MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING 18EC46

Module – 3
8051 Stack, I/O Port Interfacing and Programming
8051 Stack
 The stack is a section of RAM used by the CPU to store information temporarily.
o This information could be data or an address.
 The register used to access the stack is called the SP (stack pointer) register.
o The stack pointer in the 8051 is only 8 bit wide, which means that it can take value of 00
to FFH.
o When the 8051 is powered up, the SP register contains value 07.
o RAM location 08 is the first location begin used for the stack by the 8051.
 The storing of a CPU register in the stack is called a PUSH
o SP is pointing to the last used location of the stack
o As we push data onto the stack, the SP is incremented by one
 This is different from many microprocessors
 Loading the contents of the stack back into a CPU register is called a POP
o With every pop, the top byte of the stack is copied to the register specified by the
instruction and the stack pointer is decremented once

Example 3-1
Show the stack and stack pointer from the following. Assume the default stack area.
MOV R6, #25H
MOV R1, #12H
MOV R4, #0F3H
PUSH 6
PUSH 1
PUSH 4
Solution:

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18EC46 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING

Example 3-2
Examining the stack, show the contents of the register and SP after execution of the
following instructions. All value are in hex.
POP 3 ; POP stack into R3
POP 5 ; POP stack into R5
POP 2 ; POP stack into R2
Solution:

 The CPU also uses the stack to save the address of the instruction just below the CALL
instruction
o This is how the CPU knows where to resume when it returns from the called
subroutine.
 The reason of incrementing SP after push is
o Make sure that the stack is growing toward RAM location 7FH, from lower to upper
addresses.
 If the stack pointer were decremented after push
o We would be using RAM locations 7, 6, 5, etc. which belong to R7 to R0 of bank 0, the
default register bank.
 When 8051 is powered up, register bank 1 and the stack are using the same memory space
o We can reallocate another section of RAM to the stack.

Example 3-3
Examining the stack, show the contents of the register and SP after execution of the
following instructions. All value are in hex.
MOV SP, #5FH ;make RAM location 60H, first stack location
MOV R2, #25H
MOV R1, #12H
MOV R4, #0F3H
PUSH 2
PUSH 1
PUSH 4
Solution:

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 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING 18EC46

Stack and Subroutine instructions

CALLs and Subroutines
 Call instruction is used to call subroutine
o Subroutines are often used to perform tasks that need to be performed frequently
o This makes a program more structured in addition to saving memory space
 LCALL (long call)
o 3-byte instruction
o First byte is the opcode
o Second and third bytes are used for address of target subroutine
• Subroutine is located anywhere within 64K byte address space
 ACALL (absolute call)
o 2-byte instruction
o 11 bits are used for address within 2K-byte range
 When a subroutine is called, control is transferred to that subroutine, the processor
o Saves on the stack the address of the instruction immediately below the LCALL
o Begins to fetch instructions from the new location
 After finishing execution of the subroutine
o The instruction RET transfers control back to the caller
• Every subroutine needs RET as the last instruction

CALL Instructions- LCALL

1. A call opcode occurs in the program software, or an interrupt is generated in the hardware
circuitry.
2. The return address of the next instruction after the call instruction or interrupt is found in the
program counter.
3. The return address bytes are pushed on the stack, low byte first.
4. The stack pointer is incremented for each push on the stack.
5. The subroutine address is placed in the program counter.
6. The subroutine is executed.
7. A RET (return) opcode is encountered at the end of the subroutine.
Example 3-4 Upon executing “LCALL DELAY”,
ORG 0 the address of instruction below it,
BACK: MOV A,#55H ;load A with 55H “MOV A,#0AAH” is pushed onto
stack, and the 8051 starts to execute
MOV P1,A ;send 55H to port 1 at 300H.
LCALL DELAY ;time delay
MOV A,#0AAH ;load A with AA (in hex)
MOV P1,A ;send AAH to port 1
LCALL DELAY
SJMP BACK ;keep doing this indefinitely

;---------- this is delay subroutine ------------

ORG 300H ;put DELAY at address 300H
DELAY: MOV R5,#0FFH ;R5=255 (FF in hex), counter
AGAIN: DJNZ R5,AGAIN ;stay here until R5 become 0
RET ;return to caller (when R5 =0)
END ;end of asm file When R5 becomes 0, control falls to
the RET which pops the address
from the stack into the PC and
resumes executing the instructions
after the CALL.
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 18EC46 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING

CALL Instructions- ACALL

 The only difference between ACALL and LCALL is
o The target address for LCALL can be anywhere within the 64K byte address
o The target address of ACALL must be within a 2K-byte range
 The use of ACALL instead of LCALL can save a number of bytes of program ROM space.

