BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R

Module No: 4
8051 SERIAL PORT PROGRAMMING IN ASSEMBLY AND C
Computers transfer data in two ways: parallel and serial. In parallel data transfers, often 8 or
more lines (wire conductors) are used to transfer data to a device that is only a few feet away.
Examples of parallel transfers are printers and hard disks; each uses cables with many wire
strips. Although in such cases a lot of data can be transferred in a short amount of time by using
many wires in parallel, the distance cannot be great. To transfer to a device located many meters
away, the serial method is used. In serial communication, the data is sent one bit at a time, in
contrast to parallel communication, in which the data is sent a byte or more at a time. The 8051
has serial communication capability built into it, thereby making possible fast data transfer using
only a few wires.
BASICS OF SERIAL COMMUNICATION
When a microcontroller communicates with the outside world, it provides the data in byte-sized
chunks. In some cases, such as printers, the information is simply grabbed from the 8-bit data
bus and presented to the 8-bit data bus of the printer. This can work only if the cable is not too
long, since long cables diminish and even distort signals. Furthermore, an 8-bit data path is
expensive. For these reasons, serial communication is used for transferring data between two
systems located at distances of hundreds of feet to millions of miles apart. Figure 10-1 diagrams
serial versus parallel data transfers.

Fig: Serial vs Parallel transfer

The fact that serial communication uses a single data line instead of the 8-bit data line of parallel
communication not only makes it much cheaper but also enables two computers located in two

Dept. of E&EE
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
different cities to communicate over the telephone. For serial data communication to work, the
byte of data must be converted to serial bits using a parallel-in-serial-out shift register; then it can
be transmitted over a single data line. This also means that at the receiving end there must be a
serial-in-parallel-out shift register to receive the serial data and pack them into a byte. Of course,
if data is to be transferred on the telephone line, it must be converted from Os and 1s to audio
tones, which are sinusoidal-shaped signals. This conversion is performed by a peripheral device
called a modem, which stands for “modulator/demodulator.”
When the distance is short, the digital signal can be transferred as it is on a simple wire and
requires no modulation. This is how IBM PC keyboards transfer data to the motherboard.
However, for long-distance data transfers using communication lines such as a telephone, serial
data communication requires a modem to modulate (convert from Os and 1 s to audio tones) and
demodulate (converting from audio tones to Os and 1 s).
Serial data communication uses two methods, Asynchronous and Synchronous. The synchronous
method transfers a block of data (characters) at a time, while the asynchronous method transfers
a single byte at a time. It is possible to write software to use either of these methods, but the
programs can be tedious and long. For this reason, there are special IC chips made by many
manufacturers for serial data communications. These chips are commonly referred to as UART
(universal asynchronous receiver-transmitter) and USART (universal synchronous-asynchronous
receiver-transmitter). The 8051 chip has a built-in UART.
Half- and full-duplex transmission
In data transmission if the data can be transmitted and received, it is a duplex transmission. This
is in contrast to simplex transmissions such as with printers, in which the computer only sends
data. Duplex transmissions can be half or full duplex, depending on whether or not the data
transfer can be simultaneous. If data is transmitted one way at a time, it is referred to as half
duplex. If the data can go both ways at the same time, it is full duplex. Of course, full duplex
requires two wire conductors for the data lines (in addition to the signal ground), one for
transmission and one for reception, in order to transfer and receive data simultaneously.

Dept. of E&EE
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R

Fig: Simplex, duplex transfer

Asynchronous serial communication and data framing
Asynchronous serial data communication is widely used for character-oriented
transmissions, while block-oriented data transfers use the synchronous method. In the
asynchronous method, each character is placed between start and stop bits. This is called
framing. In data framing for asynchronous communications, the data, such as ASCII characters,
are packed between a start bit and a stop bit. The start bit is always one bit, but the stop bit can
be one or two bits. The start bit is always a 0 (low) and the stop bit(s) is 1 (high). For example,
look at Figure in which the ASCII character “A” (8-bit binary 0100 0001) is framed between the
start bit and a single stop bit. Notice that the LSB is sent out first.

