CH#3 - Embedded Systems - IO Programming
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G/herCH#3 - Embedded Systems - IO Programming
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G/herReal Time and Embedded System CH#3 – ES - I/O Programming By: Lecturer Abebe A.
(MSC in Computer Science)
CHAPTER THREE
Embedded Systems - I/O Programming
Overview
In 8051, I/O operations are done using four ports and 40 pins. The following pin diagram
shows the details of the 40 pins. I/O operation port reserves 32 pins where each port has 8 pins.
The other 8 pins are designated as Vcc, GND, XTAL1, XTAL2, RST, EA (bar), ALE/PROG
(bar), and PSEN (bar).
It is a 40 Pin PDIP (Plastic Dual Inline Package)
Note − In a DIP package, you can recognize the first pin and the last pin by the cut at the
middle of the IC. The first pin is on the left of this cut mark and the last pin (i.e. the 40 th pin in
this case) is to the right of the cut mark.
I/O Ports and their Functions
The four ports P0, P1, P2, and P3, each use 8 pins, making them 8-bit ports. Upon RESET, all
the ports are configured as inputs, ready to be used as input ports. When the first 0 is written to
a port, it becomes an output. To reconfigure it as an input, a 1 must be sent to a port.
Port 0 (Pin No 32 – Pin No 39)
It has 8 pins (32 to 39). It can be used for input or output. Unlike P1, P2, and P3 ports, we
normally connect P0 to 10K-ohm pull-up resistors to use it as an input or output port being an
open drain.
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Real Time and Embedded System CH#3 – ES - I/O Programming By: Lecturer Abebe A. (MSC in Computer Science)
It is also designated as AD0-AD7, allowing it to be used as both address and data. In case of
8031 (i.e. ROMless Chip), when we need to access the external ROM, then P0 will be used for
both Address and Data Bus. ALE (Pin no 31) indicates if P0 has address or data. When ALE =
0, it provides data D0-D7, but when ALE = 1, it has address A0-A7. In case no external
memory connection is available, P0 must be connected externally to a 10K-ohm pull-up
resistor.
Port 1 (Pin 1 through 8)
It is an 8-bit port (pin 1 through 8) and can be used either as input or output. It doesn't require
pull-up resistors because they are already connected internally. Upon reset, Port 1 is configured
as an input port. The following code can be used to send alternating values of 55H and AAH to
Port 1.
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Real Time and Embedded System CH#3 – ES - I/O Programming By: Lecturer Abebe A. (MSC in Computer Science)
If Port 1 is configured to be used as an output port, then to use it as an input port again,
program it by writing 1 to all of its bits as in the following code.
Port 2 (Pins 21 through 28)
Port 2 occupies a total of 8 pins (pins 21 through 28) and can be used for both input and output
operations. Just as P1 (Port 1), P2 also doesn't require external Pull-up resistors because they
are already connected internally. It must be used along with P0 to provide the 16-bit address
for the external memory. So it is also designated as (A0–A7), as shown in the pin diagram.
When the 8051 is connected to an external memory, it provides path for upper 8-bits of 16-bits
address, and it cannot be used as I/O. Upon reset, Port 2 is configured as an input port. The
following code can be used to send alternating values of 55H and AAH to port 2.
If Port 2 is configured to be used as an output port, then to use it as an input port again,
program it by writing 1 to all of its bits as in the following code.
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Real Time and Embedded System CH#3 – ES - I/O Programming By: Lecturer Abebe A. (MSC in Computer Science)
Port 3 (Pins 10 through 17)
It is also of 8 bits and can be used as Input/Output. This port provides some extremely
important signals. P3.0 and P3.1 are RxD (Receiver) and TxD (Transmitter) respectively and
are collectively used for Serial Communication. P3.2 and P3.3 pins are used for external
interrupts. P3.4 and P3.5 are used for timers T0 and T1 respectively. P3.6 and P3.7 are Write
(WR) and Read (RD) pins. These are active low pins, means they will be active when 0 is
given to them and these are used to provide Read and Write operations to External ROM in
8031 based systems.