Interrupts and Returns

 An interrupt is a hardware-generated call.
 Just as a call opcode can be located within a program to automatically access a subroutine, certain
pins on the 8051 can cause a call when external electrical signals on them go to a low state.
 Internal operations of the timers and the serial port can also cause an interrupt call to take place.
 The subroutines called by an interrupt are located at fixed hardware addresses and are called as
Interrupt Service Routine (ISR).
 When an interrupt call takes place,
INTERRUPT ADDRESS (HEX) CALLED
 Hardware interrupt disable flip-flops are set.
 So that it prevents another interrupt of the IEO 0003
same priority level from taking place.
 Disabled Hardware interrupts can be enabled TFO 0008
back by executing an interrupt return IEl 0013
instruction. (Generally written at the end of
the interrupt subroutine.) TFl 0018
SERIAL 0023

RETI
 Pops two bytes from the stack into the program counter (PC) and reset the interrupt enable Flip-
Flops.
 The only difference between the RET and RETI instructions is the enabling of the interrupt logic
when RETI is used.
 RET is used at the ends of subroutines called by an opcode. RETI is used by subroutines called
by an interrupt

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 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING 18EC46

I/O Port Interfacing and Programming

 The four 8-bit I/O ports P0, P1, P2 and P3 each uses 8 pins
 All the ports upon RESET are configured as input, ready to be used as input ports
o When the first 0 is written to a port, it becomes an output
o To reconfigure it as an input, a 1 must be sent to the port
o To use any of these ports as an input port, it must be programmed

Port 0
 Port 0 can be used for input or output, each pin must be
connected externally to a 10K ohm pull-up resistor
o This is due to the fact that P0 is an open drain,
unlike P1, P2, and P3
• Open drain is a term used for MOS
chips in the same way that open
collector is used for TTL chips

Example 3-5
The following code will continuously send out to port 0 the alternating value 55H and
AAH
BACK: MOV A,#55H
MOV P0,A
ACALL DELAY
MOV A,#0AAH
MOV P0,A
ACALL DELAY
SJMP BACK

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 18EC46 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING

 In order to make port 0 an input, the port must be programmed by writing 1 to all the bits

Example 3-6
Port 0 is configured first as an input port by writing 1s to it, and then data is received from that
port and sent to P1
MOV A,#0FFH ;A=FF hex
MOV P0,A ;make P0 an i/p port by writing it all 1s
BACK:MOV A,P0 ;get data from P0
MOV P1,A ;send it to port 1
SJMP BACK ;keep doing it

Port 1
 Port 1 can be used as input or output
o In contrast to port 0, this port does not need any pull-up resistors since it already has pull-
up resistors internally
o Upon reset, port 1 is configured as an input port
o To make port 1 an input port, it must be programmed as such by writing 1 to all its bits

Example 3-7
The following code will continuously send out to port 1 the alternating value 55H and
AAH
MOV A,#55H
BACK: MOV P1,A
ACALL DELAY
CPL A
SJMP BACK
A= 01010101(55h) =>Complementing gives 10101010(AAh)

Example 3-8
Port 1 is configured first as an input port by writing 1s to it, then data is received from
that port and saved in R7 and R5
MOV A,#0FFH ;A=FF hex
MOV P1,A ;make P1 an input port by writing it all 1s
MOV A,P1 ;get data from P1
MOV R7,A ;save it to in reg R7
ACALL DELAY ;wait
MOV A,P1 ;another data from P1
MOV R5,A ;save it to in reg R5

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 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING 18EC46

Port 2 and Port 3

 Port 2 can be used as input or output
o Just like P1, port 2 does not need any pull-up resistors since it already has pull-up resistors
internally
o Upon reset, port 2 is configured as an input port
 To make port 2 an input port, it must be programmed as such by writing 1 to all its bits.
 Port 3 can be used as input or output
o Port 3 does not need any pull-up resistors
o Port 3 is configured as an input port upon reset.