Fig: Data framing

when there is no transfer, the signal is 1 (high), which is referred to as mark. The 0 (low) is
referred to as space. Notice that the transmission begins with a start bit followed by DO, which

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K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
is the LSB, then the rest of the bits until the MSB (D7), and finally, the one stop bit indicating
the end of the character “A”.
In asynchronous serial communications, peripheral chips and modems can be programmed for
data that is 7 or 8 bits wide. This is in addition to the number of stop bits, 1 or 2. While in older
systems ASCII characters were 7-bit, in recent years, due to the extended ASCII characters, 8-bit
data has become common. In some older systems, due to the slowness of the receiving
mechanical device, two stop bits were used to give the device sufficient time to organize itself
before transmission of the next byte. In modern PCs however, the use of one stop bit is standard.
Assuming that we are transferring a text file of ASCII characters using 1 stop bit, we have a total
of 10 bits for each character: 8 bits for the ASCII code, and 1 bit each for the start and stop bits.
Therefore, for each 8-bit character there are an extra 2 bits, which gives 20% overhead.
In some systems, the parity bit of the character byte is included in the data frame in order to
maintain data integrity. This means that for each character (7- or 8-bit, depending on the system)
we have a single parity bit in addition to start and stop bits. The parity bit is odd or even. In the
case of an odd-parity bit the number of data bits, including the parity bit, has an odd number of
1s. Similarly, in an even-parity bit system the total number of bits, including the parity bit, is
even. For example, the ASCII character “A”, binary 0100 0001, has 0 for the even-parity bit.
UART chips allow programming of the parity bit for odd-, even-, and no-parity options.
In Asynchronous Serial Data Communication Pins TxD (P3.1) and RxD (P3.0) are used for
transmitting and receiving the data serially. Figure below shows synchronous serial data
communication which uses a common clock for synchronization of transmitter and
receiver.

Data transfer rate

The rate of data transfer in serial data communication is stated in bps (bits per second). Another
widely used terminology for bps is baud rate. However, the baud and bps rates are not

Dept. of E&EE
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
necessarily equal. This is due to the fact that baud rate is the modem terminology and is defined
as the number of signal changes per second. In modems a single change of signal, sometimes
transfers several bits of data. As far as the conductor wire is concerned, the baud rate and bps are
the same, and for this reason in this book we use the terms bps and baud interchangeably.
The data transfer rate of a given computer system depends on communication ports incorporated
into that system. For example, the early IBM PC/XT could transfer data at the rate of 100 to
9600 bps. In recent years, however, Pentium-based PCs transfer data at rates as high as 56K bps.
It must be noted that in asynchronous serial data communication, the baud rate is generally
limited to 100,000 bps.
RS232 standards
To allow compatibility among data communication equipment made by various manufacturers,
an interfacing standard called RS232 was set by the Electronics Industries Association (EIA) in
1960. In 1963 it was modified and called RS232A. RS232B and RS232C were issued in 1965
and 1969, respectively. Today, RS232 is the most widely used serial I/O interfacing standard.
This standard is used in PCs and numerous types of equipment. However, since the standard was
set long before the advent of the TTL logic family, its input and output voltage levels are not
TTL compatible. In RS232, a 1 is represented by -3 to -25 V, while a 0 bit is +3 to +25 V,
making -3 to +3 undefined. For this reason, to connect any RS232 to a micro controller system
we must use voltage converters such as MAX232 to convert the TTL logic levels to the RS232
voltage levels, and vice versa. MAX232 IC chips are commonly referred to as line drivers.
RS232 pins
Figure shows DB 25 connector. But IBM introduced the DB-9 version of the serial I/O standard,
which uses 9 pins only,

Fig: DB 25 connector

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 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R

Fig: DB 9 connector

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 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R

fig: Pin description of DB-25

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 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R

fig: Pin description of DB-9

Data Communication
Current terminology classifies data communication equipment as DTE (data terminal equipment)
or DCE (data communication equipment). DTE refers to terminals and computers that send and
receivedata, while DCE refers to communication equipment, such as modems, that are
responsible for transferring the data.
The simplest connection between a PC and microcontroller requires a minimum of three pins,
TxD, RxD, and ground, Notice in that figure that the RxD and TxD pins are interchanged.
Examining RS232 handshaking signals

Fig:Null modem connection

The simplest connection between a PC and microcontroller requires a minimum of three pins,
TxD,RxD, and ground, Notice in that figure that the RxD and TxD pins are interchanged.

