EMBEDDED SYSTEM’S MAJOR TRAINING MODULE INFORMATION

 Introduction to Embedded Systems

 Basic Electronics Review

PRACTICAL SESSIONS

 Practical-1:
 Making Series and Parallel Connections on breadboard and
 Use of Multimeter (Voltmeter, Ammeter, Ohmmeter, Continuity
checker etc.)
 Practical-2:
 Studying the Properties and Characteristics of a DIODE
 Introduction To LEDs and related information
 Practical-3:
 Using NPN & PNP Transistor as a SWITCH for LED and Measuring β of
the Transistor
 Skin Sensor using Darlington Pair
 Practical-4:
 Making an LDR Sensor circuit using LM324
 Introduction to Microcontroller (ATMEGA 8L)
 Practical-5:
 Understanding Use of INPUT and OUTPUT ports of ATMEGA-8L
through simple LED Blinking Patterns
 Practical-6:
 Displaying Numbers and Characters Using a SEVEN SEGMENT DISPLAY
 Practical-7:
 Interfacing LCD with ATMEGA-8L
7.1. Display your Name and Roll. No.
7.2. Display Blinking Characters
7.3. Display 0-100 & 100-0 Sequentially with Different i/p
 Practical-8:
 Interfacing 4x3 Keypad with Microcontroller and Displaying it on LCD
 Practical-9:
 PCB Wizard Tutorial (Designing Sensor Module Circuit)
 Practical-10:
 Use of ADC in ATMEGA-8L
10.1 Read and Display Analog Voltage
10.2 Make a Sensor Circuit using ADC
10.3 Read Two Different Voltage Levels and Display which
is greater
10.4 Making Temperature Sensor Using LM35
 Practical-11:
 Transmitting & Receiving Message using USART Feature of 8L
 Practical-12:
  Interrupt Service Routines of ATMEGA 8L
 PROJECT IMPLEMENTATION THROUGH MICROCONTROLLER

INTRODUCTION TO EMBEDDED SYSTEMS

In the day-to-day life we come across a wide variety of consumer electronic

products. We are habituated to use them easily and flawlessly to our advantage. Common
examples are TV Remote Controllers, Mobile Phones, FAX machines, Xerox machines etc.
 However, we seldom ponder over the technology behind each of them. Each of these
devices does have one or more programmable devices waiting to interact with the
environment as effectively as possible. These are a class of “embedded systems” and they
provide service in real time i.e. we need not have to wait too long for the action.

Embedded systems contain processing cores that are typically either microcontrollers
or digital signal processors (DSP). The key characteristic, however, is being dedicated to
handle a particular task. They may require very powerful processors and extensive
communication, for example air traffic control systems may usefully be viewed as
embedded, even though they involve mainframe computers and dedicated regional and
national networks between airports and radar sites (each of the radar probably includes one
or more embedded systems of its own).

Since the embedded system is dedicated to specific tasks, design engineers can
optimize it to reduce the size and cost of the product and increase the reliability and
performance. Some embedded systems are mass-produced, benefiting from economies of
scale.

Physically, embedded systems range from portable devices such as digital watches
and MP3 players, to large stationary installations like traffic lights, factory controllers, or the
systems controlling nuclear power plants. Complexity varies from low, with a single
microcontroller chip, to very high with multiple units, peripherals and networks mounted
inside a large chassis or enclosure.

In general, "embedded system" is not a strictly definable term, as most systems have
some element of extensibility or programmability. For example, handheld computers share
some elements with embedded systems such as the operating systems and microprocessors
that power them, but they allow different applications to be loaded and peripherals to be
connected. Moreover, even systems that do not expose programmability as a primary
feature generally need to support software updates. On a continuum from "general
purpose" to "embedded", large application systems will have subcomponents at most points
even if the system as a whole is "designed to perform one or a few dedicated functions",
and is thus appropriate to call "embedded".

Embedded systems are computers which are part of special-purpose devices. Due to
the limited duties this systems can be highly optimized to the particular needs. Traditionally
most of these systems are used for control and process measurement, as a side-effect of
higher integration of integrated circuits more complex applications can be solved by
embedded systems. To be able to solve these problems embedded systems are commonly
equipped with various kinds of peripherals.

Nowadays embedded systems can be found in devices from digital watches to traffic-
control systems. The broad range of applications with totally different requirements leads to
various implementation approaches. The range of hardware used in embedded systems
reaches from FPGAs to full blown desktop CPUs which are accompanied by special purpose
ICs such as DSPs. On the software side, depending on the needs, everything, from logic fully
implemented in hardware, to systems with own operating system and different applications
running on it, can be found.

Standard General Purpose Processors

Standard general purpose processors (SGPP) are carefully designed and offer a
maximum of flexibility to the designer. Programming SGPPs can be done in nearly every
high-level language or assembly language and requires very little knowledge of the system
architecture.

As SGPPs are manufactured to high numbers, NRE is spread upon many units.
Nevertheless SGPPs are more expensive than other solutions like FPGAs or single purpose
processors, when used in products with a large number of selling units.

As they are produced to work in a broad range of environments they are not
designed to be energy efficient nor high-performance for specific applications. Examples for
standard general purpose processors are:

 Motorola ARM
 Atmel AVR
 Microchip PIC
 Intel Pentium-(I/II/III/IV)-Series
 AMD Athlon (or other)
 VIA EDEN
Programming Embedded Systems

Unlike personal computers, embedded systems usually aren’t programmed on the

platform the program is intended to run. This requires special tool chains with cross-
compilers and emulators to test the code before deploying it to the target platform.
Depending on the applications needs, there are different approaches to implement the
software.
One possibility is to directly control the hardware out of the program. This is the
approach with the highest performance, but requires more knowledge about the used
architecture and peripherals than using an operating system. On the other hand operating
systems provide functionalities for multiprocessing and allow the designer to develop mostly
independent from the underlying architecture.

BASIC ELECTRONICS REVIEW

The main components being used in the Training schedule includes:

 1) Diodes
2) LEDs
3) POTS
4) Transistors (NPN & PNP)
5) LDR (Light Dependent Resistors)
6) LM35 Temperature and
7) Resistors & Capacitors.

1) DIODES

In electronics, a diode is a type of two-terminal electronic component with a nonlinear

current–voltage characteristic. A semiconductor diode, the most common type today, is a
crystalline piece of semiconductor material connected to two electrical terminals.[1] A
vacuum tube diode (now rarely used except in some high-power technologies) is a vacuum
tube with two electrodes: a plate and a cathode.