I/O Programming- Different ways of Accessing Entire 8 Bits

The entire 8 bits of Port 1 are accessed

BACK: MOV A,#55H
MOV P1,A
ACALL DELAY
MOV A,#0AAH
MOV P1,A
ACALL DELAY
SJMP BACK

Rewrite the code in a more efficient manner

by accessing the port directly without going Another way of doing the same thing
through the accumulator MOV A,#55H
BACK: MOV P1,#55H BACK: MOV P1,A
ACALL DELAY ACALL DELAY
MOV P1,#0AAH CPL A
ACALL DELAY SJMP BACK
SJMP BACK

Example 3-9
Write a program to toggle all the bits of port1 by sending to it the values 55h and AAh
continuously. Put a time delay in between each issuing of data to port1.
ORG 0
BACK: MOV A,#55H ; Load A with 55h
MOV P1,A ; Send 55h to port1
ACALL DELAY ; Call the subroutine DELAY
MOV A,#0AAH ; Load A with AAh
MOV P1,A ; Send AAh to port1
ACALL DELAY ; Call the subroutine DELAY
SJMP BACK ; Keep doing this indefinitely
------ Delay Subroutine---------
ORG 300H
DELAY: MOV R5, #0FFH ; R5 works as counter with 256 counts
AGAIN: DJNZ R5, AGAIN ; Stay here until R5 becomes 0
RET ; Return to Called program
END

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18EC46 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING

Example 3-10
Rewrite the previous program efficiently.

ORG 0
MOV A,#55H ; Load A with 55h
BACK: MOV P1,A ; Send 55h to port1
ACALL DELAY ; Call the subroutine DELAY
CPL A ; Complements A, so that A becomes AAh
SJMP BACK ; Keep doing this indefinitely
------ Delay Subroutine---------
ORG 300H
DELAY: MOV R5, #0FFH ; R5 works as counter with 256 counts
AGAIN: DJNZ R5, AGAIN ; Stay here until R5 becomes 0
RET ; Return to Called program
END

Example 3-11
Write a program to toggle the bits of port1 delay which depends on the value of a
number in R0.
ORG 0
BACK: MOV A,#0H
MOV P1,A ; Send 0h to port P1
MOV R0, #30H ; Required count value for generating delay
ACALL DELAY; Call the subroutine DELAY
CPL A ; Complement A to toggle
MOV P1,A ; Send AAh to port1
MOV R0, #0FFH ; required count value for generating delay
ACALL DELAY ; Call the subroutine DELAY
SJMP BACK ; Keep doing this indefinitely
------ Delay Subroutine---------
ORG 300H
DELAY: NOP ; Do nothing
AGAIN: DJNZ R0, AGAIN ; Stay here until R0 becomes 0
RET ; Return to the Called program
END

Example 3-12
Write a program to perform the following:
(a) Keep monitoring the P1.2 bit until it becomes high
(b) When P1.2 becomes high, write value 45H to port 0
(c) Send a high-to-low (H-to-L) pulse to P2.3
SETB P1.2 ;make P1.2 an input
MOV A,#45H ;A=45H
AGAIN: JNB P1.2,AGAIN ;get out when P1.2=1
MOV P0,A ;issue A to P0
SETB P2.3 ;make P2.3 high
CLR P2.3 ;make P2.3 low for H-to-L

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 MICROCONTROLLER | MODULE 3: 8051 STACK, I/O PORT INTERFACING AND PROGRAMMING 18EC46

Example 3-13
Assume that bit P2.3 is an input and represents the condition of an oven.
If it goes high, it means that the oven is hot. Monitor the bit continuously.
Whenever it goes high, send a high-to-low pulse to port P1.5 to turn on a buzzer.

HERE: JNB P2.3,HERE ;keep monitoring for high

SETB P1.5 ;set bit P1.5=1
CLR P1.5 ;make high-to-low
SJMP HERE ;keep repeating

Example 3-14
A switch is connected to pin P1.7. Write a program to check the status of SW and
perform the following:
(a) If SW=0, send letter ‘N’ to P2
(b) If SW=1, send letter ‘Y’ to P2

SETB P1.7 ;make P1.7 an input

AGAIN: JB P1.7,OVER ;jump if P1.7=1
MOV P2,#’N’ ;SW=0, issue ‘N’ to P2
SJMP AGAIN ;keep monitoring
OVER: MOV P2,#’Y’ ;SW=1, issue ‘Y’ to P2
SJMP AGAIN ;keep monitoring

Example 3-15
A switch is connected to pin P1.0 and an LED to pin P2.7. Write a program to get the
status of switch and send it the LED.

SETB P1.0 ;make P1.0 an input

AGAIN: MOV C, P1.0 ;Read the switch status in to CF
MOV P2.7,C ;Send the switch status on to LED
SJMP AGAIN ;keep monitoring

***************************************************************************************

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