Dept. of E&EE
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
Examining RS232 handshaking signals
To ensure fast and reliable data transmission between two devices, the data transfer must be
coordinated. Just as in the case of the printer, because the receiving device in serial data
communication may have no room for the data, there must be a way to inform the sender to stop
sending data. Many of the pins of the RS-232 connector are used for handshaking signals.
1. DTR(data terminal ready). When a terminal (or a PC COM port) is turned on, after going
through a self-test, it sends out signal DTR to indicate that it is ready for communication.
If there is something wrong with the COM port, this signal will not be activated. This is an
active-low signal and can be used to inform the modem that the computer is alive and
kicking. This is an output pin from DTE (PC COM port) and an input to the modem.DSR
(data set ready).
2. When DCE (modem) is turned on and has gone through the self-test, it asserts DSR to
indicate that it is ready to communicate. Thus, it is an output from the modem (DCE) and
input to the PC (DTE). This is an active- low signal. If for any reason the modem cannot
make a connection to the telephone, this signal remains inactive, indicating to the PC (or
terminal) that it cannot accept or send data.
3. RTS (request to send). When the DTE device (such as a PC) has a byte to transmit, it asserts
RTS to
signal the modem that it has a byte of data to transmit. RTS is an active-low output from the
DTE and an input to the modem.
4. CTS (clear to send). In response to RTS, when the modem has room for storing the data it is to
receive, it sends out signal CTS to the DTE (PC) to indicate that it can receive the data now. This
input signal to the DTE is used by the DTE to start transmission.
5. DCD (carrier detect, or DCD, data carrier detect). The modem asserts signal DCD to inform
the DTE (PC) that a valid carrier has been detected and that contact between it and the other
modem is established. Therefore, DCD is an output from the modern and an input to the PC
(DTE).
6. RI (ring indicator). An output from the modem (DCE) and an input to a PC (DTE) indicates
that the telephone is ringing. It goes on and off in synchronization with the ringing sound. Of the
six handshake signals, this is the least often used, due to the fact that modems take care of

Dept. of E&EE
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
answering the phone.
However, if the PC is in charge of answering the phone, this signal can be used.
While signals DTE and DSR are used by the PC and modem, respectively, to indicate that they
are alive and well, it is RTS and CTS that actually control the flow of data. When the PC wants
to send data it asserts RTS, and in response, if the modem is ready (has room) to accept the data,
it sends back CTS. If, for lack of room, the modem does not activate CTS, the PC will deassert
DTR and try again. RTS and CTS are also referred to as hardware control flow signals.

Serial Interface
The serial port of 8051 is full duplex, i.e., it can transmit and receive simultaneously. The
register SBUF is used to hold the data. The special function register SBUF is physically two
registers. One is, write-only and is used to hold data to be transmitted out of the 8051 via TXD.
The other is, read-only and holds the received data from external sources via RXD. Both
mutually exclusive registers have the same address 099H.
Serial Port Control Register (SCON)
SCON Register

Serial control register: SCON

SM0, SM1 : Serial port mode specifier
Register SCON controls serial data communication. Address: 098H (Bit addressable)
Mode select bits

SM0 SM1 MODE

0 0 Mode0

0 1 Mode1

1 0 Mode2

1 1 M ode3

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 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
SM2:used for multiprocessor communication.
REN: set or cleared by software to enable/disable reception.
TB8: Transmitted bit 8,not widely used.
RB8:Received bit 8.
TI:Transmit interrupt flag –set by the hardware at the beginning of the stop bit in
mode 1, must be cleared by software.
RI: Receive interrupt flag –set by the hardware halfway through the stop bit time in
mode1, must be cleared by software.
Programming the 8051 to transfer data serially
In programming the 8051 to transfer character bytes serially, the following steps must be taken.
1. The TMOD register is loaded with the value 20H, indicating the use of Timer
1 in mode 2 (8-bit auto-reload) to set the baud rate.
2. The TH1 is loaded with one of the values in Table 10-4 to set the baud rate for
serial data transfer (assuming XTAL = 11.0592 MHz).
3. The SCON register is loaded with the value 50H, indicating serial mode 1,
where an 8-bit data is framed with start and stop bits.
4. TR1 is set to 1 to start Timer 1.
5. TI is cleared by the “CLR TI” instruction.
6. The character byte to be transferred serially is written into the SBUF register.
7. The TI flag bit is monitored with the use of the instruction ” JNB TI, xx” to
see if the character has been transferred completely.
8. To transfer the next character, go to Step 5.
◻ Importance of the Tl flag
To understand the importance of the role of TI, look at the following sequence of steps that the
8051 goes through in transmitting a character via TxD.
1. The byte character to be transmitted is written into the SBUF register.
2. The start bit is transferred.
3. The 8-bit character is transferred one bit at a time.

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K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
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4. The stop bit is transferred. It is during the transfer of the stop bit that the 8051
raises the TI flag (TI =1), indicating that the last character was transmitted
and it is ready to transfer the next character.
5. By monitoring the TI flag, we make sure that we are not overloading the SBUF
register. If we write another byte into the SBUF register before TI is raised, the
untransmitted portion of the previous byte will be lost.
In other words, when the 8051 finishes transferring a byte, it raises the TI flag to indicate it is
ready for the next character. 6. After SBUF is loaded with a new byte, the TI flag bit must be
forced to 0 by the “CLR TI” instruction in order for this new byte to be transferred.
From the above discussion we conclude that by checking the TI flag bit, we know whether or not
the 8051 is ready to transfer another byte. More importantly, it must be noted that the TI flag bit
is raised by the 8051 itself when it finishes the transfer of data, whereas it must be cleared by the
programmer with an instruction such as “CLR TI”. It also must be noted that if we write a byte
into SBUF before the TI flag bit is raised, we risk the loss of a portion of the byte being
transferred. The TI flag bit can be checked by the instruction “JNB TI, . . .” .

