Most of the design goals become constrains on the development of the firmware:
- Step-direction Command interface
- Micro-Step modes: Full-Step, Half Step, 1/4, 1/8, 1/16, 1/5 and 1/10.
- Current Reduction after 1 second inactivity.
- Reference current "Morphing" versus Speed.
- Automatic Torque compensation.
- Active "high" (logic low to high transition) Step and Direction signals.
- 100Khz Maximum Step frequency.
The chosen microcontroller (ATtiny2313-20) adds extra constrains to the firmware:
Features of the Attiny2313-20 :
(The features used as advantages in our firmware are highlighted in bold, firmware constraining characteristics are in red)
• Utilizes the AVR® RISC Architecture
• AVR – High-performance and Low-power RISC Architecture
– 120 Powerful Instructions – Most Single Clock Cycle Execution
– 32 x 8 General Purpose Working Registers
– Fully Static Operation
– Up to 20 MIPS Throughput at 20 MHz
• Data and Non-volatile Program and Data Memories
– 2K Bytes of In-System Self Programmable Flash
Endurance 10,000 Write/Erase Cycles
– 128 Bytes In-System Programmable EEPROM
Endurance: 100,000 Write/Erase Cycles
– 128 Bytes Internal SRAM
– Programming Lock for Flash Program and EEPROM Data Security
• Peripheral Features
– One 8-bit Timer/Counter with Separate Prescaler and Compare Mode
– One 16-bit Timer/Counter with Separate Prescaler, Compare and Capture Modes
– Four PWM Channels
– On-chip Analog Comparator
– Programmable Watchdog Timer with On-chip Oscillator
– USI – Universal Serial Interface
– Full Duplex USART
• Special Microcontroller Features
– debugWIRE On-chip Debugging
– In-System Programmable via SPI Port
– External and Internal Interrupt Sources
– Low-power Idle, Power-down, and Standby Modes
– Enhanced Power-on Reset Circuit
– Programmable Brown-out Detection Circuit
– Internal Calibrated Oscillator
• I/O and Packages
– 18 Programmable I/O Lines
– 20-pin PDIP, 20-pin SOIC, 20-pad QFN/MLF
• Operating Voltages
– 1.8 - 5.5V (ATtiny2313V)
– 2.7 - 5.5V (ATtiny2313)
• Speed Grades
– ATtiny2313V: 0 - 4 MHz @ 1.8 - 5.5V, 0 - 10 MHz @ 2.7 - 5.5V
– ATtiny2313: 0 - 10 MHz @ 2.7 - 5.5V, 0 - 20 MHz @ 4.5 - 5.5V
• Typical Power Consumption
– Active Mode
1 MHz, 1.8V: 230 μA
32 kHz, 1.8V: 20 μA (including oscillator)
– Power-down Mode
Let's go a little deeper on some of the highlighted areas:
Flash Memory: The ATtiny2313 contains 2K bytes On-chip In-System Reprogrammable Flash memory for program storage. Since all AVR instructions are 16 or 32 bits wide, the Flash is organized as 1K x 16.
SRAM Data Memory:
The lower 224 data memory locations address both the Register File, the I/O memory, Extended I/O memory, and the internal data SRAM.
The first 32 locations address the Register File, the next 64 location the standard I/O memory, and the next 128 locations address the internal data SRAM.
The five different addressing modes for the data memory cover: Direct, Indirect with Displacement, Indirect, Indirect with Pre-decrement, and Indirect with Post-increment. In the Register File, registers R26 to R31 feature the indirect addressing pointer registers.
The direct addressing reaches the entire data space.
The Indirect with Displacement mode reaches 63 address locations from the base address given by the Y- or Z-register.
When using register indirect addressing modes with automatic pre-decrement and postincrement, the address registers X, Y, and Z are decremented or incremented.
The 32 general purpose working registers, 64 I/O Registers, and the 128 bytes of internal data SRAM in the ATtiny2313 are all accessible through all these addressing modes.
EEPROM Data Memory: The ATtiny2313 contains 128 bytes of data EEPROM memory. It is organized as a separate data space, in which single bytes can be read and written. The EEPROM has an endurance of at least 100,000 write/erase cycles.
