Notes is only for reference

Module – 4
Interrupt Programming

Interrupt is one of the most important and powerful concepts and features
in microcontroller/processor applications. Almost all the real world and real time systems built around
microcontrollers and microprocessors make use of interrupts.

What is an Interrupt?
An interrupt refer to a notification, communicated to the controller, by a hardware device or software,
on receipt of which controller momentarily stops and responds to the interrupt. Whenever an interrupt
occurs the controller completes the execution of the current instruction and starts the execution of
an Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) or Interrupt Handler.
ISR is a piece of code that tells the processor or controller what to do when the interrupt occurs. After
the execution of ISR, controller returns back to the instruction it has jumped from (before the interrupt
was received). The interrupts can be either hardware interrupts or software interrupts.
Need of interrupts
An application built around microcontrollers generally has the following structure. It takes input from
devices like keypad, ADC etc; processes the input using certain algorithm; and generates an output
which is either displayed using devices like seven segment, LCD or used further to operate other devices
like motors etc. In such designs, controllers interact with the inbuilt devices like timers and other
interfaced peripherals like sensors, serial port etc. The programmer needs to monitor their status
regularly like whether the sensor is giving output, whether a signal has been received or transmitted,
whether timer has finished counting, or if an interfaced device needs service from the controller, and
so on. This state of continuous monitoring is known as polling.
In polling, the microcontroller keeps checking the status of other devices; and while doing so it does
no other operation and consumes all its processing time for monitoring. This problem can be addressed
by using interrupts. In interrupt method, the controller responds to only when an interruption occurs.
Thus in interrupt method, controller is not required to regularly monitor the status (flags, signals etc.)
of interfaced and inbuilt devices.

To understand the difference better, consider the following. The polling method is very much similar
to a salesperson. The salesman goes door-to-door requesting to buy its product or service. Like
controller keeps monitoring the flags or signals one by one for all devices and caters to whichever needs
its service. Interrupt, on the other hand, is very similar to a shopkeeper. Whosoever needs a service or
product goes to him and apprises him of his/her needs. In our case, when the flags or signals are
received, they notify the controller that they need its service.

Hardware & Software Interrupt

The interrupts in a controller can be either hardware or software. If the interrupts are generated by the
controller’s inbuilt devices, like timer interrupts; or by the interfaced devices, they are called the
hardware interrupts. If the interrupts are generated by a piece of code, they are termed as software
interrupts.
Multiple interrupts
What would happen if multiple interrupts are received by a microcontroller at the same instant? In such
a case, the controller assigns priorities to the interrupts. Thus the interrupt with the highest priority is
served first. However the priority of interrupts can be changed configuring the appropriate registers in
the code.
8051 Interrupts
The 8051 controller has six hardware interrupts of which five are available to the programmer. These
are as follows:

1. RESET interrupt – This is also known as Power on Reset (POR). When the RESET interrupt is
received, the controller restarts executing code from 0000H location. This is an interrupt which is not
available to or, better to say, need not be available to the programmer.

2. Timer interrupts – Each Timer is associated with a Timer interrupt. A timer interrupt notifies the
microcontroller that the corresponding Timer has finished counting.

3. External interrupts – There are two external interrupts EX0 and EX1 to serve external devices.
Both these interrupts are active low. In AT89C51, P3.2 (INT0) and P3.3 (INT1) pins are available for
external interrupts 0 and 1 respectively. An external interrupt notifies the microcontroller that an
external device needs its service.

4. Serial interrupt – This interrupt is used for serial communication. When enabled, it notifies the
controller whether a byte has been received or transmitted.

How is an interrupt serviced?