Programming the 8051 to receive data serially

In the programming of the 8051 to receive character bytes serially, the following steps must be
taken.
1. The TMOD register is loaded with the value 20H, indicating the use of Timer
1 in mode 2 (8-bit auto-reload) to set the baud rate.
2. TH1 is loaded with one of the values in Table 10-4 to set the baud rate (assum
ing XTAL = 11.0592MHz).
3. The SCON register is loaded with the value 50H, indicating serial mode 1,
where 8-bit data is framed with start and stop bits and receive enable is turned
on.
4. TR1 is set to 1 to start Timer 1.RI is cleared with the “CLR RI” instruction.
5. The RI flag bit is monitored with the use of the instruction “JNB RI, xx” to
see if an entire character has been received yet. When RI is raised, SBUF has the byte. Its
contents are moved into a safe place.

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K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
6. To receive the next character, go to Step 5.
Importance of the Rl flag bit
In receiving bits via its RxD pin, the 8051 goes through the following steps.
1. It receives the start bit indicating that the next bit is the first bit of the charac
ter byte it is about to receive.
2. The 8-bit character is received one bit at time. When the last bit is received, a
byte is formed and placed in SBUF.
3. The stop bit is received. When receiving the stop bit the 8051 makes RI = 1,
indicating that an entire character byte has been received and must be picked
up before it gets overwritten by an incoming character.
4. By checking the RI flag bit when it is raised, we know that a character has been
received and is sitting in the SBUF register. We copy the SBUF contents to a
safe place in some other register or memory before it is lost.
5. After the SBUF contents are copied into a safe place, the RI flag bit must be
forced to 0 by the “CLR RI” instruction in order to allow the next received
character byte to be placed in SBUF. Failure to do this causes loss of the
received character.

Data Transmission
Transmission of serial data begins at any time when data is written to SBUF. Pin P3.1 (Alternate
function bit TXD) is used to transmit data to the serial data network. TI is set to 1 when data has been
transmitted. This signifies that SBUF is empty so that another byte can be sent.
Data Reception
Reception of serial data begins if the receive enable bit is set to 1 for all modes. Pin P3.0 (Alternate
function bit RXD) is used to receive data from the serial data network. Receive interrupt flag, RI, is set
after the data has been received in all modes. The data gets stored in SBUF register from where it can
be read.
Serial Data Transmission Modes:

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 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
Mode-0: In this mode, the serial port works like a shift register and the data transmission works synchronously
to the external circuitry for synchronization. The shift frequency or baud rate is always 1/12 of the oscillator freq

Fig : Data transmission/reception in Mode-0

In mode-1, the serial port functions as a standard Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter (UART) mode
received, the stop bit goes into RB8 in the special function register SCON. The baud rate is variable.
The following figure shows the way the bits are transmitted/ received.

Bit time= 1/fbaud

In receiving mode, data bits are shifted into the receiver at the programmed baud rate.
The data word (8-bits) will be loaded to SBUF if the following conditions are true.
 RI must be zero. (i.e., the previously received byte has been cleared from SBUF)
 Mode bit SM2 = 0 or stop bit = 1.
After the data is received and the data byte has been loaded into SBUF, RI becomes one.
Mode-1 baud rate generation:
Timer-1 is used to generate baud rate for mode-1 serial communication by using overflow flag
of the timer to determine the baud frequency. Timer-1 is used in timer mode-2 as an auto-reload
8-bit timer. The data rate is generated by timer-1 using the following formula.

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K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
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Where,
SMOD is the
fosc is the crystal oscillator frequency of the microcontroller
It can be noted that fosc/ (12 X [256- (TH1)]) is the timer overflow frequency in timer mode-2,
which is the auto-reload mode.
If timer-1 is not run in mode-2, then the baud rate is,

Timer-1 can be run using the internal clock, fosc/12 (timer mode) or from any external source via
pin T1 (P3.5) (Counter mode).
Serial Data Mode-2 - Multiprocessor Mode :
In this mode 11 bits are transmitted through TXD or received through RXD. The various bits are
th
as follows: a start bit (usually '0'), 8 data bits (LSB first), a programmable 9 (TB8 or RB8)bit
and a stop bit (usually '1').
th
While transmitting, the 9 data bit (TB8 in SCON) can be assigned the value '0' or '1'. For
example, if the information of parity is to be transmitted, the parity bit (P) in PSW could be
moved into TB8. On reception of the data, the 9 th bit goes into RB8 in 'SCON', while the stop bit
is ignored. The baud rate is programmable to either 1/32 or 1/64 of the oscillator frequency.

