Using Timers of Microchip PIC18F

Microcontrollers

Corrado Santoro

ARSLAB - Autonomous and Robotic Systems Laboratory

Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica - Universita di Catania, Italy
[email protected]

L.A.P. 1 Course

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

What is a Timer?

It is a circuit to let a software have the knowledge of flow

of time
It is a composed of:
A clock source; usually the system clock or an external
signal;
A programmable frequency divisor, called prescaler, to
divide clock source frequency, if needed;
Some SFRs which hold a 8-, 16- or 32-bit value that is
incremented in hardware using the clock source.
Some SFRs which give some state information,
e.g overflow (zero crossing).
PIC18F family has 7 timers, called TIMER0, TIMER1, ...,
TIMER5, TIMER6
Each timer has different characteristics and may be used
together with other peripherals.

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

The TIMER0 of PIC18

TIMER0 is a 8/16 bit timer/counter (figure shows the 8bit mode);

TMR0L is the SFR containing the value that is incremented;
All the parts to the left are the clock source circuits.
T0CON (Timer 0 Control) register is used to program the timer, and
includes the bits shown in figure (T0CS, PSA, T0PS, etc.)

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

The 16-bit version of TIMER0

In 16-bit mode, two SFR are used TMR0L and TMR0H;

In write operations, TMR0H must be written before TMR0L;
In read operations, TMR0L must be read before TMR0H;
However, XC8 offers a single 16-bit variable TMR0 which includes both
low and high part of TMR0.

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

The 16-bit version of TIMER0

The T0CON (Timer 0 Control) SFR includes all the bits which
control TIMER0 functioning.
Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs
TIMER0: Selecting clock source

Clock source can be internal or external and is controlled by

bit T0CS:
T0CS = 0; clock source is internal and is taken from
Fosc /4.
T0CS = 1; clock source is external and is taken from
T0CKI pin; in this case T0SE controls the edge of the
signal which triggers increment.

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

TIMER0: Dividing clock frequency

In some cases, the clock coming from the oscillator could be

too fast for our applications: we can lower it by using the
frequency prescaler.
The prescaler is a circuit which divides the signal frequency by
2, 4, 8, 16, ..., 256.
The prescaler is activated by bit PSA:
PSA = 0; prescaler is selected, frequency division is
controlled by bits T0PS.
PSA = 1; prescaler is not selected.
Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs
TIMER0: Dividing clock frequency

When the prescaler is activated (PSA = 0), division is

performed as:
T0PS = 111, division 1:256
T0PS = 110, division 1:128
T0PS = 101, division 1:64
....
T0PS = 000, division 1:2

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

TIMER0: controlling depth and on/off

Finally, T0CON includes these other two bits:

TMR0ON, turns on/off the timer;
T08BIT, selects 8 (value 1) or 16 (value 0) bit mode.

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

A case-study: a timer to flash a LED

We want to use the system clock, T0CS = 0;

In our board, we have FOSC = 64MHz, therefore the basic frequency is
FOSC /4 = 16MHz, the P = 62.5ns;
Lets use the prescaler and divide the frequency by 256, so PSA = 0;
T0PS = 0b111;
The timer increments using a period P = 62.5ns 256 = 16s.

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

A case-study: a timer to flash a LED

... the timer increments using a period

P = 62.5ns 256 = 16s.
Let us suppose we want a period of half a second 500ms
500103
Therefore 16106
= 31250
A delay of 500ms implies 31250 counts

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

A case-study: a timer to flash a LED

int main(void)
{
TRISBbits.TRISB0 = 0; // output

T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 0; // stop the timer

T0CONbits.T08BIT = 0; // timer configured as 16-bit
T0CONbits.T0CS = 0; // use system clock
T0CONbits.PSA = 0; // use prescaler
T0CONbits.T0PS = 0b111; // prescaler 1:256 (0b is a prefix for binary)
TMR0 = 0; // clear timer value
T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 1; // start the timer

for (;;) {
unsigned int t;
t = TMR0;
if (t >= 31250) { // equivalent of 500 ms
TMR0 = 0;
LATBbits.LATB0 = !LATBbits.LATB0;
}
}
}

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

Case-study 2: more LEDs flashing

Let us suppose we want to:

flash led in RB0 at a period of 500 ms
flash led in RB1 at a period of 750 ms
Do we need two timers?? NO!
1 compute the greatest common divisor, which is 250ms
2 use it as your timer period
3 toggle RB0 after two periods
4 toggle RB1 after three periods

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

Case-study 2: more LEDs flashing

Using the same set-up of the previous example, since our

period is 250ms
250103
we have 16106
= 15625
A delay of 250ms implies 15625 counts