Every interrupt is assigned a fixed memory area inside the processor/controller. The Interrupt Vector
Table (IVT) holds the starting address of the memory area assigned to it (corresponding to every
interrupt).
The interrupt vector table (IVT) for AT89C51 interrupts is as follows :
 Interrupt ROM Location (Hex) Pin Flag clearing
Reset 0000 9 Auto
External interrupt 0 0003 12 Auto
Timer interrupt 0 000B – Auto
External interrupt 1 0013 13 Auto
Timer interrupt 1 001B – Auto
Serial COM interrupt 0023 – Programmer clears it

When an interrupt is received, the controller stops after executing the current instruction. It transfers
the content of program counter into stack. It also stores the current status of the interrupts internally
but not on stack. After this, it jumps to the memory location specified by Interrupt Vector
Table (IVT). After that the code written on that memory area gets executed. This code is known as
the Interrupt Service Routine (ISR) or interrupt handler. ISR is a code written by the programmer to
handle or service the interrupt.

Programming Interrupts
While programming interrupts, first thing to do is to specify the microcontroller which interrupts must
be served. This is done by configuring the Interrupt Enable (IE) register which enables or disables the
various available interrupts. The Interrupt Enable register has following bits to enable/disable the
hardware interrupts of the 8051 controller.

Bit Values of IE Register of 8051 Microcontroller

To enable any of the interrupts, first the EA bit must be set to 1. After that the bits corresponding to
the desired interrupts are enabled. ET0, ET1 and ET2 bits are used to enable the Timer Interrupts 0,
1 and 2, respectively. In AT89C51, there are only two timers, so ET2 is not used. EX0 and EX1 are
used to enable the external interrupts 0 and 1. ES is used for serial interrupt.

EA bit acts as a lock bit. If any of the interrupt bits are enabled but EA bit is not set, the interrupt will
not function. By default all the interrupts are in disabled mode.

Note that the IE register is bit addressable and individual interrupt bits can also be accessed.
Note that the IE register is bit addressable and individual interrupt bits can also be accessed.
For example –
IE = 0x81; enables External Interrupt0 (EX0)
IE = 0x88; enables Serial Interrupt
Setting the bits of IE register is necessary and sufficient to enable the interrupts. Next step is to specify
the controller what to do when an interrupt occurs. This is done by writing a subroutine or function
for the interrupt. This is the ISR and gets automatically called when an interrupt occurs. It is not
required to call the Interrupt Subroutine explicitly in the code.
An important thing is that the definition of a subroutine must have the keyword interrupt followed
by the interrupt number. A subroutine for a particular interrupt is identified by this number.

These subroutine numbers corresponding to different interrupts are tabulated below.

Number Interrupt Symbol

0 External0 EX0
1 Timer0 IT0
2 External1 EX1
3 Timer1 IT1
4 Serial ES
5 Timer2 ET2

For example : Interrupt routine for Timer1

void ISR_timer1(void) interrupt 3

{
<Body of ISR>
}
For example : Interrupt routine for External Interrupt0 (EX0)

void ISR_ex0(void) interrupt 0

{
<Body of ISR>
}
Note that the interrupt subroutines always have void return type. They never return a value.

Programming Timer Interrupts

1. Programming Timer Interrupts
The timer interrupts IT0 and IT1 are related to Timers 0 and 1, respectively. (Please refer 8051
Timers for details on Timer registers and modes.) The interrupt programming for timers involves
following steps :

1. Configure TMOD register to select timer(s) and its/their mode.

2. Load initial values in THx and TLx for mode 0 and 1; or in THx only for mode 2.
3. Enable Timer Interrupt by configuring bits of IE register.
4. Start timer by setting timer run bit TRx.
5. Write subroutine for Timer Interrupt. The interrupt number is 1 for Timer0 and 3 for Timer1.
 6. Note that it is not required to clear timer flag TFx.
7. To stop the timer, clear TRx in the end of subroutine. Otherwise it will restart from 0000H in
case of modes 0 or 1 and from initial values in case of mode 2.
8. If the Timer has to run again and again, it is required to reload initial values within the routine
itself (in case of mode 0 and 1). Otherwise after one cycle timer will start counting from 0000H.
Example code
Timer interrupt to blink an LED; Time delay in mode1 using interrupt method
// Use of Timer mode0 for blinking LED using interrupt method
// XTAL frequency 11.0592MHz
#include<reg51.h>
sbit LED = P1^0; //LED connected to D0 of port 1

void timer(void) interrupt 1 //interrupt no. 1 for Timer 0

{
led=~led; //toggle LED on interrupt
TH0=0xFC; // initial values loaded to timer
TL0=0x66;
}
main()
{
TMOD = 0x01; // mode1 of Timer0
TH0 = 0xFC; // initial values loaded to timer
TL0 = 0x66;
IE = 0x82; // enable interrupt
TR0 = 1; //start timer
while(1); // do nothing
}

