panels
Automation
Hundreds of other application

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AVR Microcontroller
Lots of microcontroller families
8051 , PIC , AVR ,ARM , etc.
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-choose-aMicroController/
Cost: AVR = PIC > 8051 (by 8051 I mean the 8051 family)
Availability: AVR = PIC <8051
Speed: AVR > PIC > 8051 ( preferred in Robotics)
Efficient RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer)
architecture, almost 10 times faster than CISC

less instructions you don't need complex instruction decoder, so RISC cores
need less transistors (chip area), less power (excelent for mobile units) and
higher core speeds than CISCs for same technology.
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AVR Microcontroller
Atmel's AVR microcontrollers have a RISC core
running single cycle instructions and a well-defined
I/O structure that limits the need for external
components. Internal oscillators, timers, SPI, pull-up
resistors, pulse width modulation, ADC, analog
comparator and timers are some of the features
you will find in AVR devices.
Apart form this almost all AVRs support In System
Programming (ISP) i.e. you can reprogram it without
removing it from the circuit . Also the programmer
used for ISP is easier to build compared to the
parallel programmer required for many old uCs.
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Software

Software we are going to use are

1. AVR Studio
2. Win AVR (Packaged with AVR Studio 5)
3. Extreme Burner-AVR or Pony Prog
For Simulation and Lab Experiments
Proteus 7.1 or above

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Different AVRs
AVRs are generally classified in four board groups
tinyAVRs
megaAVRs
XMEGA AVRs
Application Specific AVRs
program memory
Pin packages

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Different AVRs

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Software Required
AVR Studio 4 :
we generally use AVR Studio for this
Many other software are also available for the
purpose like MikroC you can use any of them
The greatest advantage of AVR Studio is that it is
provided by Atmel as a freeware
AVR Studio 4 provides a complete set of features
including debugger , Debugging is mostly not
available in other software

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Pin Description
Vcc: Digital Voltage
GND: Ground
PortA (PA7 ..PA0):
Port A also serves as an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port,
if the A/D Converter is not used.
Port pins can provide internal pull-up resistors
(selected for each bit)
Alternate Functions of Port A
Port A serves as the analog inputs to the A/D
Converter.

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 PortB (PB7 ..PB0) , PortC (PC7 ..PC0) , PortD (PD7

..PD0)
Common Features
These all ports are 8-bit bi-directional I/O port
Port pins can provide internal pull-up resistors
(selected for each bit)
PB3:
Output pin for PWM
PB2: INT2, External Interrupt Source 2
PB1: T1, Timer/Counter1 Counter Source
PB0: T0, Timer/Counter0 Counter Source
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 PD7: OC2, Output pin for PWM mode timer function

(Generated by timer 2)
PD5: OC1A,Output pin for PWM mode timer
function
(Generated by timer 1)
PD4: OC1B,Output pin for PWM mode timer
function
(Generated by timer 1)
PD3: INT1, External Interrupt Source 1
PD2: INT0, External Interrupt Source 0
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 XTAL1:

External Crystal is connected

XTAL2:
AVCC: It is the supply voltage pin for Port A and the
A/D Converter. If the ADC is used, it should be
connected to VCC through a lowpass filter.

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Pin Description
Following pins are used for programming of AVR
MOSI, PB5
MISO, PB6
SCK, PB7
RESET
AREF
Care should be taken while using these pins for different
purposes
If these pins are used as an input and are connected to
some sensor or a switch and while programming these are
being pulled low or high controller will not be programmed
So if these pins are being used for some purpose and are
connected to some sensor/switch it should be disconnected
while programming
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I/O Ports

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I/O Ports
There are three registers associated with each port

DDRx (Data direction Register )

PORTx (PORTA for portA, PORTD for portD)

PINx (Port Input Pins )

These registers have individual bits assigned to
each pin of the port
For Example:
Bit DDA1 of Register DDRA is associated with the
direction of pin 1 of port A
Similarly bit PORTB6 is associated with the pin 6 of
port B.
More Details on Page 48 of Datasheet

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Port A Data Register PORTA

Port A Data Direction Register DDRA

Port A Input Pins Address PINA

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 Configuring the pin of a port

Each port pin consists of three register bits
DDxn
PORTxn
PINxn

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 DDxn: The DDxn bit in the DDRx Register selects the

direction of this pin.
If DDxn is written logic one, Pxn is configured as an
output piin.
If DDxn is written logic zero, Pxn is configured as an
input piin.