The most common function of a diode is to allow an electric current to pass in one
direction (called the diode's forward direction), while blocking current in the opposite
direction (the reverse direction). Thus, the diode can be thought of as an electronic version
of a check valve. This unidirectional behavior is called rectification, and is used to convert
alternating current to direct current, and to extract modulation from radio signals in radio
receivers.

However, diodes can have more complicated behavior than this simple on–off action.
Semiconductor diodes do not begin conducting electricity until a certain threshold voltage is
present in the forward direction (a state in which the diode is said to be forward biased). The
voltage drop across a forward biased diode varies only a little with the current, and is a
function of temperature; this effect can be used as a temperature sensor or voltage
reference.

Semiconductor diodes have nonlinear electrical characteristics, which can be tailored by

varying the construction of their P–N junction. These are exploited in special purpose diodes
that perform many different functions.

For example, diodes are used to regulate voltage (Zener diodes), to protect circuits from
high voltage surges (Avalanche diodes), to electronically tune radio and TV receivers
(varactor diodes), to generate radio frequency oscillations (tunnel diodes, Gunn diodes,
IMPATT diodes), and to produce light (light emitting diodes). Tunnel diodes exhibit negative
resistance, which makes them useful in some types of circuits.

VOLTAGE-CURRENT CHARACTERISTICS OF A DIODE CURVE

SYMBOL REPRESENTATION
 2) LIGHT EMITTING DIODES (LEDs)

Light emitting diodes, commonly called LEDs, are real unsung heroes in the
electronics world. They do dozens of different jobs and are found in all kinds of devices.
Among other things, they form numbers on digital clocks, transmit information from remote
controls, light up watches and tell you when your appliances are turned on.

Basically, LEDs are just tiny light bulbs that fit easily into an electrical circuit. But
unlike ordinary incandescent bulbs, they don't have a filament that will burn out, and they
don't get especially hot. They are illuminated solely by the movement of electrons in a
semiconductor material, and they last just as long as a standard transistor. The lifespan of an
LED surpasses the short life of an incandescent bulb by thousands of hours. Tiny LEDs are
already replacing the tubes that light up LCD HDTVs to make dramatically thinner televisions.

Light is a form of energy that can be released by an atom. It is made up of many

small particle-like packets that have energy and momentum but no mass. These particles,
called photons, are the most basic units of light.

Photons are released as a result of moving electrons. In an atom, electrons move in

orbitals around the nucleus. Electrons in different orbitals have different amounts of energy.
Generally speaking, electrons with greater energy move in orbitals farther away from the
nucleus.

For an electron to jump from a lower orbital to a higher orbital, something has to
boost its energy level. Conversely, an electron releases energy when it drops from a higher
orbital to a lower one. This energy is released in the form of a photon. A greater energy drop
releases a higher-energy photon, which is characterized by a higher frequency.

LED CONSTRUCTION AND SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATION

 Visible light-emitting diodes (VLEDs), such as the ones that light up numbers in a
digital clock, are made of materials characterized by a wider gap between the conduction
band and the lower orbitals. The size of the gap determines the frequency of the photon --
in other words, it determines the color of the light. While LEDs are used in everything from
remote controls to the digital displays on electronics, visible LEDs are growing in popularity
and use thanks to their long lifetimes and miniature size. Depending on the materials used
in LEDs, they can be built to shine in infrared, ultraviolet, and all the colors of the visible
spectrum in between.

GRAPH FOR LED LIGHT INTENSITY

3) POTENTIOMETERS

A potentiometer informally, a pot, is a three-terminal resistor with a sliding contact

that forms an adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used (one side and the
wiper), it acts as a variable resistor or rheostat. Potentiometers are commonly used to
control electrical devices such as volume controls on audio equipment. Potentiometers
operated by a mechanism can be used as position transducers, for example, in a joystick.

Potentiometers are rarely used to directly control significant power (more than a
watt), since the power dissipated in the potentiometer would be comparable to the power
in the controlled load. Instead they are used to adjust the level of analog signals (e.g.
volume controls on audio equipment), and as control inputs for electronic circuits. For
example, a light dimmer uses a potentiometer to control the switching of a TRIAC and so
indirectly control the brightness of lamps.

A potentiometer is constructed with a resistive element formed into an arc of a

circle, and a sliding contact (wiper) travelling over that arc. The resistive element, with a
terminal at one or both ends, is flat or angled, and is commonly made of graphite, although
other materials may be used. The wiper is connected through another sliding contact to
another terminal.
 On panel potentiometers, the wiper is usually the center terminal of three. For
single-turn potentiometers, this wiper typically travels just under one revolution around the
contact. "Multiturn" potentiometers also exist, where the resistor element may be helical
and the wiper may move 10, 20, or more complete revolutions, though multiturn
potentiometers are usually constructed of a conventional resistive element wiped via a
worm gear. Besides graphite, materials used to make the resistive element include
resistance wire, carbon particles in plastic, and a ceramic/metal mixture called cermet.

One form of rotary potentiometer is called a String potentiometer. It is a multi-turn

potentiometer operated by an attached reel of wire turning against a spring. It is used as a
position transducer.

In a linear slider potentiometer, a sliding control is provided instead of a dial control.

The resistive element is a rectangular strip, not semi-circular as in a rotary potentiometer.
Due to the large opening slot or the wiper, this type of potentiometer has a greater potential
for getting contaminated.

CONSTRUCTION OF A POTENTIOMETER

Potentiometers can be obtained with either linear or logarithmic relations between

the slider position and the resistance (potentiometer laws or "tapers"). A letter code ("A"
taper, "B" taper, etc.) may be used to identify which taper is intended, but the letter code
definitions are variable over time and between manufacturers.
 Manufacturers of conductive track potentiometers use conductive polymer resistor
pastes that contain hard wearing resins and polymers, solvents, lubricant and carbon – the
constituent that provides the conductive/resistive properties. The tracks are made by screen
printing the paste onto a paper based phenolic substrate and then curing it in an oven. The
curing process removes all solvents and allows the conductive polymer to polymerize and
cross link. This produces a durable track with stable electrical resistance throughout its
working life

4) BIPOLAR JUNCTION TRANSISTOR (BJTs)

A bipolar (junction) transistor (BJT) is a three-terminal electronic device constructed

of doped semiconductor material and may be used in amplifying or switching applications.

Bipolar transistors are so named because their operation involves both electrons and
holes. Charge flow in a BJT is due to bidirectional diffusion of charge carriers across a
junction between two regions of different charge concentrations. This mode of operation is
contrasted with unipolar transistors, such as field-effect transistors, in which only one carrier
type is involved in charge flow due to drift.