Mode-3 - Multi processor mode with variable baud rate :

In this mode 11 bits are transmitted through TXD or received through RXD. The various bits are:
a start bit (usually '0'), 8 data bits (LSB first), a programmable 9 th bit and a stop bit (usually '1').
Mode-3 is same as mode-2, except the fact that the baud rate in mode-3 is variable (i.e., just as in
mode-1).
f baud = (2 SMOD /32) * ( fosc / 12 (256-TH1)) .
This baudrate holds when Timer-1 is programmed in Mode-2.
Programming the 8051 to transfer data serially

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 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
Write a program for the 8051 to transfer letter “A” serially at 4800baud, continuously.
MOV TMOD,#20H ;timer 1, mode 2
MOV TH1,#-6 ;4800 baud rate
MOV SCON,#50H ;8-bit,1 stop,REN enabled
SETB TR1 ;start timer 1
AGAIN: MOV SBUF,#”A” ;letter “A” to be transferred
HERE: JNB TI,HERE ;wait for the last bit
CLR TI ;clear TI for next char
SJMP AGAIN ;keep sending A

Write a program to transfer the message “YES” serially at 9600 baud, 8-bit data, 1 stop bit.
Do this continuously.
MOV TMOD,#20H ;timer 1, mode 2
MOV TH1,#-3 ;9600 baud
MOV SCON,#50H
SETB TR1
AGAIN: MOV A,#”Y” ;transfer “Y”
ACALL TRANS
MOV A,#”E” ;transfer “E”
ACALL TRANS
MOV A,#”S” ;transfer “S”
ACALL TRANS
SJMP AGAIN ;keep doing it;serial data transfer subroutine
TRANS: MOV
HERE: JNB TI,HERE
CLR TI ;ge
RET

Baud Rates in the 8051

 Timer 1, mode 2 (8-bit, auto-reload)

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K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
 Define TH1 to set the baud rate.
XTAL = 11.0592 MHz
The system frequency = 11.0592 MHz / 12 = 921.6 kHz
Timer 1 has 921.6 kHz/ 32 = 28,800 Hz as source.
TH1=FDH means that UART sends a bit every 3 timer source.
Baud rate = 28,800/3= 9,600 Hz
Example
With XTAL = 11.0592 MHz, find the TH1 value needed to have the
following baud rates. (a) 9600 (b) 2400 (c) 1200
Solution:
With XTAL = 11.0592 MHz, we have:
The frequency of system clock = 11.0592 MHz / 12 = 921.6 kHz
The frequency sent to timer 1 = 921.6 kHz/ 32 = 28,800 Hz
(a) 28,800 / 3 = 9600 where -3 = FD (hex) is loaded into TH1
(b) 28,800 / 12 = 2400 where -12 = F4 (hex) is loaded into TH1
(c) 28,800 / 24 = 1200 where -24 = E8 (hex) is loaded into TH1
Registers Used in Serial Trans1fer Circuit
SUBF (Serial data buffer)
SCON (Serial control register)
PCON (Power control register)
SBUF Register
Serial data register: SBUF
MOV SBUF,#‟A‟ ;put char „A‟ to transmit
MOV SBUF,A ;send data from A
MOV A, SUBF ;receive and copy to A
An 8-bit register
Set the usage mode for two timers
For a byte of data to be transferred via the TxD line, it must be placed in the SBUF.
SBUF holds the byte of data when it is received by the 8051‟s RxD line.

Dept. of E&EE
 BANGALORE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
K.R. ROAD, V.V. PURAM, BANGALORE-560 004.
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGGINERING
Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R
Write a C program for 8051 to transfer the letter “A” serially at 4800 baud continuously.
Use 8-bit data and 1 stop bit.
Solution:
#include <reg51.h>
void main(void){
TMOD=0x20; //use Timer 1, mode 2
TH1=0xFA; //4800 baud rate
SCON=0x50;
TR1=1;
while (1) {
SBUF=„A‟; //place value in buffer
while (TI==0);
TI=0;
}
}
Write an 8051 C program to transfer the message “YES” serially at 9600 baud, 8-bit data,
1 stop bit. Do this continuously.
Solution:
#include <reg51.h>
void SerTx(unsigned char);
void main(void){
TMOD=0x20; //use Timer 1, mode 2
TH1=0xFD; //9600 baud rate
SCON=0x50;
TR1=1; //start timer
while (1) {
SerTx(„Y‟);
SerTx(„E‟);
SerTx(„S‟);
}