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Configuring the I/O Ports (PORTxn)

PORTxn:
If a pin is configured as output then
If we write logic one, the pin is set high(one)
If we write logic zero, the pin is set low(zero)

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Configuring the I/O Ports

(PINxn)
PINx:
Independent of the setting of Data Direction bit
DDxn,
The port pin can be read through the PINxn Register
bit. So while using it as input read PINxn Register bit
to get the input
DDRA=0x00
PORTA=0x30
x=PINA

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DDRx(Data Direction Register) is first given the

appropriate value to set the different pins of the port
input or output
Example: DDRA=0b00001111 now this means that first
four pins of port A are input configured and last four bits
are output configured
PORTx Register is used to output the desired data on
the port
Example: PORTA=0b11000011 now first two pins of port A
which are input configured are pulled high where as the
last two pins of port A which are output configured give
output of logic one
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 when ever we have to read a port whether it is

input or output configured we read the PINx register
of that port
Example: x=PINA now what ever is the data at port
A it is stored in variable x

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Example 1
Take input from PORTA add it with 5 and send it as an
output on port D
void main()
{DDRA=0b00000000; //configures Port A as input
DDRD=0b11111111; //configures Port D as output
unsigned int x; //declare variable x
x=PINA; //reads and stores input at Port A in variable x
PORTD=x+5; //Multiply x with 5 and outputs it on Port D
}

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 Compilers produce Hex files that is loaded in the

microcontroller
Size of this Hex file is one of the main concern
for microcontroller programming because
microcontrollers have limited on-chip flash
Assemble language produces Hex file which are
much smaller than C, but programming in
Assembly is often tedious and time consuming
C programming is less time consuming and is
much easier to write but the Hex file produced is
much larger
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Programming in C
Following are the few main reason for
programming in C rather then in Assembly
It is easier and less time consuming
C is easier to modify and update
You can use codes available in function libraries
C code is portable to other microcontrollers with
little or no modifications

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C data type for AVR C in

AVR GCC

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C language Statements

Following are the statements which are most

commonly used while microcontroller
programming in C
For loop
While loop
Do/while
If/else statements
Switch statement

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 Write a program which outputs AA (binary

10101010) on the port B

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 Write a program which outputs AA (binary

10101010) on the port B
#include<avr/io.h> //standard AVR header
int main(void)
{
DDRB=0xFF; //Setting Port B as output
PORTB=0xAA;
}

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Example
Write a AVR program to get a byte of data
from Port B, and then send it to Port C.

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 Write an AVR program to get a byte of data from

Port C. If it is less then 100 send it to port B otherwise,
send it to Port D

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 Write an AVR program to get a byte of data from

Port C. If it is less then 100 send it to port B otherwise,
send it to Port D

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Bit wise operators in C

Following are the bit wise operator in C which
are widely used for embedded systems programming
AND(&)
OR(|)
EX-OR(^)
Inverter(~)
Shift right(>>)
Shift left(<<)

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 AND(&)
It should not be confused with the logical
AND(&&) operator
0x35 & 0x0F = 0x05
00110101 & 00001111=00000101
OR(|)
It should not be confused with logical OR(||)
operator
0x04 | 0x68=0x6C
00000100 | 1101000=1101100
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 XOR(^)
0x54 ^ 0x78 = 0x2C
1010100 ^ 1111000 = 0101100
Inverter(~)
~0x55 = 0xAA
~01010101 = 10101010

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Reading or writing a bit in a

Register
Consider 8-bit variable x and y
In order to send 0 to a bit 7 of register x we
use bit wise AND (&) operator
x=x&0b01111111;
In order to send 1 to a bit 7 of register x we
use bit wise OR (|) operator
x=x|0b10000000;
If we want to read only bit 7 of variable x in
another variable y we use bit wise AND (&)
operator
y=x&0b10000000;
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 A door sensor is connected to the bit 1 of Port B,

and an LED is connected to bit 7 of Port C. Write an
AVR program to monitor the door sensor and, when
it opens, turns on the LED

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Bit wise operator on C

(Shift operator)
Shift right
Symbol >>
Format of Shift Operator
data>>number of bit to be shifted
Example
0b00100000 >> 3 = 0b00000100
Shift left
Symbol <<
Format of Shift Operator
data<<number of bit to be shifted
Example
0b00010000 << 3 = 0b10000000
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 Take input from the first four bits of Port A and

output it to last four bits of Port A

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#include<avr/io.h>
unsigned char x;
int main(void)
{
DDRA=0b11110000
while(1)
{
x=PINA&0b00001111;
x= x<<4;
PORTA=x&11110000;
}
}
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 It was just basic intro about Microcontroller .. If you

want to learn it in detail we recommend you to
study from AVR Microcontroller by Mazidi . (you can
take this book from me in soft ) for more help
contact SIEP

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