By design, most of the BJT collector current is due to the flow of charges injected
from a high-concentration emitter into the base where they are minority carriers that diffuse
toward the collector, and so BJTs are classified as minority-carrier devices.

An NPN transistor can be considered as two diodes with a shared anode. In typical
operation, the base-emitter junction is forward biased and the base–collector junction is
reverse biased. In an NPN transistor, for example, when a positive voltage is applied to the
base–emitter junction, the equilibrium between thermally generated carriers and the
repelling electric field of the depletion region becomes unbalanced, allowing thermally
excited electrons to inject into the base region. These electrons wander (or "diffuse")
through the base from the region of high concentration near the emitter towards the region
of low concentration near the collector. The electrons in the base are called minority carriers
because the base is doped p-type which would make holes the majority carrier in the base.

To minimize the percentage of carriers that recombine before reaching the collector–
base junction, the transistor's base region must be thin enough that carriers can diffuse
across it in much less time than the semiconductor's minority carrier lifetime. In particular,
the thickness of the base must be much less than the diffusion length of the electrons. The
collector–base junction is reverse-biased, and so little electron injection occurs from the
collector to the base, but electrons that diffuse through the base towards the collector are
swept into the collector by the electric field in the depletion region of the collector–base
junction. The thin shared base and asymmetric collector–emitter doping is what
differentiates a bipolar transistor from two separate and oppositely biased diodes connected
in series.

Voltage, current, and charge control

The collector–emitter current can be viewed as being controlled by the base–emitter current
(current control), or by the base–emitter voltage (voltage control). These views are related
by the current–voltage relation of the base–emitter junction, which is just the usual
exponential current–voltage curve of a p-n junction (diode).

The physical explanation for collector current is the amount of minority-carrier

charge in the base region. Detailed models of transistor action, such as the Gummel–Poon
model, account for the distribution of this charge explicitly to explain transistor behavior
more exactly. The charge-control view easily handles phototransistors, where minority
carriers in the base region are created by the absorption of photons, and handles the
dynamics of turn-off, or recovery time, which depends on charge in the base region
recombining. However, because base charge is not a signal that is visible at the terminals,
the current- and voltage-control views are generally used in circuit design and analysis.

In analog circuit design, the current-control view is sometimes used because it is

approximately linear. That is, the collector current is approximately βF times the base
current. Some basic circuits can be designed by assuming that the emitter–base voltage is
approximately constant, and that collector current is beta times the base current.

However, to accurately and reliably design production BJT circuits, the voltage-
control (for example, Ebers–Moll) model is required. The voltage-control model requires an
exponential function to be taken into account, but when it is linearized such that the
transistor can be modelled as a trans-conductance, as in the Ebers–Moll model, design for
circuits such as differential amplifiers again becomes a mostly linear problem, so the
voltage-control view is often preferred.

For translinear circuits, in which the exponential I–V curve is key to the operation,
the transistors are usually modelled as voltage controlled with transconductance
proportional to collector current. In general, transistor level circuit design is performed using
SPICE or a comparable analog circuit simulator, so model complexity is usually not of much
concern to the designer.

Turn-on, turn-off, and storage delay

The Bipolar transistor exhibits a few delay characteristics when turning on and off. Most
transistors especially power transistors, exhibit long base-storage times that limit maximum
frequency of operation in switching applications. One method for reducing this storage time
is by using a Baker clamp.

TRANSISTOR SYMBOLS

5) LIGHT DEPENDENT RESISTORS

LDRs or Light Dependent Resistors are very useful especially in light/dark sensor
circuits. Normally the resistance of an LDR is very high, sometimes as high as 1000 000
ohms, but when they are illuminated with light resistance drops dramatically.

A photoresistor or light dependent resistor (LDR) is a resistor whose resistance

decreases with increasing incident light intensity. It can also be referred to as a
photoconductor or CdS device, from "cadmium sulfide," which is the material from which
the device is made and that actually exhibits the variation in resistance with light level. Note
that CdS is not a semiconductor in the usual sense of the word (not doped silicon).

A photoresistor is made of a high resistance semiconductor. If light falling on the

device is of high enough frequency, photons absorbed by the semiconductor give bound
electrons enough energy to jump into the conduction band. The resulting free electron (and
its hole partner) conduct electricity, thereby lowering resistance.

A photoelectric device can be either intrinsic or extrinsic. An intrinsic semiconductor

has its own charge carriers and is not an efficient semiconductor, e.g. silicon. In intrinsic
devices the only available electrons are in the valence band, and hence the photon must
have enough energy to excite the electron across the entire bandgap. Extrinsic devices have
impurities, also called dopants, added whose ground state energy is closer to the conduction
band; since the electrons do not have as far to jump, lower energy photons (i.e., longer
wavelengths and lower frequencies) are sufficient to trigger the device. If a sample of silicon
has some of its atoms replaced by phosphorus atoms (impurities), there will be extra
electrons available for conduction. This is an example of an extrinsic semiconductor.
Photoresistors are basically photocells.

LDR SYMBOL

6) TEMPERATURE SENSOR LM35

The LM35 series are precision integrated-circuit temperature sensors, whose output
voltage is linearly proportional to the Celsius (Centigrade) temperature.

The LM35 thus has an advantage over linear temperature sensors calibrated in °Kelvin,
as the user is not required to subtract a large constant voltage from its output to obtain
convenient Centigrade scaling.

The LM35 does not require any external calibration or trimming to provide typical
accuracies of ±1⁄4°C at room temperature and ±3⁄4°C over a full −55 to +150°C temperature
range.

Low cost is assured by trimming and calibration at the wafer level. The LM35’s low
output impedance, linear output, and precise inherent calibration make interfacing to
readout or control circuitry especially easy.

It can be used with single power supplies, or with plus and minus supplies. As it draws
only 60 μA from its supply, it has very low self-heating, less than 0.1°C in still air.

The LM35 is rated to operate over a −55° to +150°C temperature range, while the LM35C
is rated for a −40° to +110°C range (−10° with improved accuracy).

The LM35 series is available packaged in hermetic TO-46 transistor packages, while the
LM35C, LM35CA, and LM35D are also available in the plastic TO-92 transistor package. The
LM35D is also available in an 8-lead surface mount small outline package and a plastic TO-
220 package.

