Features
• High-performance, Low-power Atmel®AVR® 8-bit Microcontroller
• Advanced RISC Architecture
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
– 130 Powerful Instructions – Most Single-clock Cycle Execution
– 32 × 8 General Purpose Working Registers
– Fully Static Operation
– Up to 16MIPS Throughput at 16MHz
– On-chip 2-cycle Multiplier
High Endurance Non-volatile Memory segments
– 8Kbytes of In-System Self-programmable Flash program memory
– 512Bytes EEPROM
– 1Kbyte Internal SRAM
– Write/Erase Cycles: 10,000 Flash/100,000 EEPROM
– Data retention: 20 years at 85°C/100 years at 25°C(1)
– Optional Boot Code Section with Independent Lock Bits
In-System Programming by On-chip Boot Program
True Read-While-Write Operation
– Programming Lock for Software Security
Peripheral Features
– Two 8-bit Timer/Counters with Separate Prescaler, one Compare Mode
– One 16-bit Timer/Counter with Separate Prescaler, Compare Mode, and Capture
Mode
– Real Time Counter with Separate Oscillator
– Three PWM Channels
– 8-channel ADC in TQFP and QFN/MLF package
Eight Channels 10-bit Accuracy
– 6-channel ADC in PDIP package
Six Channels 10-bit Accuracy
– Byte-oriented Two-wire Serial Interface
– Programmable Serial USART
– Master/Slave SPI Serial Interface
– Programmable Watchdog Timer with Separate On-chip Oscillator
– On-chip Analog Comparator
Special Microcontroller Features
– Power-on Reset and Programmable Brown-out Detection
– Internal Calibrated RC Oscillator
– External and Internal Interrupt Sources
– Five Sleep Modes: Idle, ADC Noise Reduction, Power-save, Power-down, and
Standby
I/O and Packages
– 23 Programmable I/O Lines
– 28-lead PDIP, 32-lead TQFP, and 32-pad QFN/MLF
Operating Voltages
– 2.7V - 5.5V (ATmega8L)
– 4.5V - 5.5V (ATmega8)
Speed Grades
– 0 - 8MHz (ATmega8L)
– 0 - 16MHz (ATmega8)
Power Consumption at 4Mhz, 3V, 25C
– Active: 3.6mA
– Idle Mode: 1.0mA
– Power-down Mode: 0.5µA
8-bit Atmel with
8KBytes InSystem
Programmable
Flash
ATmega8
ATmega8L
Rev.2486AA–AVR–02/2013
ATmega8(L)
Pin
Configurations
PDIP
(RESET) PC6
(RXD) PD0
(TXD) PD1
(INT0) PD2
(INT1) PD3
(XCK/T0) PD4
VCC
GND
(XTAL1/TOSC1) PB6
(XTAL2/TOSC2) PB7
(T1) PD5
(AIN0) PD6
(AIN1) PD7
(ICP1) PB0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
28
27
26
25
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
16
15
PC5 (ADC5/SCL)
PC4 (ADC4/SDA)
PC3 (ADC3)
PC2 (ADC2)
PC1 (ADC1)
PC0 (ADC0)
GND
AREF
AVCC
PB5 (SCK)
PB4 (MISO)
PB3 (MOSI/OC2)
PB2 (SS/OC1B)
PB1 (OC1A)
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
PD2 (INT0)
PD1 (TXD)
PD0 (RXD)
PC6 (RESET)
PC5 (ADC5/SCL)
PC4 (ADC4/SDA)
PC3 (ADC3)
PC2 (ADC2)
TQFP Top View
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
PC1 (ADC1)
PC0 (ADC0)
ADC7
GND
AREF
ADC6
AVCC
PB5 (SCK)
24
23
22
21
20
19
18
17
PC1 (ADC1)
PC0 (ADC0)
ADC7
GND
AREF
ADC6
AVCC
PB5 (SCK)
(T1) PD5
(AIN0) PD6
(AIN1) PD7
(ICP1) PB0
(OC1A) PB1
(SS/OC1B) PB2
(MOSI/OC2) PB3
(MISO) PB4
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
(INT1) PD3
(XCK/T0) PD4
GND
VCC
GND
VCC
(XTAL1/TOSC1) PB6
(XTAL2/TOSC2) PB7
32
31
30
29
28
27
26
25
PD2 (INT0)
PD1 (TXD)
PD0 (RXD)
PC6 (RESET)
PC5 (ADC5/SCL)
PC4 (ADC4/SDA)
PC3 (ADC3)
PC2 (ADC2)
MLF Top View
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
(T1) PD5
(AIN0) PD6
(AIN1) PD7
(ICP1) PB0
(OC1A) PB1
(SS/OC1B) PB2
(MOSI/OC2) PB3
(MISO) PB4
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
(INT1) PD3
(XCK/T0) PD4
GND
VCC
GND
VCC
(XTAL1/TOSC1) PB6
(XTAL2/TOSC2) PB7
NOTE:
The large center pad underneath the MLF
packages is made of metal and internally
connected to GND. It should be soldered
or glued to the PCB to ensure good
mechanical stability. If the center pad is
left unconneted, the package might
loosen from the PCB.