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Microcontroller [ BEE403]
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}
void SerTx(unsigned char x){
SBUF=x; //place value in buffer
while (TI==0); //wait until transmitted
TI=0;
}
Program the 8051 in C to receive bytes of data serially and put them in P1. Set the baud
rate at 4800, 8-bit data, and 1 stop bit.
Solution:
#include <reg51.h>
void main(void){
unsigned char mybyte;
TMOD=0x20; //use Timer 1, mode 2
TH1=0xFA; //4800 baud rate
SCON=0x50;
TR1=1; //start timer
while (1) { //repeat forever
while (RI==0); //wait to receive
mybyte=SBUF; //save value
P1=mybyte; //write value to port
RI=0;
}
}

Write an 8051 C Program to send the two messages “Normal Speed” and “High Speed” to
the serial port. Assuming that SW is connected to pin P2.0, monitor its status and set the
baud rate as follows:
SW = 0, 28,800 baud rate, SW = 1, 56K baud rate. Assume that XTAL = 11.0592 MHz for both
cases.
Solution:

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Microcontroller [ BEE403]
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#include <reg51.h>
sbit MYSW=P2^0; //input switch
void main(void){
unsigned char z;
unsigned char Mess1[]=“Normal Speed”;
unsigned char Mess2[]=“High Speed”;
TMOD=0x20; //use Timer 1, mode 2
TH1=0xFF; //28800 for normal
SCON=0x50;
TR1=1; //start timer
if(MYSW==0) {
for (z=0;z<12;z++) {
SBUF=Mess1[z]; //place value in buffer
while(TI==0); //wait for transmit
TI=0;
}
}
else {
PCON=PCON|0x80; //for high speed of 56K
for (z=0;z<10;z++) {
SBUF=Mess2[z]; //place value in buffer
while(TI==0); //wait for transmit
TI=0;
}
}
}
8051 Interrupt
A computer has only two ways to determine the conditions that exist in internal and external
circuits. One method uses software instructions that jump to subroutines on the status of flags
and port pins. The second method responds to hardware signals, called interrupts that force the

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Microcontroller [ BEE403]
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program to call a subroutine. Most applications of microcontroller involve responding to events
quickly enough to control the environment that generates the events termed real-time
programming.
An interrupt is an external or internal event that interrupts the microcontroller to inform it that a
device needs its service. A single microcontroller can serve several devices by two ways.
1) Interrupts
Whenever any device needs its service, the device notifies the microcontroller by sending it
an interrupt signal. Upon receiving an interrupt signal, the microcontroller interrupts whatever it
is doing and serves the device. The program which is associated with the interrupt is called the
interrupt service routine(ISR) or interrupt handle
2) Polling
The microcontroller continuously monitors the status of a given device. When the conditions
met, it performs the service. After that, it moves on to monitor the next device until everyone is
serviced. Polling can monitor the status of several devices and serve each of them as certain
conditions are met. The polling method is not efficient, since it wastes much of the
microcontroller‟s time by polling devices that do not need service. ex. JNB TF,target.
The advantage of interrupts is that the microcontroller can serve many devices (not all at
the same time). Each devices can get the attention of the microcontroller based on the assigned
Priority. For the polling method, it is not possible to assign priority since it checks all devices in
a round-robin fashion. The microcontroller can also ignore (mask) a device request for service.
This is not possible for the polling method. For every interrupt, there must be an interrupt service
routine (ISR), or interrupt handler. When an interrupt is invoked, the microcontroller runs the
interrupt service routine. For every interrupt, there is a fixed location in memory that holds the
address of its ISR. The group of memory locations set aside to hold the addresses of ISRs is
called interrupt vector table.

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Microcontroller [ BEE403]
Faculty : Lakshmi R

Upon activation of an interrupt, the microcontroller goes through the following steps

1. It finishes the instruction it is executing and saves the address of the next instruction (PC) on
the stack .
2. It also saves the current status of all the interrupts internally (i.e: not on the stack)
3. It jumps to a fixed location in memory, called the interrupt vector table, that holds the address
of the ISR
4. The microcontroller gets the address of the ISR from the interrupt vector table and jumps to it.
It starts to execute the interrupt service subroutine until it reaches the last instruction of the
subroutine which is RETI (return from interrupt).
5. Upon executing the RETI instruction, the microcontroller returns to the place where it was
interrupted. First, it gets the program counter (PC) address from the stack by popping the top
two bytes of the stack into the PC. Then it starts to execute from that address.