LM 35 PIN DESCRIPTION

Features

 Calibrated directly in ° Celsius (Centigrade)

 Linear + 10.0 mV/°C scale factor
 0.5°C accuracy guaranteeable (at +25°C)
 Rated for full −55° to +150°C range
 Suitable for remote applications
 Low cost due to wafer-level trimming
 Operates from 4 to 30 volts
 Less than 60 μA current drain
 Low self-heating, 0.08°C in still air
 Nonlinearity only ±1⁄4°C typical
 Low impedance output, 0.1 W for 1 mA load

INTRODUCTION TO MICROCONTROLLERS

1.1 WHAT IS A MICROCONTROLLER

 A microcontroller (sometimes abbreviated µC, uC or MCU) is a small computer on a
single integrated circuit containing a processor core, memory, and programmable
input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of NOR flash or OTP ROM is also
often included on chip, as well as a typically small amount of RAM. Microcontrollers are
designed for embedded applications, in contrast to the microprocessors used in personal
computers or other general purpose applications.

1.2 BASIC PERIPHERALS IN A MICROCONTROLLER

1. I/O ports.
2. Interfacing with LCD
3. Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC)
4. USART
5. Timers/Counters
6. Interrupts
7. I2C
8. SPI

1.3 USES OF MICROCONTROLLERS

Microcontrollers are used in automatically controlled products and devices, such as

automobile engine control systems, implantable medical devices, remote controls, office
machines, appliances, power tools, toys and other embedded systems. By reducing the size
and cost compared to a design that uses a separate microprocessor, memory, and
input/output devices, microcontrollers make it economical to digitally control even more
devices and processes. Mixed signal microcontrollers are common, integrating analog
components needed to control non-digital electronic systems.

1.4 ABOUT AVR ATMEGA 8L

a. I/O and Packages:

23 Programmable I/O Lines, 28-lead PDIP

b. Operating Voltages:

2.7V - 5.5V (ATmega8L)

4.5V - 5.5V (ATmega8)

c. Power Consumption:

At 4 MHz, 3V, 25°C:

Active: 3.6mA

Idle Mode: 1.0mA

 Power-down Mode: 0.5μA

1.5 PIN DIAGRAM

Features

 High-performance, Low-power Atmel®AVR® 8-bit Microcontroller

 Advanced RISC Architecture
 130 Powerful Instructions – Most Single-clock Cycle Execution
 32 × 8 General Purpose Working Registers
 Fully Static Operation
 Up to 16MIPS Throughput at 16MHz
 On-chip 2-cycle Multiplier
 High Endurance Non-volatile Memory segments
 8Kbytes of In-System Self-programmable Flash program memory
 512Bytes EEPROM
 1Kbyte Internal SRAM
 Write/Erase Cycles: 10,000 Flash/100,000 EEPROM
 Data retention: 20 years at 85°C/100 years at 25°C(1)
 Optional Boot Code Section with Independent Lock Bits
 In-System Programming by On-chip Boot Program
 True Read-While-Write Operation
 Programming Lock for Software Security
 Peripheral Features
 Two 8-bit Timer/Counters with Separate Prescaler, one Compare Mode
 One 16-bit Timer/Counter with Separate Prescaler, Compare Mode, and Capture
 Mode
 Real Time Counter with Separate Oscillator
 Three PWM Channels
 8-channel ADC in TQFP and QFN/MLF package
 Eight Channels 10-bit Accuracy
 6-channel ADC in PDIP package
 Six Channels 10-bit Accuracy
 Byte-oriented Two-wire Serial Interface
 Programmable Serial USART
 Master/Slave SPI Serial Interface
 Programmable Watchdog Timer with Separate On-chip Oscillator
 On-chip Analog Comparator
 Special Microcontroller Features
 Power-on Reset and Programmable Brown-out Detection
 Internal Calibrated RC Oscillator
 External and Internal Interrupt Sources
 Five Sleep Modes: Idle, ADC Noise Reduction, Power-save, Power-down and
Standby
 I/O and Packages
 23 Programmable I/O Lines
 28-lead PDIP, 32-lead TQFP, and 32-pad QFN/MLF
 Operating Voltages
 2.7V - 5.5V (ATmega8L)
 4.5V - 5.5V (ATmega8)
 Speed Grades
 0 - 8MHz (ATmega8L)
 0 - 16MHz (ATmega8)
 Power Consumption at 4Mhz, 3V, 25°C
 Active: 3.6mA
 Idle Mode: 1.0mA
 Power-down Mode: 0.5μA
BLOCK DIAGRAM
 The Atmel®AVR® core combines a rich instruction set with 32 general purpose working
registers. All the 32 registers are directly connected to the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), allowing
two independent registers to be accessed in one single instruction executed in one clock cycle.
The resulting architecture is more code efficient while achieving throughputs up to ten times
faster than conventional CISC microcontrollers.

The ATmega8 provides the following features:

 8 Kbytes of In-System Programmable Flash with Read-While-Write capabilities

 512 bytes of EEPROM
 1 Kbyte of SRAM
 23 general purpose I/O lines
 32 general purpose working registers
 three flexible Timer/Counters with compare modes
 internal and external interrupts
 a serial programmable USART
 a byte oriented Twowire Serial Interface
 a 6-channel ADC (eight channels in TQFP and QFN/MLF packages) with 10-bit accuracy
 a programmable Watchdog Timer with Internal Oscillator
 an SPI serial port

& five software selectable power saving modes.

1) The Idle mode stops the CPU while allowing the SRAM, Timer/Counters, SPI port, and
interrupt system to continue functioning.
2) The Powerdown mode saves the register contents but freezes the Oscillator, disabling all
other chip functions until the next Interrupt or Hardware Reset.
3) In Power-save mode, the asynchronous timer continues to run, allowing the user to
maintain a timer base while the rest of the device is sleeping.
4) The ADC Noise Reduction mode stops the CPU and all I/O modules except asynchronous
timer and ADC, to minimize switching noise during ADC conversions.
5) In Standby mode, the crystal/resonator Oscillator is running while the rest of the device
is sleeping.

The device is manufactured using Atmel’s high density non-volatile memory technology.
The Flash Program memory can be reprogrammed In-System through an SPI serial interface,
by a conventional non-volatile memory programmer, or by an On-chip boot program running
on the AVR core.

The boot program can use any interface to download the application program in the
Application Flash memory. Software in the Boot Flash Section will continue to run while the
Application Flash Section is updated, providing true Read-While-Write operation.

By combining an 8-bit RISC CPU with In-System Self-Programmable Flash on a monolithic

chip, the Atmel ATmega8 is a powerful microcontroller that provides a highly-flexible and
cost-effective solution to many embedded control applications.
 The ATmega8 is supported with a full suite of program and system development tools,
including C compilers, macro assemblers, program debugger/simulators, In-Circuit
Emulators, and evaluation kits.

