You are at the right place if you are a beginner to the field of

microcontrollers. In this tutorial you will learn How to Blink an LED

using PIC Microcontroller. PIC is a family of microcontrollers
manufactured by Microchip Technology Inc. PIC stands forPeripheral
Interface Controller. It is also referred to asProgrammable Interface
Controller or Programmable Intelligent Computer.

As all other microcontrollers PIC

Microcontroller can be programmed using Assembly Language. As it is
little bit difficult we prefer High Level Languages. Many high level
language compilers are available for programming a PIC Microcontroller
like MikroC, MPLAB XC8, Hi-Tech C, CCS C etc. In this tutorial we will use
CCS C Compiler. CCS stands for Custom Computer Services, a Microchip
PIC Microcontroller Tool Solutions company.

MikroC and CCS C are the best compilers for beginners as they includes a
lot of built in libraries which enable us to program a PIC Microcontroller
without the deep knowledge of its internal architecture. I think CCS C is
the best High Level Language Compiler for PIC Microcontroller as it is
almost hardware independent.

For more information and for downloading CCS Compiler please visit their
website.

In this tutorial we will learn how to write outputs to an IO pin. In the

following section, I am going to explain the basics of PIC Microcontroller
Input Output configurations. As we are using CCS C Compiler you may skip
it but every PIC programmer should know it. In this experiment we are
using PIC 16F877A microcontroller.
PIC 16F877A PIN Diagram

VDD and VSS are the pins for providing power. For PIC 16F877A, VDD = 5V
and VSS = GND (0V). Pin 13 & 14, OSC1 and OSC2 are for connecting
oscillator which will provide the necessary clock for the operation of
microcontroller. The 1st pin MCLR is the reset pin of PIC Microcontroller, it is
an active low input. It should be connected to HIGH (VDD) for normal
operations. IO (Input Output) pins in a PIC Microcontroller is divided in to
different ports, eg : PORTA, PORTB, PORTC, PORTD etc. Each PORT is
associated with two registers, TRIS and PORT which are named as TRISA,
PORTA, TRISB, PORTB etc.

TRIS and PORT Registers in PIC

Microcontroller
PORT and TRIS Register in PIC Microcontroller

PORT and TRIS are the registers which handle discrete IO operations in
PIC Microcontroller. TRIS stands for Tri-state. TRIS register determines
the function of an IO pin. Logic 1 at TRIS register makes the
corresponding pin Input while Logic 0 at TRIS register makes the
corresponding pin Output. PORT register can be used to read input pins or
to write status of output pins. For an Output Pin, Logic 1 at PORT register
makes the corresponding pin HIGH state (VDD) while Logic 0 at PORT
register makes the corresponding pin LOW state (VSS). Reading PORT
register reads the actual voltage levels on IO pins. If the actual voltage
level is near to HIGH Level (VDD), corresponding PORT bit will be 1 and if
the voltage level is near to LOW Level (VSS), corresponding PORT bit will
be 0. Hope that you can understand its working from the above image.

Prerequisite Knowledge

You should know the basics of C Programming for developing projects in

CCS C Compiler. Following are some C concepts that may help you.
  A number with a prefix ‘0b’ indicates a binary number.
 A number with a prefix ‘0’ indicates an octal number.
 A number with a prefix ‘0x’ indicates a hexadecimal number.
 A number without prefix is a decimal number.