Basically there are Six interrupts allocated as follows

1) Reset – power-up reset

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2) Two interrupts are set aside for the timers: one for timer 0 and one for timer 1
3) Two interrupts are set aside for hardware. external interrupts ◻ P3.2 and P3.3 are for the
external hardware interrupts INT0 (or EX1), and INT1 (or EX2).
4) Serial communication has a single interrupt that belongs to both receive and transfer.

Upon reset, all interrupts are disabled (masked), meaning that none will be responded by the
microcontroller if they are activated. The interrupts must be enabled by software in order for the
microcontroller to respond to them.
What is difference between RET and RETI Instructions.
The instruction RET is a return from a function or a subroutine while RETI is return from an
interrupt. The RETI instruction is executed at the end of interrupt subroutine. After the execution
of the RETI instruction the PC address will be restored from the stack.
Comparison between Call instruction and the Interrupt action can be as:

Call Instruction Interrupt Action

Completely under the control of Occurs at any time in the program

programmer

Placed in the program by the Enabled by the programmer

programmer

Execution is determined by where it is Calls the subroutine at any time and any
placed in the program place the program is executed

Table 1: Comparison of Call Instruction and Interrupt Action

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Interrupt Enable (IE) SFR:

This is a bit addressable SFR with byte address A8H. The bits and addresses are shown in table
2. The bits are explained below.

IE.7 IE.6 IE.5 IE.4 IE.3 IE.2 IE.1 IE.0

EA - ET2 ES ET1 EX1 ET0 EX0

AFH AEH ADH ACH ABH AAH A9H A8H

Table 2: Interrupt Enable SFR

EA: This bit is a global interrupt enable/disable bit. When set to 1, it permits individual
interrupts to be enable by their respective enable bits. When 0, it disables all interrupts.
IE.6: Not implemented
ET2: Reserved for future use.
ES: Enable serial port interrupt. Set to 1 by program to enable serial port interrupt. Cleared to 0
to disable serial port interrupt.
ET1: Enable (=1)/disable (=0) timer 1 interrupt
EX1: Enable (=1)/disable (=0) external interrupt 1
ET0: Enable (=1)/disable (=0) timer 0 interrupt
ET1: Enable (=1)/disable (=0) external interrupt 0

Interrupt Priority (IP):

This a bit addressable register, with byte address B8H. The addresses are shown in table 3. The
priority of the interrupts is determined by the bits of IP SFR. The bits which are set to 1, have a
high priority and bits with 0 have low priority. Interrupts with high priority can interrupt another
interrupt with low priority. The lower priority interrupt is serviced after higher priority interrupt
is finished.

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IP.7 IP.6 IP.5 IP.4 IP.3 IP.2 IP.1 IP.0

- - PT2 PS PT1 PX1 PT0 PX0

- - - BC BB BA B9 B8

Table 3: Interrupt Priority (IP)

IP.7 & IP.6: Not implemented
IP.5: Reserved for future use
PS: Serial port priority interrupt
PT1: Priority of timer 1 interrupt
PX1: Priority of external interrupt 1
PT0: Priority of timer 0 interrupt
PX0: Priority of external interrupt 0
When two or more interrupts have the same priority the microcontroller has its own ranking of
providing service which is as below:
 External Interrupt 0 (P3.2)
 Timer 0 Overflow
 External Interrupt 0 (P3.3)
 Timer 1 Overflow
 Serial port
To enable an interrupt, we take the following steps:
1. Bit D7 of the IE register (EA) must be set to high to allow the rest of register to take effect
2. The value of EA. If EA = 1, interrupts are enabled and will be responded to if their
corresponding bits in IE are high. If EA = 0, no interrupt will be responded to, even if the
associated bit in the IE register is high.

Example

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Show the instructions to (a) enable the serial interrupt, timer 0 interrupt, and external hardware
interrupt 1 (EX1),and (b) disable (mask) the timer 0 interrupt, then (c) show how to disable all
the interrupts with a single instruction.
Solution:
(a) MOV IE,#10010110B ;enable serial,;timer 0, EX1 Another way to perform the same
manipulation is SETB IE.7 ;EA=1, global enable
SETB IE.4 ;enable serial interrupt
SETB IE.1 ;enable Timer 0 interrupt
SETB IE.2 ;enable EX1
(b) CLR IE.1 ;mask (disable) timer 0
;interrupt only
(c) CLR IE.7 ;disable all interrupts
The timer flag (TF) is raised when the timer rolls over .In polling TF, we have to wait
until the TF is raised. The problem with this method is that the microcontroller is tied down
while waiting for TF to be raised, and cannot do anything else.
Using interrupts solves this problem and, avoids tying down the controller. If the timer interrupt
in the IE register is enabled, whenever the timer rolls over, TF is raised, and the microcontroller
is interrupted in whatever it is doing, and jumps to the interrupt vector table to service the ISR. In
this way, the microcontroller can do other until it is notified that the timer has rolled over.