Pin Descriptions

VCC Digital supply voltage.

GND Ground.

Port B (PB7...PB0)

XTAL1/XTAL2/TOSC1/

TOSC2

Port B is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for
each bit). The Port B output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high
sink and source capability. As inputs, Port B pins that are externally pulled low will source
current if the pull-up resistors are activated.

The Port B pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the
clock is not running. Depending on the clock selection fuse settings, PB6 can be used as
input to the inverting Oscillator amplifier and input to the internal clock operating circuit.
Depending on the clock selection fuse settings, PB7 can be used as output from the inverting
Oscillator amplifier.

If the Internal Calibrated RC Oscillator is used as chip clock source, PB7..6 is used as
TOSC2..1 input for the Asynchronous Timer/Counter2 if the AS2 bit in ASSR is set. The
various special features of Port B are elaborated in “Alternate Functions of Port B” on page
58 and “System Clock and Clock Options” on page 25.

Port C (PC5..PC0) Port C is an 7-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up
resistors (selected for each bit). The Port C output buffers have symmetrical drive
characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port C pins that are
externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors are activated.

The Port C pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the
clock is not running. PC6/RESET If the RSTDISBL Fuse is programmed, PC6 is used as an I/O
pin. Note that the electrical characteristics of PC6 differ from those of the other pins of Port
C.If the RSTDISBL Fuse is unprogrammed, PC6 is used as a Reset input.
 A low level on this pin for longer than the minimum pulse length will generate a
Reset, even if the clock is not running. The minimum pulse length is given in Table 15 on
page 38. Shorter pulses are not guaranteed to generate a Reset. The various special features
of PORTC are elaborated on page 61.

Port D (PD7...PD0) Port D is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up
resistors (selected for each bit). The Port D output buffers have symmetrical drive
characteristics with both high sink and source capability. As inputs, Port D pins that are
externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up resistors are activated. The Port D pins
are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active, even if the clock is not running. Port D
also serves the functions of various special features of the ATmega8 as listed on page 63.

RESET Reset input. A low level on this pin for longer than the minimum pulse length
will generate a reset, even if the clock is not running. The minimum pulse length is given in
Table 15 on page 38. Shorter pulses are not guaranteed to generate a reset.

AVCC AVCC is the supply voltage pin for the A/D Converter, Port C (3..0), and ADC
(7..6). It should be externally connected to VCC, even if the ADC is not used. If the ADC is
used, it should be connected to VCC through a low-pass filter. Note that Port C (5..4) use
digital supply voltage, VCC.

AREF AREF is the analog reference pin for the A/D Converter. ADC7..6 (TQFP and
QFN/MLF Package Only) In the TQFP and QFN/MLF package, ADC7..6 serve as analog inputs
to the A/D converter. These pins are powered from the analog supply and serve as 10-bit
ADC channels.
 7805(VOLTAGE REGULATOR)

Description:
The KA78XX/KA78XXA series of three-terminal positive regulator are available in the TO-
220/D-PAK package and with several fixed output voltages, making them useful in a wide
range of applications. Each type employs internal current limiting, thermal shut down and
safe operating area protection, making it essentially indestructible. If adequate heat sinking
is provided, they can deliver over 1A output current. Although designed primarily as fixed
voltage regulators, these devices can be used with external components to obtain adjustable
voltages and currents.
Features
• Output Current up to 1A
• Output Voltages of 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12, 15, 18, 24V
• Thermal Overload Protection
• Short Circuit Protection
• Output Transistor Safe Operating Area Protection
 LM324 (Op-Amp)

The LM324 consist of four independent, high-gain operational amplifiers on a single

monolithic substrate. An on-chip capacitor in each of the amplifiers provides frequency
compensation for unity gain. These devices are designed specially to operate from either
single or dual supplies, and the differential voltage range is equal to the power-supply
voltage. Low power drain and an input common-mode voltage range from 0V to V+ -1.5V
(single-supply operation) make these devices suitable for battery operation.

Features
• Operation from Single or Dual Supplies
• Unity-Gain Bandwidth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1MHz (Typ)
• DC Voltage Gain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100dB (Typ)
• Input Bias Current . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45nA (Typ)
• Input Offset Voltage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2mV (Typ)
• Input Offset Current
- CA224, CA324, LM324, LM2902 . . . . . . . . . . 5nA (Typ)
- CA124. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3nA(Typ)
• Replacement for Industry Types 124, 224, 324

Applications

• Summing Amplifiers
• Multivibrators
• Oscillators
• Transducer Amplifiers
• DC Gain Blocks
Pin Diagram:
 LCD (16 x 2 Character)

A liquid crystal display (LCD) is a flat panel display, electronic visual display, video display
that uses the light modulating properties of liquid crystals (LCs). LCs do not emit light
directly.

They are used in a wide range of applications, including computer monitors, television,
instrument panels, aircraft cockpit displays, signage, etc. They are common in consumer
devices such as video players, gaming devices, clocks, watches, calculators, and telephones.
LCDs have replaced cathode ray tube (CRT) displays in most applications. They are available
in a wider range of screen sizes than CRT and plasma displays, and since they do not use
phosphors, they cannot suffer image burn-in.

LCDs are more energy efficient and offer safer disposal than CRTs. Its low electrical power
consumption enables it to be used in battery-powered electronic equipment. It is an
electronically modulated optical device made up of any number of segments filled with
liquid crystals and arrayed in front of a light source (backlight) or reflector to produce images
in color or monochrome. The most flexible ones use an array of small pixels.

FEATURES

• 5 x 8 dots with cursor

• Built-in controller (KS 0066 or Equivalent)
• + 5V power supply (Also available for + 3V)
• 1/16 duty cycle
• B/L to be driven by pin 1, pin 2 or pin 15, pin 16 or A.K (LED)
• N.V. optional for + 3V power supply
PIN DESCRIPTION:

4X3 Matrix keypad

A matrix keypad is a combination of conducting rows and column. The combination

of these rows and columns is generated by the number present at their intersection and
thus indicates the microcontroller to read data accordingly.
ADC

ATmega8 has an inbuilt 10 bit, 8-channel ADC system. Some of the basic features of
Armega8 ADC are:

· 8 Channels.
· 10-bit Resolution.
· Input voltage range of 0 to Vcc.
· Selectable 2.56V of internal Reference voltage source.
· AREF pin for External Reference voltage.
· ADC Conversion Complete Interrupt.

