Usually, a voltage regulator circuit is used to obtain the required power supply voltage when the device is operated from a mains adapter or batteries. For example, a 5V regulator is required if the microcontroller is operated from a 5V supply using a 9V battery.
1.3.2 The Clock
All microcontrollers require a clock (or an oscillator) to operate, usually provided by external timing devices connected to the microcontroller. In most cases, these external timing devices are a crystal plus two small capacitors. In some cases they are resonators or an external resistor-capacitor pair. Some microcontrollers have built-in timing circuits and do not require external timing components. If an application is not time-sensitive, external or internal (if available) resistor-capacitor timing components are the best option for their simplicity and low cost.
An instruction is executed by fetching it from the memory and then decoding it. This usually takes several clock cycles and is known as the instruction cycle. In PIC microcontrollers, an instruction cycle takes four clock periods. Thus the microcontroller operates at a clock rate that is one-quarter of the actual oscillator frequency. The PIC18F series of microcontrollers can operate with clock frequencies up to 40MHz.
1.3.3 Timers
Timers are important parts of any microcontroller. A timer is basically a counter which is driven from either an external clock pulse or the microcontroller’s internal oscillator. A timer can be 8 bits or 16 bits wide. Data can be loaded into a timer under program control, and the timer can be stopped or started by program control. Most timers can be configured to generate an interrupt when they reach a certain count (usually when they overflow). The user program can use an interrupt to carry out accurate timing-related operations inside the microcontroller. Microcontrollers in the PIC18F series have at least three timers. For example, the PIC18F452 microcontroller has three built-in timers.
Some microcontrollers offer capture and compare facilities, where a timer value can be read when an external event occurs, or the timer value can be compared to a preset value, and an interrupt is generated when this value is reached. Most PIC18F microcontrollers have at least two capture and compare modules.
1.3.4 Watchdog
Most microcontrollers have at least one watchdog facility. The watchdog is basically a timer that is refreshed by the user program. Whenever the program fails to refresh the watchdog, a reset occurs. The watchdog timer is used to detect a system problem, such as the program being in an endless loop. This safety feature prevents runaway software and stops the microcontroller from executing meaningless and unwanted code. Watchdog facilities are commonly used in real-time systems where the successful termination of one or more activities must be checked regularly.
1.3.5 Reset Input
A reset input is used to reset a microcontroller externally. Resetting puts the microcontroller into a known state such that the program execution starts from address 0 of the program memory. An external reset action is usually achieved by connecting a push-button switch to the reset input. When the switch is pressed, the microcontroller is reset.
1.3.6 Interrupts
Interrupts are an important concept in microcontrollers. An interrupt causes the microcontroller to respond to external and internal (e.g., a timer) events very quickly. When an interrupt occurs, the microcontroller leaves its normal flow of program execution and jumps to a special part of the program known as the interrupt service routine (ISR). The program code inside the ISR is executed, and upon return from the ISR the program resumes its normal flow of execution.
The ISR starts from a fixed address of the program memory sometimes known as the interrupt vector address. Some microcontrollers with multi-interrupt features have just one interrupt vector address, while others have unique interrupt vector addresses, one for each interrupt source. Interrupts can be nested such that a new interrupt can suspend the execution of another interrupt. Another important feature of multi-interrupt capability is that different interrupt sources can be assigned different levels of priority. For example, the PIC18F series of microcontrollers has both low-priority and high-priority interrupt levels.
1.3.7 Brown-out Detector
Brown-out detectors, which are common in many microcontrollers, reset the microcontroller if the supply voltage falls below a nominal value. These safety features can be employed to prevent unpredictable operation at low voltages, especially to protect the contents of EEPROM-type memories.
1.3.8 Analog-to-Digital Converter
An analog-to-digital converter (A/D) is used to convert an analog signal, such as voltage, to digital form so a microcontroller can read and process it. Some microcontrollers have built-in A/D converters. External A/D converter can also be connected to any type of microcontroller. A/D converters are usually 8 to 10 bits, having 256 to 1024 quantization levels. Most PIC microcontrollers with A/D features have multiplexed A/D converters which provide more than one analog input channel. For example, the PIC18F452 microcontroller has 10-bit 8-channel A/D converters. The A/D conversion process must be started by the user program and may take several hundred microseconds to complete. A/D converters usually generate interrupts when a conversion is complete so the user program can read the converted data quickly. A/D converters are especially useful in control and monitoring applications, since most sensors (e.g., temperature sensors, pressure sensors, force sensors, etc.) produce analog output voltages.
1.3.9 Serial Input-Output
Serial communication (also called RS232 communication) enables a microcontroller to be connected to another microcontroller or to a PC using a serial cable. Some microcontrollers have built-in hardware called USART (universal synchronous-asynchronous receiver-transmitter) to implement a serial communication interface. The user program can usually select the baud rate and data format. If no serial input-output hardware is provided, it is easy to develop software to implement serial data communication using any I/O pin of a microcontroller. The PIC18F series of microcontrollers has built-in USART modules. We shall see in Chapter 6 how to write mikroC programs to implement serial communication with and without a USART module. Some microcontrollers (e.g., the PIC18F series) incorporate SPI (serial peripheral interface) or I²C (integrated interconnect) hardware bus interfaces. These enable a microcontroller to interface with other compatible devices easily.
1.3.10 EEPROM Data Memory
EEPROM-type data memory is also very common in many microcontrollers. The advantage of an EEPROM memory is that the programmer can store nonvolatile data there and change this data whenever required. For example, in a temperature monitoring application, the maximum and minimum temperature readings can be stored in an EEPROM memory. If the power supply is removed for any reason, the values of the latest readings are available in the EEPROM memory. The PIC18F452 microcontroller has 256 bytes of EEPROM memory. Other members of the PIC18F family have more EEPROM memory (e.g., the PIC18F6680 has 1024 bytes). The mikroC language provides special instructions for reading and writing to the EEPROM memory of a PIC microcontroller.