Let’s see some examples…

Decimal Binary Octal Hexadecimal

0 0b00000000 00 0x00

1 0b00000001 01 0x01

128 0b10000000 0200 0x80

255 0b11111111 0377 0xFF

CCS C Discrete IO Functions

get_tris_x()

This function is used to read TRIS register. Examples are given below.

tris_a = get_tris_A(); //Reads TRISA register

tris_b = get_tris_B(); //Reads TRISB register

set_tris_x()

This function is used to write TRIS register. Examples are given below.

set_tris_b(0xFF); //All pins of PORTB as Input

set_tris_c(0x00); //All pins of PORTC as Output
input_x()

This function is used to read data from an IO port, ie it returns the value of
a PORT register. This function sets direction of all pins of the specified port
as INPUT (TRIS bits 1) before reading the input. Examples are given
below.

a = input_a(); //Reads PORTA

b = input_b(); //Reads PORTB
c = input_c(); //Reads PORTC

output_x()

This function is used to write data to a PORT. This function sets direction of
all pins of specified port as OUTPUT (TRIS bits 0) before writing the output.
Examples are given below.

output_b(0xFF); //All pins of PORTB HIGH (VDD)

output_c(0x00); //All pins of PORTC LOW (VSS)

input()

This function returns the state of the specified pin. This function sets the
direction of the specified pin as INPUT (TRIS bit 1) before reading the
input. Examples are given below.

while(!input(PIN_B0)); //Waits for Pin B0 to goes HIGH

if(input(PIN_C0))
//Pin C0 is HIGH Now

output_bit()
This function writes the specified value (1 or 0) to the specified IO pin. This
function sets the direction of the IO pin to OUTPUT before writing the
value.

output_bit(PIN_B0, 1); //Makes the pin B0 logic HIGH (VDD)

output_bit(PIN_B7, 0); //Makes the pin B7 logic LOW (VSS)

input_state()

This function reads the state of a pin without changing the direction of that
pin as input() does.

b0 = input_state(PIN_B0); //Reads the state of B0 without changing its

direction
c0 = input_state(PIN_C0); //Reads the state of C0 without changing its
direction

input_change_x()

This function reads the value of the specified port and it compares with
the result of last time input_change_x() function was called. It returns an 8
bit or a 16 bit number representing the changes on the port. A 1
corresponds if the value has changed and 0 corresponds if the value has
unchanged.

portc_check = input_change_c();

output_float()

This function sets the specified pin to input mode (TRIS bit 1), which is in
high impedance state.

output_float(PIN_B3); //Makes pin B3 Input

output_float(PIN_C5); //Makes pin C5 Input

output_drive()
This function sets the specified pin to output mode (TRIS bit 0).

output_drive(PIN_B6); //Makes pin B6 output

output_drive(PIN_C3); //Makes pin C3 output

output_high()

This function sets the specified pin to HIGH state (VDD).

output_high(PIN_A0); //Makes pin A0 HIGH

output_high(PIN_E0); //Makes pin E0 HIGH

output_low()

This function sets the specified pin to LOW state (VSS).

output_low(PIN_A2); //Makes pin A2 LOW

output_low(PIN_E1); //Makes pin E1 LOW

output_toggle()

This function toggles the HIGH/LOW state of the specified pin.

output_toggle(PIN_B1); //Toggles the state of PIN B1

output_toggle(PIN_B2); //Toggles the state of PIN B2

Circuit Diagram – LED Blinking

Blinking LED using PIC Microcontroller – Circuit Diagram

CCS C – Starting a New Project

Hope you download CCS C compiler from CCS Website and installed it.

 Open the CCS C Software

 File >> New >> Project Wizard
Opening New Project Wizard

 Name the Project

Project Wizard – Save Project As

 Select the device and Set Clock frequency

Project Wizard – Select Device and Set Clock Frequency

 Click on Create Project

 The New Project Wizard is completed, now you can see code editor.
 Enter the Code

CCS C Code – LED Blinking

#include <main.h>
#use delay (clock=8000000)

void main()
{
while(TRUE)
{
output_high(PIN_B0); //LED ON
delay_ms(1000); //1 Second Delay
output_low(PIN_B0); //LED OFF
delay_ms(1000); //1 Second Delay
}
}

Enter the Code Here – CCS C Editor

 Then click on Compile

 This will generate, hex file in your project folder. This is the file that
to be burned to PIC Microcontroller. You can also simulate its
working in Proteus ISIS.

You can download the entire project files here.

[email protected]