ADC channels in Atmega8 are multiplexed with PORTA and use the common pins (pin33 to
pin40) with PORTA. ADC system of Atmega8 microcontroller consists of following pins:

i. ADC0-ADC7: 8 Channels from Pin 40 to Pin 33 of Atmega8 ADC peripheral.

ii. AREF: Pin32 of Atmega8 microcontroller, the voltage on AREF pin acts as the
reference voltage for ADC conversion, reference voltage is always less than or equal to the
supply voltage, i.e., Vcc.

iii. AVCC: Pin30, this pin is the supply voltage pin for using PORTA and the ADC;
AVCC pin must be connected to Vcc (microcontroller supply voltage) to use PORTA and ADC.

Note: External reference voltage source can be used at AREF pin. However, Atmega8
also has internal reference voltage options of 2.56V and Vref = Vcc.

ADC Registers

To use the ADC peripheral of Atmega16, certain registers need to be configured.

i. ADMUX (ADC Multiplexer and Selection Register)
REFS [0:1] bits determine the source of reference voltage whether it is internal or the

external voltage source connected to AREF pin. MUX [4:0] bits are used to select between

the channels which will provide data to ADC for conversion. ADLAR bit when set to 1 gives

the left adjusted result in data registers ADCH and ADCL.

ii. ADCSRA (ADC Control and Status Register)

ADEN: ADC Enable bit, this bit must be set to 1 for turning ADC on.
ADSC: ADC Start Conversion bit, this bit is set to 1 to start ADC conversion, as soon as
conversion is completed this bit is set back to 0 by the hardware.
ADATE: ADC Auto Trigger Enable, this bit is set to 1 to enable auto triggering of ADC
conversion.
ADIF: ADC Interrupt Flag, this bit is set to 1 when ADC conversion gets complete.
ADIE: ADC Interrupt Enable, this bit is set to 1 if we want to activate the ADC conversion
complete interrupt.
ADPS[0:2]: ADC Prescaler bits, these bits are used to set the ADC clock frequency, the
configuration of these bits determine the division factor by which the microcontroller clock
frequency is divided to get the ADC clock frequency. The figure above shows the Prescaler
bit values for respective division factor.
The ADC clock frequency must lie somewhere between 50 KHz to 200 KHz.

iii. ADCH & ADCL (ADC Data Registers)

When the ADC conversion is complete the data is stored in these two registers. The
data configuration depends on the ADLAR bit value of ADMUX register. If ADLAR=0, data is
right adjusted and if ADLAR=1, data is left adjusted. Always read ADCL first and then ADCH.
In cases where the 8-bit precision is enough set the ADLAR bit to 1 to left adjust the data
and read only the ADCH data register.

When ADLAR = 0,

When ADLAR = 1,

Circuit description
Connect the circuit as shown in the circuit diagram. A ceramic capacitor 104 is connected in
between AVcc (pin 30) and Aref (pin 32). AVcc (pin 30) is connected to external supply +5V.

Step1: To initialize ADC

i. Set the value in ADMUX register according to the ADC channel and the
reference voltage.
ii. Set the Prescaler bits accordingly in ADCSRA register.
iii. Set the ADEN bit to enable the ADC.

Step2: To read the analog value

i. Put the channel value in ADMUX

ii. Start the conversion by setting the ADSC bit.

iii. Monitor the ADIF bit for conversion complete.

iv. Clear the conversion bit ADIF. By writing it 1.

v. Digital converted result is now available in ADCH and ADCL registers.

 Serial communication (Data receive) using AVR Microcontroller (ATmega8) USART

There are two methods for serial data communication (i) Synchronous and (ii)
Asynchronous communication. In Synchronous communication method complete block
(characters) is sent at a time. It doesn’t require any additional bits (start, stop or parity) to
be added for the synchronization of frame. The devices are synchronized by clock. And in
asynchronous communication data transmission is done byte by byte i.e., one byte at a time.
The additional bits are added to complete a frame.

In synchronous communication the frame consists of data bits while in asynchronous

communication the total number of bits in a frame may be more than the data bits.

There are three ways in which serial communication can be done

i. Simplex: Transmission is done in one direction.

ii. Half duplex: Transmission can be done in both the direction but one side at a
time.

iii. Full duplex: Transmission can be done in both the direction simultaneously.
Atmega16 is equipped with three different kinds of serial communication peripheral

systems:

i. Serial USART
ii. SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface)
iii. TWI (Two wire Interface)

SERIAL USART (universal synchronous asynchronous receiver and transmission/ transmitter):

Serial USART provides full-duplex communication between the transmitter and

receiver. Atmega8 is equipped with independent hardware for serial USART communication.
Pin-14 (RXD) and Pin-15 (TXD) provide receive and transmit interface to the microcontroller.

Atmega8 USART provides asynchronous mode of communication and do not have a

dedicated clock line between the transmitting and receiving end. The synchronization is
achieved by properly setting the baud rate, start and stop bits in a transmission sequence.

Start bit and stop bit: These bits are use to synchronize the data frame. Start bit is one
single low bit and is always given at the starting of the frame, indicating the next bits are
data bits. Stop bit can be one or two high bits at the end of frame, indicating the completion
of frame.

Baud Rate: In simple words baud rate is the rate at which serial data is being transferred.
Atmega16 USART has following features:
· Different Baud Rates.
· Variable data size with options ranging from 5bits to 9bits.
· One or two stop bits.
· Hardware generated parity check.
· USART can be configured to operate in synchronous mode.
· Three separate interrupts for RX Complete, TX complete and TX data register empty.
 USART Registers

To use the USART of Atmega16, certain registers need to be configured.

UCSR: USART control and status register. It’s is basically divided into three parts UCSRA,
UCSRB and UCSRC. These registers are basically used to configure the USART.
UBRR: USART Baud Rate Registers. Basically use to set the baud rate of USART
UDR: USART data register

i. UCSRA: (USART Control and Status Register A)

RXC (USART Receive Complete): RXC flag is set to 1 if unread data exists in receive buffer,
and set to 0 if receive buffer is empty.
TXC (USART Transmit complete): TXC flag is set to 1 when data is completely transmitted to
Transmit shift register and no data is present in the buffer register UDR.
UDRE (USART Data Register Empty): This flag is set to logic 1 when the transmit buffer is
empty, indicating it is ready to receive new data. UDRE bit is cleared by writing to the UDR
register.

ii. UCSRB: (USART Control and Status Register B)

RXCIE: RX Complete Interrupt Enable,

When 1 -> RX complete interrupt is enabled.