Programming External Interrupts

2. Programming External Interrupts
The external interrupts are the interrupts received from the (external) devices interfaced with the
microcontroller. They are received at INTx pins of the controller. These can be level triggered or edge
triggered. In level triggered, interrupt is enabled for a low at INTx pin; while in case of edge triggering,
interrupt is enabled for a high to low transition at INTx pin. The edge or level trigger is decided by the
TCON register. The TCON register has following bits:

Bit Values of TCON Register of 8051 Microcontroller

Setting the IT0 and IT1 bits make the external interrupt 0 and 1 edge triggered respectively. By default
these bits are cleared and so external interrupt is level triggered.
Note: For a level trigger interrupt, the INTx pin must remain low until the start of the ISR and should
return to high before the end of ISR. If the low at INTx pin goes high before the start of ISR, interrupt
will not be generated. Also if the INTx pin remains low even after the end of ISR, the interrupt will be
generated once again. This is the reason why level trigger interrupt (low) at INTx pin must be four
machine cycles long and not greater than or smaller than this.

Following are the steps for using external interrupt:

1. Enable external interrupt by configuring IE register.
2. Write routine for external interrupt. The interrupt number is 0 for EX0 and 2 for EX1
respectively.
3.
Example 5.1
//Level trigger external interrupt
void main()
{
IE = 0x81;
while(1);
}
void ISR_ex0(void) interrupt 0
{
<body of interrupt>
}

Example 5.2
//Edge trigger external interrupt
void main()
{
IE = 0x84;
IT1 = 1;
while(1);
}
void ISR_ex1(void) interrupt 2
{
<body of interrupt>
}
Programming Serial Interrupt
To use the serial interrupt the ES bit along with the EA bit is set. Whenever one byte of data is sent or
received, the serial interrupt is generated and the TI or RI flag goes high. Here, the TI or RI flag needs
to be cleared explicitly in the interrupt routine (written for the Serial Interrupt).

The programming of the Serial Interrupt involves the following steps:

1. Enable the Serial Interrupt (configure the IE register).
2. Configure SCON register.
3. Write routine or function for the Serial Interrupt. The interrupt number is 4.
4. Clear the RI or TI flag within the routine.

Example 5.3
Send ‘A’ from serial port with the use of interrupt
// Sending ‘A’ through serial port with interrupt
// XTAL frequency 11.0592MHz
void main()
{
TMOD = 0x20;
TH1 = -1;
SCON = 0x50;
TR1 = 1;
IE = 0x90;
while(1);
}
void ISR_sc(void) interrupt 4
{
if(TI==1)
{
SBUF = ‘A’;
TI = 0;
}
else
RI = 0;
}
Example 5.4
// Receive data from serial port through interrupt
// XTAL frequency 11.0592MHz
void main()
{
TMOD = 0x20;
TH1 = -1;
SCON = 0x50;
TR1 = 1;
IE = 0x90;
while(1);
}
void ISR_sc(void) interrupt 4
{
unsigned char val;
if(TI==1)
{
TI = 0;
}
else
{
val = SBUF;
RI = 0;
}
}
Stepper Motor Interfacing:
Stepper motor is a widely used device that translates electrical pulses into mechanical movement.
Stepper motor is used in applications such as; disk drives, dot matrix printer, robotics etc,. The
construction of the motor is as shown in figure below.