Dual Role of Port 0 and Port 2
Dual role of Port 0 − Port 0 is also designated as AD0–AD7, as it can be used for both
data and address handling. While connecting an 8051 to external memory, Port 0 can
provide both address and data. The 8051 microcontroller then multiplexes the input as
address or data in order to save pins.
Dual role of Port 2 − Besides working as I/O, Port P2 is also used to provide 16-bit
address bus for external memory along with Port 0. Port P2 is also designated as (A8–
A15), while Port 0 provides the lower 8-bits via A0–A7. In other words, we can say that
when an 8051 is connected to an external memory (ROM) which can be maximum up to
64KB and this is possible by 16 bit address bus because we know 216 = 64KB. Port2 is
used for the upper 8-bit of the 16 bits address, and it cannot be used for I/O and this is the
way any Program code of external ROM is addressed.
Hardware Connection of Pins
Vcc − Pin 40 provides supply to the Chip and it is +5 V.
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Real Time and Embedded System CH#3 – ES - I/O Programming By: Lecturer Abebe A. (MSC in Computer Science)
Gnd − Pin 20 provides ground for the Reference.
XTAL1, XTAL2 (Pin no 18 & Pin no 19) − 8051 has on-chip oscillator but requires
external clock to run it. A quartz crystal is connected between the XTAL1 & XTAL2 pin of
the chip. This crystal also needs two capacitors of 30pF for generating a signal of desired
frequency. One side of each capacitor is connected to ground. 8051 IC is available in
various speeds and it all depends on this Quartz crystal, for example, a 20 MHz
microcontroller requires a crystal with a frequency no more than 20 MHz.
RST (Pin No. 9) − It is an Input pin and active High pin. Upon applying a high pulse on
this pin, that is 1, the microcontroller will reset and terminate all activities. This process is
known as Power-On Reset. Activating a power-on reset will cause all values in the
register to be lost. It will set a program counter to all 0's. To ensure a valid input of Reset,
the high pulse must be high for a minimum of two machine cycles before it is allowed to go
low, which depends on the capacitor value and the rate at which it charges. (Machine
Cycle is the minimum amount of frequency a single instruction requires in execution).
EA or External Access (Pin No. 31) − It is an input pin. This pin is an active low pin;
upon applying a low pulse, it gets activated. In case of microcontroller (8051/52) having
on-chip ROM, the EA (bar) pin is
connected to Vcc. But in an 8031
microcontroller which does not have
an on-chip ROM, the code is
stored in an external ROM and
then fetched by the microcontroller. In
this case, we must connect the (pin
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Real Time and Embedded System CH#3 – ES - I/O Programming By: Lecturer Abebe A. (MSC in Computer Science)
no 31) EA to Gnd to indicate that the program code is stored externally.
PSEN or Program store Enable (Pin No 29) − This is also an active low pin, i.e., it
gets activated after applying a low pulse. It is an output pin and used along with the EA
pin in 8031 based (i.e. ROMLESS) Systems to allow storage of program code in
external ROM.
ALE or (Address Latch Enable) − This is an Output Pin and is active high. It is
especially used for 8031 IC to connect it to the external memory. It can be used while
deciding whether P0 pins will be used as Address bus or Data bus. When ALE = 1, then
the P0 pins work as Data bus and when ALE = 0, then the P0 pins act as Address bus.
I/O Ports and Bit Addressability
It is a most widely used feature of 8051 while writing code for 8051. Sometimes we
need to access only 1 or 2 bits of the port instead of the entire 8-bits. 8051 provides the
capability to access individual bits of the ports.
While accessing a port in a single-bit manner, we use the syntax "SETB X. Y" where X
is the port number (0 to 3), and Y is a bit number (0 to 7) for data bits D0-D7 where D0
is the LSB and D7 is the MSB. For example, "SETB P1.5" sets high bit 5 of port 1.
The following code shows how we can toggle the bit P1.2 continuously.
Single-Bit Instructions