When 0 -> RX complete interrupt is disabled.
TXCIE: TX Complete Interrupt Enable,
 When 1 -> TX complete interrupt is enabled
When 0-> TX complete interrupt is disabled
UDRIE: USART Data Register Empty Interrupt Enable,
When 1 -> UDRE flag interrupt is enabled.
When 0 -> UDRE flag interrupt is disabled.
RXEN: Receiver Enabled,
When 1 -> USART Receiver is enabled.
When 0 -> USART Receiver is disabled.
TXEN: Transmitter Enabled,
When 1 -> USART Transmitter is enabled.
When 0 -> USART Transmitter is disabled.

iii. UCSRC: (USART Control and Status Register C)

The transmitter and receiver are configured with the same data features as configured in
this register for proper data transmission.
URSEL: USART Register select. This bit must be set due to sharing of I/O location by UBRRH
and UCSRC
UMSEL: USART Mode Select,
When 1 -> Synchronous Operation
When 0 -> Asynchronous Operation
UPM[0:1]: USART Parity Mode, Parity mode selection bits.
USBS: USART Stop Select Bit,
When 0-> 1 Stop Bit
When 1 -> 2 Stop Bits
UCSZ[0:1]: The UCSZ[1:0] bits combined with the UCSZ2 bit in UCSRB sets size of data frame
i.e., the number of data bits. The table shows the bit combinations with respective character
size.

UCSZ1 UCSZ0 Character Size

0 0
0 0
0 1
0 1
1 0
1 0
1 1
1 1
0 5-bit
1 6-bit
0 7-bit
1 8-bit
0 Reserved
1 Reserved
0 Reserved
1 9-bit

iv. UDR: (USART Data Register)

The USART Data receive and data transmit buffer registers share the same address referred

as USART UDR register, when data is written to the register it is written in transmit data

buffer register (TXB). Received data is read from the Receive data buffer register (RXB).
 v. UBRRH & UBRRL (USART Baud Rate Registers)

The UBRRH register shares the same I/O address with the UCSRC register, The differentiation
is done on the basis of value of URSEL bit.
When URSEL=0; write operation is done on UBRRH register.
When URSEL=1; write operation is done on UCSRC register.

The UBRRH and UBRRL register together stores the 12-bit value of baud rate, UBRRH
contains the 4 most significant bits and UBRRL contains the other 8 least significant bits.
Baud rates of the transmitting and receiving bodies must match for successful
communication to take place.

UBRR register value is calculated by the following formula:

The Connection of MAX232 and ATmega8 is shown in the circuit diagram. The MAX232 is
used for level conversion. The reader can refer the component section for further details on
MAX 232.The T1IN (pin11) of Max232 is connected to Tx (pin15) of AVR and R1IN(pin12) is
connected to Rx(pin14) of AVR. The HyperTerminal software is used to send data to
microcontroller via COM port.
Step 1: First step is to select the Baud rate. Baud rate of two devices must match or else they
will not be able to synchronize with each other.
#define USART_BAUDRATE 9600

Step2: To set a particular Baud Rate in ATmega16, write the corresponding UDRR value. The
UDRR value is calculated by using the formula
#define BAUD_PRESCALE (((F_CPU / (USART_BAUDRATE * 16UL))) - 1)

Step3: To initialize the USART

i. Turn on transmission and reception circuitry.
ii. Select the number of stop bits.
iii. Set the size of data.
iv. Load the value of UBRR to set the baud rate.

Step4: Get the data from USART

Monitor the status of RXC (receiver complete) flag . RXC becomes high when it receives the
stop bit signal. So if RXC is high it means that the data is loaded into UDR register. Collect the
data from UDR or else it might get lost or overwritten with the next incoming data.

PCB ETCHING

The PCB layout is a mirrored positive one - black on white. Mirrored as viewed from the
silkscreen top (component) side. The PCB layout is printed 1:1 on paper by means of a laser
printer or copier machine. The laser printer or copier toner will not run out when it gets wet
or oily. The ink of an inkjet paper print does run out and inkjet printers are therefore useless
with the described method.

I have used several types of HP laser printers (LaserJet Series II, 5L, 4000 and
1100). These printers work fine. It might be possible that the toner texture on
the layout prints from your used laser printer is not dense enough and passes
too much light. However, results might be improved by setting the toner
density to maximum. Generally printer driver properties allow to set the toner
density.

Positive mirrored (top view) layout Component (top view) layout

PCB Preparation
 The PCB layout paper is drenched with sunflower-seed oil. Sunflower-seed oil is
common available from your local grocery or wall market. Superfluous oil should be
removed carefully with tissue paper. The sunflower-seed oil is used to make the white part
of the layout paper transparent for light.

If you prefer to use the PCB layout more than once let the drenched PCB layout
paper dry at least 48 hours. The layout paper should be carefully dried on forehand as much
as possible with tissue paper. Sunflower-seed oil is a `drying' oil. Exposed to the air over a
number of hours, the layout paper becomes rigid again. A kind of polymerization takes
place. You will get a lot less or no greasy fingers anymore afterwards.

Other mineral or vegetable oils might work as well to obtain light

transparency. However, they might not be `drying' oils. When I started
experimenting, sunflower-seed oil was the first oil I used and it worked fine. So
I didn't try any other oils. Using water does not work. The layout paper
crumples up a bit.

Drench layout with sunflower-seed oil Layout fully drenched

 Greasy layout

PCB UV Exposure

The protective plastic layer is removed - peeled back - from the

photosensitive PCB. The toner side of the greased layout is placed on the
copper of the PCB. Captured air-bubbles are gently pressed away from
underneath the layout. The PCB with the layout is now covered with an
appropriate sized windowpane and placed on a piece of plain polished tile or
marble. The tile or marble absorbs the heat coming from the UV bulb, which is
significant. Three to four minutes 300W bulb UV exposure from a distance of
30-40 cm will do the photo process. Take care when finished and removing the
PCB, it gets hot!
Home-built UV exposure box with 300W UV PCB with partly peeled back protective plastic
bulb, polished tile and window pane layer and `dried' layout

Place layout with toner side on copper of the Cover PCB and layout with window-pane
PCB

Exposure

PCB Development

The PCB is developed with a 1% solution of sodium hydroxide NaOH. You can make this
solvent by adding 10 gram of sodium hydroxide pellets to 1 liter of water and mix it
until everything is dissolved. Use a brush to speed up the developing and clean
the PCB during this process if the PCB is still greasy due to the applied
sunflower-seed oil. The developing process takes about 1 minute. It is
sometimes difficult to guess when the developing is finished. The traces should
become clear and the exposed photosensitive layer has dissolved (during the
brushing you see darker `cloud' coming off the PCB surface).