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

Case-study 2: more LEDs flashing

int main(void)
{
char c0 = 0, c1 = 0; // why char? because they are 8 bits

TRISBbits.TRISB0 = 0; // output
TRISBbits.TRISB1 = 0; // output

T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 0; // stop the timer

T0CONbits.T08BIT = 0; // timer configured as 16-bit
T0CONbits.T0CS = 0; // use system clock
T0CONbits.PSA = 0; // use prescaler
T0CONbits.T0PS = 0b111; // prescaler 1:256 (0b is a prefix for binary)
TMR0 = 0; // clear timer value
T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 1; // start the timer

for (;;) {
unsigned int t;
t = TMR0;
if (t >= 15625) { // equivalent of 250 ms
TMR0 = 0;
++c0; ++c1;
if (c0 == 2) { // flash led 0
LATBbits.LATB0 = !LATBbits.LATB0;
c0 = 0;
}
if (c1 == 3) { // flash led 1
LATBbits.LATB1 = !LATBbits.LATB1;
c1 = 0;
}
}
}
}


Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs
Timer Overflow

In our examples, we check the timer value and, after

reaching a certain maximum, we clear it
However, what does it happen if we dont modify TMR0?
At a certain point, the TMR0 reaches its maximum possible
value, which is 255 (0xff) at 8 bit and 65535 (0xffff) at 16 bit
The next increment will overflow TMR0, which thus goes
to zero
This event is signalled by the hardware by setting a
proper bit in a SFR
The bit is called T0IF and belongs to register INTCON
The bit set by the hardware and cleared by software

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

Timer Overflow

We can exploit the overflow event as follows.

Instead of clearing TMR0 and waiting for reaching our MAX
(15625 in the example), we can:
Set TMR0 to 65536 MAX (65536 15625 = 49911 in
our example)
Wait for overflow by checking T0IF
Clear T0IF

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

Case-study 2: LED flashing with overflow

int main(void)
{
char c0 = 0, c1 = 0; // why char? because they are 8 bits

TRISBbits.TRISB0 = 0; // output
TRISBbits.TRISB1 = 0; // output

T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 0; // stop the timer

T0CONbits.T08BIT = 0; // timer configured as 16-bit
T0CONbits.T0CS = 0; // use system clock
T0CONbits.PSA = 0; // use prescaler
T0CONbits.T0PS = 0b111; // prescaler 1:256 (0b is a prefix for binary)
TMR0 = 49911; // initial timer value
INTCONbits.T0IF = 0; // clear the overflow bit initially
T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 1; // start the timer

for (;;) {
if (INTCONbits.T0IF == 1) { // overflow!
TMR0 = 49911; // reload timer
INTCONbits.T0IF = 0; // clear overflow
++c0; ++c1;
if (c0 == 2) { // flash led 0
LATBbits.LATB0 = !LATBbits.LATB0;
c0 = 0;
}
if (c1 == 3) { // flash led 1
LATBbits.LATB1 = !LATBbits.LATB1;
c1 = 0;
}
}
}
}


Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs
Timer Overflow

Lets consider the expression: 65536 MAX :

We notice that 65536, in 16-bit arithmetic, does not exist
and is equivalent to 0
therefore, 65536 MAX = MAX

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

Case-study 2: LED flashing with overflow

int main(void)
{
char c0 = 0, c1 = 0; // why char? because they are 8 bits

TRISBbits.TRISB0 = 0; // output
TRISBbits.TRISB1 = 0; // output

T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 0; // stop the timer

T0CONbits.T08BIT = 0; // timer configured as 16-bit
T0CONbits.T0CS = 0; // use system clock
T0CONbits.PSA = 0; // use prescaler
T0CONbits.T0PS = 0b111; // prescaler 1:256 (0b is a prefix for binary)
TMR0 = -15625; // initial timer value
INTCONbits.T0IF = 0; // clear the overflow bit initially
T0CONbits.TMR0ON = 1; // start the timer

for (;;) {
if (INTCONbits.T0IF == 1) { // overflow!
TMR0 = -15625; // reload timer
INTCONbits.T0IF = 0; // clear overflow
++c0; ++c1;
if (c0 == 2) { // flash led 0
LATBbits.LATB0 = !LATBbits.LATB0;
c0 = 0;
}
if (c1 == 3) { // flash led 1
LATBbits.LATB1 = !LATBbits.LATB1;
c1 = 0;
}
}
}
}


Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs
Comparing the techniques

Lets compare (1)

unsigned int t;
t = TMR0;
if (t >= 15625) { // equivalent of 250 ms
TMR0 = 0;


to (2)

if (INTCONbits.T0IF == 1) { // overflow!
TMR0 = -15625; // reload timer
INTCONbits.T0IF = 0; // clear overflow

(1) uses a 16-bit comparison, (2) uses a single-bit

comparson less code since the CPU is 8-bit
(2) uses polling but can be easily transformed into a
interrupt-based code since overflows can be
programmed to generate interrupts

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs

 Using Timers of Microchip PIC18F
Microcontrollers

Corrado Santoro

ARSLAB - Autonomous and Robotic Systems Laboratory

Dipartimento di Matematica e Informatica - Universita di Catania, Italy
[email protected]

L.A.P. 1 Course

Corrado Santoro Using Timers in PIC18F MCUs