INTEL 8255A

PHYSICAL SPECIFICATIONS

40 pin IC package. 24 Programmable I/O pins. High speed, no wait state operation with 5MHz. It operates on single 5 volt DC supply. Ambient temperature 0 to 70(degree Celsius). Power dissipation 1 watt.

PINS SPECIFICATION AND DIAGRAM

PA0 PA7 8 pins for port A PB0 PB7 B PC0 PC3 Clower PC4 PC7 Cupper 8 pins for port

4 pins for port

4 pins for port

FUNCTIONAL DESCRIPTION
Data Bus Buffer This three-state bi-directional 8-bit buffer is used to interface the 8255A to the system data bus. Data is Transmitted or received by the buffer upon execution of input or output instructions by the CPU. Control words and status information are also Transferred through the data bus buffer. Read/Write and Control Logic The function of this block is to manage all of the internal and external transfers of both Data and Control or Status words. It accepts inputs from the CPU Address and Control busses and in turn, issues commands to both of the Control Groups.

CONTROL SIGNALS
(CS) Chip Select : A low on this input pin enables the communication between the 8255A and the CPU. (RD) Read : A low on this input pin enables 8255A to send the data or status information to the CPU on the data bus. In essence, it allows the CPU to read from the 8255A. (WR) Write : A low on this input pin enables the CPU to write data or control words into the 8255A. RESET : A high on this input pin sets all the ports (A,B,C) to the input mode. D0 D7 : An 8 bit data bus.

A0 and A1 : The selection of input port and control word register is done using A0 and A1 in conjunction with RD and WR. A0 and A1 are normally connected to LSB of the address bus.

CONTROL GROUP

The 24 lines of I/O ports are divided into two groups:i. Group A : It contains Port A and the port Cupper. ii. Group B : It contains Port A and the port Clower.

OPERATING MODES
Intel 8255 has 3 modes of operation and they are:(i) Mode 0 (simple I/O) : In mode 0 operation a port can be operated as a simple I/O port. Each of the four ports of 8255 can be programmed to be either input or output port. (ii) Mode 1 (strobed I/O) : Port A and port B are both designed to operate in this mode. When these are used as in mode 1, six pins of port C are used for their control. **  PC0, PC1, PC2 are used for control of port B which can be used as either input or output.  PC3, PC4, PC5 are used for control of port A as an input port.  PC3, PC6, PC7 are used for control of port A as an output port.  The remaining two ports are used as either input or output. (iii) Mode 2 (Bidirectional port) : This mode is only for port A where it can be operated in bidirectional mode. When port A is used in this mode then port B can be used in either mode 0 or 1 and port C is used for control of port A.

CONTROL WORD
Control word is written in control word register which is within 8255. No read operation of control word register is allowed . The control word bit corresponding to a particular port is set to either 1 or 0depending upon the definition of port whether it is to be made an input port or output port.