Gently brush the PCB Almost developed, some traces are not clear
yet

PCB Etching

The developed PCB is etched with a 220 g/l solution of ammonium peroxydisulfate
(NH4)2S2O8 a.k.a. ammonium persulfate, 220 gram added to 1 liter of water and mix it until
everything is dissolved. Theoretically it should be possible to etch slightly more than 60
grams of copper with 1 liter etching solution. Assume an 50% efficiency, about 30 grams of
copper. With a thickness of 35 µm copper on your PCB this covers a copper area of about
1000 cm2.

Unfortunately the efficiency of the etching solution degrades, dissolved ammonium

peroxydisulfate decomposes slowly. You better make just enough etching solution you need
to etch. For an etching tray of about 20 x 25 cm a minimum practical amount is 200-250 ml
solution. So you dissolve about 44 grams ammonium peroxydisulfate into 200 ml or 55
grams into 250 ml water.

Etching at ambient temperature might take over an hour, it is better to heat up the
etching solvent to about 35-45 degrees Celcius. The etching solution heating up could be
done in a magnetron, this takes about 40 to 60 seconds in a 850W magnetron depending on
the initial temperature of the etching solution (hint: first try this with just water to
determine the timer setting of the magnetron).

The etching - rocking the etching tray - takes about 15-30 minutes at this
temperature. If you have a heated, air-bubble circulated etching fluid tank available, this is
probably the fastest way to etch. At higher temperatures the etching performance
decreases.

The etching process is an exothermic reaction, it generates heat. Take care, cool your
etching tray when necessary! You should minimize the amount of copper to etch by creating
copper area in your PCB layout as much as possible. When starting the etching process and
little to etch it is difficult to keep the etching solution at 35-45 degrees Celcius. It helps to fill
for example the kitchen sink with warm water and rock the etching tray in the filled kitchen
sink.

When the ammonium peroxydisulfate is dissolved it is a clear liquid. After an etching

procedure it gradually becomes blue and more deeper blue - the chemical reaction creates
dissolved copper sulfate CuSO4. Compared to other etching chemicals like hydrated iron (III)
chloride FeCl3.6H2O a.k.a. ferric chloride or the combination of hydrochloric acid HCL and
hydrogen peroxide H2O2, using ammonium peroxydisulfate is a clean and safe method. Did
you ever spilled dissolved iron chloride on your clothes or your assumed stainless steel
kitchen sink? Do you really want to keep concentrated hydrochloric acid and hydrogen
peroxide at home? So, without doubt ammonium peroxydisulfate is the best choice for
etching at home. However, copper sulfate is a poisonous substance and should be
treated as chemical waste.

Rock the etching tray The epoxy of the PCB becomes visible

The etching solution colors slighty blue

Almost finished
Finished

Trouble shooting

The above mentioned exposure timing should be determined experimentally. But

even when the exposure timing is correct PCB etching failures could happen because of low
quality or too old photosensitive PCB, the photosensitive layer has aged despite the
protective plastic layer. Other possible causes are too high concentration of development
solution causing the photosensitive part not exposed to light to be dissolved by the sodium
hydroxide solution as well. When developing too short not all of the copper of the PCB will
be etched. Developing might take some experimenting to get used to it and know what to
expect. Furthermore set the toner density of your laser printer driver always to maximum.

More examples
Exposure Development

Etching Finished

 Drilling
 Holes through a PCB are typically drilled with small-diameter drill bits made of solid
coated tungsten carbide. Coated tungsten carbide is recommended since many board
materials are very abrasive and drilling must be high RPM and high feed to be cost effective.
Drill bits must also remain sharp to not mar or tear the traces. Drilling with high-speed-
steel is simply not feasible since the drill bits will dull quickly and thus tear the copper and
ruin the boards.
The drilling is performed by automated drilling machines with placement controlled by a
drill tape or drill file. These computer-generated files are also called numerically controlled
drill (NCD) files or "Excellon files".
The drill file describes the location and size of each drilled hole. These holes are often
filled with annular rings (hollow rivets) to create vias. Vias allow the electrical and thermal
connection of conductors on opposite sides of the PCB.
When very small vias are required, drilling with mechanical bits is costly because of high
rates of wear and breakage. In this case, the vias may be evaporated by lasers. Laser-drilled
vias typically have an inferior surface finish inside the hole. These holes are called micro vias.
It is also possible with controlled-depth drilling, laser drilling, or by pre-drilling the
individual sheets of the PCB before lamination, to produce holes that connect only some of
the copper layers, rather than passing through the entire board. These holes are called blind
vias when they connect an internal copper layer to an outer layer, or buried vias when they
connect two or more internal copper layers and no outer layers.
The walls of the holes, for boards with 2 or more layers, are made conductive then
plated with copper to form plated-through holes that electrically connect the conducting
layers of the PCB.
For multilayer boards, those with 4 layers or more, drilling typically produces a smear of
the high temperature decomposition products of bonding agent in the laminate system.
Before the holes can be plated through, this smear must be removed by a chemical de-
smear process, or by plasma-etch. Removing (etching back) the smear also reveals the
interior conductors as well.

 SOLDERING
Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting
and flowing a filler metal (solder) into the joint, the filler metal having a lower melting point
than the workpiece. Soldering differs from welding in that soldering does not involve
melting the work pieces.
There are three forms of soldering, each requiring higher temperatures and each
producing an increasingly stronger joint strength soft soldering, which originally used a tin-
lead alloy as the filler metal silver soldering, which uses an alloy containing silver, brazing
which uses a brass alloy for the filler.
The alloy of the filler metal for each type of soldering can be adjusted to modify the
melting temperature of the filler. Soldering appears to be a hot glue process, but it differs
from gluing significantly in that the filler metals alloy with the workpiece at the junction to
form a gas- and liquid-tight bond.

Soft soldering is characterized by having a melting point of the filler metal below
approximately 400 °C (752 °F), whereas silver soldering and brazing use higher
temperatures, typically requiring a flame or carbon arc torch to achieve the melting of the
filler. Soft solder filler metals are typically alloys (often containing lead) that have liquidus
temperatures below 350°C.
In the soldering process, heat is applied to the parts to be joined, causing the solder to
melt and to bond to the workpieces in an alloying process called wetting. In stranded wire,
the solder is drawn up into the wire by capillary action in a process called 'wicking'. Capillary
action also takes place when the workpieces are very close together or touching. The joint
strength is dependent on the filler metal used, where soft solder is the weakest and the
brass alloy used for brazing is the strongest. Soldering, which uses metal to join metal in a
molecular bond has electrical conductivity and is water- and gas-tight.