8-bit Timer/Counter 0 with PWM: Timer/Counter0 is a general purpose 8-bit Timer/Counter module, with two independent Output Compare Units, and with PWM support. It allows accurate program execution timing (event management) and wave generation. The main features are:
• Two Independent Output Compare Units
• Double Buffered Output Compare Registers
• Clear Timer on Compare Match (Auto Reload)
• Glitch Free, Phase Correct Pulse Width Modulator (PWM)
• Variable PWM Period
• Frequency Generator
• Three Independent Interrupt Sources (TOV0, OCF0A, and OCF0B)
16-bit Timer/Counter1: The 16-bit Timer/Counter unit allows accurate program execution timing (event management), wave generation, and signal timing measurement. The main features are:
• True 16-bit Design (i.e., Allows 16-bit PWM)
• Two independent Output Compare Units
• Double Buffered Output Compare Registers
• One Input Capture Unit
• Input Capture Noise Canceler
• Clear Timer on Compare Match (Auto Reload)
• Glitch-free, Phase Correct Pulse Width Modulator (PWM)
• Variable PWM Period
• Frequency Generator
• External Event Counter
• Four independent interrupt Sources (TOV1, OCF1A, OCF1B, and ICF1)
External Interrupts
The External Interrupts are triggered by the INT0 pin, INT1 pin or any of the PCINT7..0 pins. Observe that, if enabled, the interrupts will trigger even if the INT0, INT1 or PCINT7..0 pins are configured as outputs. This feature provides a way of generating a software interrupt. The pin change interrupt PCIF will trigger if any enabled PCINT7..0 pin toggles. The PCMSK Register control which pins contribute to the pin change interrupts. Pin change interrupts on PCINT7..0 are detected asynchronously. This implies that these interrupts can be used for waking the part also from sleep modes other than Idle mode.
The INT0 and INT1 interrupts can be triggered by a falling or rising edge or a low level. When the INT0 or INT1 interrupt is enabled and is configured as level triggered, the interrupt will trigger as long as the pin is held low. Note that recognition of falling or rising edge interrupts on INT0 and INT1 requires the presence of an I/O clock. Low level interrupt on INT0 and INT1 is detected asynchronously. This implies that this interrupt can be used for waking the part from sleep modes other than Idle mode. The I/O clock is halted in all sleep modes except Idle mode.
Note that if a level triggered interrupt is used for wake-up from Power-down, the required level must be held long enough for the MCU to complete the wake-up to trigger the level interrupt. If the level disappears before the end of the Start-up Time, the MCU will still wake up, but no interrupt will be generated
Interrupt Response Time
The interrupt execution response for all the enabled AVR interrupts is four clock cycles minimum. After four clock cycles the program vector address for the actual interrupt handling routine is executed. During this four clock cycle period, the Program Counter is pushed onto the Stack. The vector is normally a jump to the interrupt routine, and this jump takes three clock cycles. If an interrupt occurs during execution of a multi-cycle instruction, this instruction is completed before the interrupt is served. If an interrupt occurs when the MCU is in sleep mode, the interrupt execution response time is increased by four clock cycles. This increase comes in addition to the start-up time from the selected sleep mode.
A return from an interrupt handling routine takes four clock cycles. During these four clock cycles, the Program Counter (two bytes) is popped back from the Stack, the Stack Pointer is incremented by two, and the I-bit in SREG is set.
Brown-out Detection
The ATtiny2313 has an On-chip Brown-out Detection (BOD) circuit for monitoring the VCC level during operation by comparing it to a fixed trigger level. The trigger level for the BOD can be selected by the BODLEVEL Fuses. The trigger level has a hysteresis to ensure spike free Brown-out Detection.
Watchdog Timer
The ATtiny2313 has an Enhanced Watchdog Timer (WDT). The main features are:
• Clocked from separate On-chip Oscillator
• 3 Operating modes
– Interrupt
– System Reset
– Interrupt and System Reset
• Selectable Time-out period from 16ms to 8s
• Possible Hardware fuse Watchdog always on (WDTON) for fail-safe mode.
The Watchdog Timer (WDT) is a timer counting cycles of a separate on-chip 128 kHz oscillator. The WDT gives an interrupt or a system reset when the counter reaches a given time-out value. In normal operation mode, it is required that the system uses the WDR - Watchdog Timer Reset - instruction to restart the counter before the time-out value is reached. If the system doesn't restart the counter, an interrupt or system reset will be issued.
In Interrupt mode, the WDT gives an interrupt when the timer expires. This interrupt can be used to wake the device from sleep-modes, and also as a general system timer. One example is to limit the maximum time allowed for certain operations, giving an interrupt when the operation has run longer than expected. In System Reset mode, the WDT gives a reset when the timer expires. This is typically used to prevent system hang-up in case of runaway code. The third mode, Interrupt and System Reset mode, combines the other two modes by first giving an interrupt and then switch to System Reset mode. This mode will for instance allow a safe shutdown by saving critical parameters before a system reset.
The Watchdog always on (WDTON) fuse, if programmed, will force the Watchdog Timer to System Reset mode. With the fuse programmed the System Reset mode bit (WDE) and Interrupt mode bit (WDIE) are locked to 1 and 0 respectively.
To further ensure program security, alterations to the Watchdog set-up must follow timed sequences. The sequence for clearing WDE and changing time-out configuration is as follows:
1. In the same operation, write a logic one to the Watchdog change enable bit (WDCE) and WDE. A logic one must be written to WDE regardless of the previous value of the WDE bit.
2. Within the next four clock cycles, write the WDE and Watchdog prescaler bits (WDP) as desired, but with the WDCE bit cleared. This must be done in one operation.
(to be continued)..........