Example
Write a program that continuously get 8-bit data from P0 and sends it to P1 while
simultaneously creating a square wave of 200 μs period on pin P2.1. Use timer 0 to create
the square wave. Assume that XTAL = 11.0592 MHz.
Solution:
We will use timer 0 in mode 2 (auto reload). TH0 = 100/1.085 us = 92;--upon wake-up go to
main, avoid using ;memory allocated to Interrupt Vector Table
ORG 0000H
LJMP MAIN ;by-pass interrupt vector table;--ISR for timer 0 to generate square wave
ORG 000BH ;Timer 0 interrupt vector table

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CPL P2.1 ;toggle P2.1 pin
RETI ;
The main program for initialization
ORG 0030H ;after vector table space
MAIN: MOV TMOD,#02H ;Timer 0, mode 2
MOV P0,#0FFH ;make P0 an input port
MOV TH0,#-92 ;TH0=A4H for -92
MOV IE,#82H ;IE=10000010 (bin) enable;Timer 0
SETB TR0 ;Start Timer 0
BACK: MOV A,P0 ;get data from P0
MOV P1,A ;issue it to P1
SJMP BACK ;keep doing it loop;unless interrupted by TF0
END
Example
Rewrite above Example to create a square wave that has a high portion of 1085 us and a
low portion of 15 us. Assume XTAL=11.0592MHz. Use timer 1.
Solution:
Since 1085 us is 1000 × 1.085 we need to use mode 1 of timer 1.
;--upon wake-up go to main, avoid using
;memory allocated to Interrupt Vector Table
ORG 0000H
LJMP MAIN ;by-pass int. vector table
;--ISR for timer 1 to generate square wave
ORG 001BH ;Timer 1 int. vector table
LJMP ISR_T1 ;jump to ISR
The main program for initialization
ORG 0030H ;after vector table space
MAIN: MOV TMOD,#10H ;Timer 1, mode 1
MOV P0,#0FFH ;make P0 an input port
MOV TL1,#018H ; TL1=18 low byte of -1000

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MOV TH1,#0FCH ;TH1=FC high byte of -1000
MOV IE,#88H ;10001000 enable Timer 1 int
SETB TR1 ;Start Timer 1
BACK: MOV A,P0 ;get data from P0
MOV P1,A ;issue it to P1
SJMP BACK ;keep doing it
;Timer 1 ISR. Must be reloaded, not auto-reload
ISR_T1: CLR TR1 ;stop Timer 1
MOV R2,#4 ; 2MC
CLR P2.1 ;P2.1=0, start of low portion
HERE: DJNZ R2,HERE ;4x2 machine cycle 8MC
MOV TL1,#18H ;load T1 low byte value 2MC
MOV TH1,#0FCH ;load T1 high byte value 2MC
SETB TR1 ;starts timer1 1MC
SETB P2.1 ;P2.1=1,back to high 1MC
RETI ;return to main
END

Example
Write a program to generate a square wave if 50Hz frequency on pin P1.2. This is similar
to Example 9-12 except that it uses an interrupt for timer 0. Assume that XTAL=11.0592
MHz
Solution:
ORG 0
LJMP MAIN
ORG 000BH ;ISR for Timer 0
CPL P1.2
MOV TL0,#00
MOV TH0,#0DCH
RETI

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ORG 30H
;--------main program for initialization
MAIN:MOV TM0D,#00000001B ;Timer 0, Mode 1
MOV TL0,#00
MOV TH0,#0DCH
MOV IE,#82H ;enable Timer 0 interrupt
SETB TR0
HERE:SJMP HERE
END

The 8051 has two external hardware interrupts. Pin 12 (P3.2) and pin 13 (P3.3) of the 8051,
designated as INT0 and INT1, are used as external hardware interrupts. The interrupt vector table
locations 0003H and 0013H are set aside for INT0 and INT1. There are two activation levels for
the external hardware interrupts.
1) Level trigged
2) Edge trigged

In the level-triggered mode, INT0 and INT1 pins are normally high.If a low-level signal is

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applied to them, it triggers the interrupt. Then the microcontroller stops whatever it is doing and
jumps to the interrupt vector table to service that interrupt. The low-level signal at the INT pin
must be removed before the execution of the last instruction of the ISR, RETI; otherwise,
another interrupt will be generated. This is called a level-triggered or level activated interrupt
and is the default mode upon reset of the 8051.

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