Figure: Structure of stepper motor

It has a permanent magnet rotor called the shaft which is surrounded by a stator. Commonly used
stepper motors have four stator windings that are paired with a center – tapped common. Such motors
are called as four-phase or unipolar stepper motor. The stator is a magnet over which the electric coil
is wound. One end of the coil are connected commonly either to ground or +5V. The other end is
provided with a fixed sequence such that the motor rotates in a particular direction. Stepper motor
shaft moves in a fixed repeatable increment, which allows one to move it to a precise position.
Direction of the rotation is dictated by the stator poles. Stator poles are determined by the current sent
through the wire coils.

Step angle: Step angle is defined as the minimum degree of rotation with a single step.
No of steps per revolution = 360° / step angle Steps per second = (rpm x steps per revolution) / 60
Example: step angle = 2° No of steps per revolution = 180

Switching Sequence of Motor: As discussed earlier the coils need to be energized for the rotation.
This can be done by sending a bits sequence to one end of the coil while the other end is commonly
connected. The bit sequence sent can make either one phase ON or two phase ON for a full step
sequence or it can be a combination of one and two phase ON for half step sequence. Both are
tabulated below.
Full Step: Two Phase ON

Half Step (8 – sequence): The sequence is tabulated as below:

Figure: 8051 interface to stepper motor

The following example 1 to example 6 shown below will elaborate on the discussion done above:
Example 1: Write an ALP to rotate the stepper motor clockwise / anticlockwise continuously with full
step sequence.
Program:
MOV A, #66H
BACK: MOV P1, A
RR A
ACALL DELAY
SJMP BACK
DELAY: MOV R1, #100
UP1: MOV R2, #50
UP: DJNZ R2, UP
DJNZ R1, UP1
RET

Note: motor to rotate in anticlockwise use instruction RL A instead of RR A

Programming Stepper Motor with 8051 C
The following examples 5 and 6 will show the programming of stepper motor using 8051 C.
Digital-to-Analog (DAC) converter:
The DAC is a device widely used to convert digital pulses to analog signals. In this section we will
discuss the basics of interfacing a DAC to 8051. The two method of creating a DAC is binary weighted
and R/2R ladder. The Binary Weighted DAC, which contains one resistor or current source for each
bit of the DAC connected to a summing point. These precise voltages or currents sum to the correct
output value. This is one of the fastest conversion methods but suffers from poor accuracy because of
the high precision required for each individual voltage or current. Such high- precision resistors and
current-sources are expensive, so this type of converter is usually limited to 8-bit resolution or less.

The R-2R ladder DAC, which is a binary weighted DAC that uses a repeating cascaded structure of
resistor values R and 2R. This improves the precision due to the relative ease of producing equal valued
matched resistors (or current sources). However, wide converters perform slowly due to increasingly
large RC-constants for each added R-2R link.

The first criterion for judging a DAC is its resolution, which is a function of the number of binary
inputs. The common ones are 8, 10, and 12 bits. The number of data bit inputs decides the resolution
of the DAC since the number of analog output levels is equal to 2n, where n is the number of data bit
inputs. DAC0808: The digital inputs are converter to current Iout, and by connecting a resistor to the
Iout pin, we can convert the result to voltage. The total current Iout is a function of the binary numbers
at the D0-D7 inputs of the DAC0808 and the reference current Iref , and is as follows:

Usually reference current is 2mA. Ideally we connect the output pin to a resistor, convert this current
to voltage, and monitor the output on the scope. But this can cause inaccuracy; hence an opamp is
used to convert the output current to voltage. The 8051 connection to DAC0808 is as shown in the
figure below.
 Figure: 8051 connection to DAC0808

The following examples 9, 10 and 11 will show the generation of waveforms using DAC0808.
Analog-to-digital converter (ADC) interfacing:
ADCs (analog-to-digital converters) are among the most widely used devices for data acquisition. A
physical quantity, like temperature, pressure, humidity, and velocity, etc., is converted to electrical
(voltage, current) signals using a device called a transducer, or sensor We need an analog-to-digital
converter to translate the analog signals to digital numbers, so microcontroller can read them. ADC804
chip: ADC804 IC is an analog-to-digital converter. It works with +5 volts and has a resolution of 8
bits. Conversion time is another major factor in judging an ADC. Conversion time is defined as the
time it takes the ADC to convert the analog input to a digital (binary) number. In ADC804 conversion
time varies depending on the clocking signals applied to CLK R and CLK IN pins, but it cannot be
faster than 110μs.

