Timer Interrupts

ECET 209 – Lecture 21

Introduction to Microcontrollers
 Interrupts
• Interrupts are actions that pull us away from
our normal activities
• For instances:
– Phone Ringing
– Door Bell
– Smoke Alarm
– Clothes Dryer
– Etc.
• These devices signal us when they they
need attention
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 Interrupts

• Microcontrollers have Interrupts that signal

us when they need attention
– Timer Interrupt
– Serial Interrupt
– External Interrupts
– ETC

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 Interrupts

• Interrupts are characterized as events that:

– Require immediate attention
– Happen at irregular intervals
– Happen infrequently

– * Background tasks

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 Interrupt Service Routines

• Interrupt Service Routines (ISR) are

functions that are executed in response to a
hardware event rather than a function call
embedded in the program

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 Interrupt Service Routines

• “Normal” function calls occur in the natural flow of

a program…

do something
do something else
make a function call
do that other thing
and so on
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 Interrupt Service Routines

• ISR occur whenever they are triggered…

do something
do something else
do that other thing ISR
still doing stuff
and so on

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 Interrupt Service Routines

• ISR are almost identical to normal functions

with a few executions
– They CANNOT receive any parameters
– They CANNOT return any values
– WHY?
• We do not know when they are going to occur!!
• Therefore, any values that they need or that they are
going to provide must be declared GLOBALLY!

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 Interrupt Service Routines

• Interrupt Service Routines must be

configured before they can be used
– The individual interrupt must be enabled
– AND the Global Interrupt Flag must be set

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 Timer Review

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 Timers
• ATmega16
– Two 8-Bit Timers
– One 16-Bit Timer

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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Clock Select

GND (no signal )

System Clock

CK/8

TCCR1B
System Clock
Prescale

CK/64
Timer/Counter
CK/256
Register (TCNT1)
CK/1024

External Pin T1

CS10
CS11
CS12
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 Clock Select
Timer / Counter Control Register - TCCR1B

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
- - - - - CS12 CS11 CS10

GND (no input) 0 0 0

System Clock 0 0 1
System Clock / 8 0 1 0
System Clock / 64 0 1 1
System Clock / 256 1 0 0
System Clock / 1024 1 0 1
External Pin T1 - Falling Edge 1 1 0
External Pin T1 - Rising Edge 1 1 1

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 Timer/Counter Register

TCNT1

16-Bit Counter

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 Timer Implementation

• PreLoad the Timer/Counter

• Select the clock frequency
• Wait for the overflow flag
• Stop the counter
• Clear the Overflow Flag

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 TCNT1 = 64786; // set for 250 counts
TCCR1B = 2; // select CLK / 8
while ( (TIFR & 0x04) == 0) // wait for flag
{
}
TCCR1B = 0; // stop the clock
TIFR = TIFR | 0x04; // clear the flag

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 Timer Example

• Timer – The timer overflow flag is set high

when an overflow occurs.
– This is actually an interrupt flag that is being
set
– The interrupt wasn’t executed because we
didn’t enable it to.
– Instead, we just “polled” for the flag

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 TIFR – Timer Interrupt Flag
Register
• When:
– The Timer Overflow Interrupt is Enabled
– AND the Global Interrupt Flag is Enabled
– AND the Timer Overflow flag is set
– The Timer ISR is executed!!

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 Configuring the Interrupt
• Solution Steps to use a Timer Interrupt
– Setup the timer for the desired delay
– Write the code for the ISR
– Enable the actual timer interrupt in the Timer
Interrupt Mask Register – TIMSK
– Enable the global interrupt enable bit located in
the Status Register – SREG

– Wait for the interrupt

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 Timers
• ATmega16
– Two 8-Bit Timers
– One 16-Bit Timer

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 Timer0

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 Block Diagram

GND (no signal )

System Clock

CK/8
System Clock

TCCR0
Prescale

CK/64
Timer/Counter
CK/256
Register (TCNT0)
CK/1024

External Pin T0

CS00
CS01
CS02
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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Microcontroller Timer

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 Interrupt Example

• Create a Timer Interrupt Service Routine:

– Toggles the value on Port C every 4mSec
– Utilize Timer0

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 Creating a 4mS Delay

Oscillator Frequency 6.0000 MHz

Desired Time Delay 4 Milliseconds

Calculated Number of Ticks

Clock 24000
Clock / 8 3000
Clock / 64 375
Clock / 256 93.75
Clock / 1024 23.4375

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 Example

• Setup the timer for the desired clock

void main (void)
{
TCNT0 = 232; // set for 24 ticks
TCCR0 = 5; // select CLK/1024

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 Example

• Write the ISR code

interrupt [TIM0_OVF] void timer0_ovf_isr(void)

{
PORTC = ~PORTC; // toggle the port
}

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 Example
• Enable the individual timer interrupt flag in the TIMSK
register
void main(void)
{
DDRC = 0xFF; // PORTC = output
TCNT0 = 232; // set for 24 ticks
TCCR0 = 5; // select CLK/1024
TIMSK = 0x01; // enable timer 0 ISR

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 Example
• Enable the global interrupt bit in the Status Register
SREG
void main(void)
{
DDRC = 0xFF; // PORTC = output
TCNT0 = 232; // set for 24 ticks
TCCR0 = 5; // select CLK/1024
TIMSK = 0x01; // enable timer 0 ISR
SREG = SREG | 0x80; // enable global int

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 Example
• Do nothing and wait for the interrupt to expire.

while (1) // do nothing

{

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 Example

• You can still preload the timer with values to

adjust the number of rollover ticks by writing data
into the TCNT0 register.

interrupt [TIM0_OVF] void timer0_ovf_isr(void)

{
TCNT0 = 232; // 4mSec delay
PORTC = ~PORTC; // toggle the port
}
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 Timer Interrupt Flags

• Timer/Counter Overflow Flag is set when

an overflow occurs.
– Flag is cleared by writing a ‘1’ to the flag

– Alternatively, the flag is cleared automatically

be the microcontroller when executing the ISR

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 Lab
• You will need to create a timer interrupt that
is 4mSec long (calculate just as before)
– In the event that 4mS cannot be accurately
obtained, pick something that is close.

• Ultimately you will use the timer interrupt to

output BCD data to the 7-segment display
board!!

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 Displaying Data

• Very similar to the techniques we’ve

already used with a few differences…

– Cannot waste time in an interrupt

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 Displaying Data

• Very similar to the techniques we’ve

already used with a few differences…

– Cannot waste time in an interrupt

– Must perform the desired task and move on
(general rule is that the flowchart flowlines are
not allowed to go “up”, they must always go
“down”)
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 Flowcharts

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 Flowcharts

Display Data

Boundary
Check

Reset Index

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 Questions?

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