Pin Description of ADC804:

CLK IN and CLK R: CLK IN is an input pin connected to an external clock source. To use the
internal clock generator (also called self-clocking), CLK IN and CLK R pins are connected to a
capacitor and a resistor and the clock frequency is determined by:
Typical values are R = 10K ohms and C =150pF. We get f = 606 kHz and the conversion time is
110μs.
Vref/2 : It is used for the reference voltage. If this pin is open (not connected), the analog input voltage
is in the range of 0 to 5 volts (the same as the Vcc pin). If the analog input range needs to be 0 to 4
volts, Vref/2 is connected to 2 volts. Step size is the smallest change can be discerned by an ADC

D0-D7: The digital data output pins. These are tri-state buffered. The converted data is accessed only
when CS =0 and RD is forced low. To calculate the output voltage, use the following formula

Dout = digital data output (in decimal),

Vin = analog voltage, and
step size (resolution) is the smallest change

Analog ground and digital ground: Analog ground is connected to the ground of the analog Vin and
digital ground is connected to the ground of the Vcc pin. To isolate the analog Vin signal from transient
voltages caused by digital switching of the output D0 – D7. This contributes to the accuracy of the
digital data output.

Vin(+) & Vin(-): Differential analog inputs where Vin = Vin (+) – Vin (-). Vin (-) is connected to
ground and Vin (+) is used as the analog input to be converted.

RD: Is “output enable” a high-to-low RD pulse is used to get the 8-bit converted data out of ADC804.

INTR: It is “end of conversion” When the conversion is finished, it goes low to signal the CPU that
the converted data is ready to be picked up.

WR: It is “start conversion” When WR makes a low-to-high transition, ADC804 starts converting the
analog input value of Vin to an 8- bit digital number.
CS: It is an active low input used to activate ADC804.

The following steps must be followed for data conversion by the ADC804 chip:
1. Make CS= 0 and send a L-to-H pulse to pin WR to start conversion.
2. Monitor the INTR pin, if high keep polling but if low, conversion is complete, go to next step.
3. Make CS= 0 and send a H-to-L pulse to pin RD to get the data out

The following figure shows the read and write timing for ADC804.

The following figures shows the self-clocking with the RC component for frequency and the external
frequency connected to XTAL2 of 8051.
ADC0808/0809 chip: ADC808 has 8 analog inputs. It allows us to monitor up to 8 different
transducers using only single chip. The chip has 8-bit data output just like the ADC804. The 8 analog
input channels are multiplexed and selected according to the values given to the three address pins, A,
B, and C. that is; if CBA=000, CH0 is selected; CBA=011, CH3 is selected and so on. The pin details
of ADC0808 are as shown in the figure below. (Explanation can be done as is with ADC0804).

Steps to Program ADC0808/0809

1. Select an analog channel by providing bits to A, B, and C addresses.
2. Activate the ALE pin. It needs an L-to-H pulse to latch in the address.
3. Activate SC (start conversion) by an H-to-L pulse to initiate conversion.
4. Monitor EOC (end of conversion) to see whether conversion is finished.
5. Activate OE (output enable) to read data out of the ADC chip. An H-to-L pulse to the OE pin will
bring digital data out of the chip.
LCD Interfacing:
LCD is finding widespread use replacing LEDs for the following reasons: The declining prices of LCD
The ability to display numbers, characters, and graphics Incorporation of a refreshing controller into
the LCD, thereby relieving the CPU of the task of refreshing the LCD Ease of programming for
characters and graphics.

Command codes
LCD timing diagram for reading and writing is as shown in the below figures.

Sending Data/ Commands to LCDs with Time Delay: To send any of the commands to the LCD,
make pin RS=0. For data, make RS=1. Then send a high-to-low pulse to the E pin to enable the internal
latch of the LCD.