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ATmega8(L)
Overview
The Atmel®AVR® ATmega8 is a low-power CMOS 8-bit microcontroller based on the AVR RISC
architecture. By executing powerful instructions in a single clock cycle, the ATmega8 achieves
throughputs approaching 1MIPS per MHz, allowing the system designer to optimize power consumption versus processing speed.
Block Diagram
Figure 1. Block Diagram
XTAL1
RESET
PC0 - PC6
PB0 - PB7
VCC
XTAL2
GND
PORTC DRIVERS/BUFFERS
PORTB DRIVERS/BUFFERS
PORTC DIGITAL INTERFACE
PORTB DIGITAL INTERFACE
MUX &
ADC
ADC
INTERFACE
PROGRAM
COUNTER
STACK
POINTER
PROGRAM
FLASH
SRAM
TWI
AGND
AREF
INSTRUCTION
REGISTER
GENERAL
PURPOSE
REGISTERS
TIMERS/
COUNTERS
OSCILLATOR
INTERNAL
OSCILLATOR
WATCHDOG
TIMER
OSCILLATOR
X
INSTRUCTION
DECODER
Y
MCU CTRL.
& TIMING
Z
CONTROL
LINES
ALU
INTERRUPT
UNIT
AVR CPU
STATUS
REGISTER
EEPROM
PROGRAMMING
LOGIC
SPI
USART
+
-
COMP.
INTERFACE
PORTD DIGITAL INTERFACE
PORTD DRIVERS/BUFFERS
PD0 - PD7
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The Atmel®AVR® core combines a rich instruction set with 32 general purpose working registers.
All the 32 registers are directly connected to the Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), allowing two independent registers to be accessed in one single instruction executed in one clock cycle. The
resulting architecture is more code efficient while achieving throughputs up to ten times faster
than conventional CISC microcontrollers.
The ATmega8 provides the following features: 8 Kbytes of In-System Programmable Flash with
Read-While-Write capabilities, 512 bytes of EEPROM, 1 Kbyte of SRAM, 23 general purpose
I/O lines, 32 general purpose working registers, three flexible Timer/Counters with compare
modes, internal and external interrupts, a serial programmable USART, a byte oriented Twowire Serial Interface, a 6-channel ADC (eight channels in TQFP and QFN/MLF packages) with
10-bit accuracy, a programmable Watchdog Timer with Internal Oscillator, an SPI serial port,
and five software selectable power saving modes. The Idle mode stops the CPU while allowing
the SRAM, Timer/Counters, SPI port, and interrupt system to continue functioning. The Powerdown mode saves the register contents but freezes the Oscillator, disabling all other chip functions until the next Interrupt or Hardware Reset. In Power-save mode, the asynchronous timer
continues to run, allowing the user to maintain a timer base while the rest of the device is sleeping. The ADC Noise Reduction mode stops the CPU and all I/O modules except asynchronous
timer and ADC, to minimize switching noise during ADC conversions. In Standby mode, the
crystal/resonator Oscillator is running while the rest of the device is sleeping. This allows very
fast start-up combined with low-power consumption.
The device is manufactured using Atmel’s high density non-volatile memory technology. The
Flash Program memory can be reprogrammed In-System through an SPI serial interface, by a
conventional non-volatile memory programmer, or by an On-chip boot program running on the
AVR core. The boot program can use any interface to download the application program in the
Application Flash memory. Software in the Boot Flash Section will continue to run while the
Application Flash Section is updated, providing true Read-While-Write operation. By combining
an 8-bit RISC CPU with In-System Self-Programmable Flash on a monolithic chip, the Atmel
ATmega8 is a powerful microcontroller that provides a highly-flexible and cost-effective solution
to many embedded control applications.
The ATmega8 is supported with a full suite of program and system development tools, including
C compilers, macro assemblers, program simulators, and evaluation kits.
Disclaimer
Typical values contained in this datasheet are based on simulations and characterization of
other AVR microcontrollers manufactured on the same process technology. Minimum and Maximum values will be available after the device is characterized.
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Pin Descriptions
VCC
Digital supply voltage.
GND
Ground.
Port B (PB7..PB0)
XTAL1/XTAL2/TOSC1/
TOSC2
Port B is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit). The
Port B output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source
capability. As inputs, Port B pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up
resistors are activated. The Port B pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active,
even if the clock is not running.
Depending on the clock selection fuse settings, PB6 can be used as input to the inverting Oscillator amplifier and input to the internal clock operating circuit.
Depending on the clock selection fuse settings, PB7 can be used as output from the inverting
Oscillator amplifier.
If the Internal Calibrated RC Oscillator is used as chip clock source, PB7..6 is used as TOSC2..1
input for the Asynchronous Timer/Counter2 if the AS2 bit in ASSR is set.
The various special features of Port B are elaborated in “Alternate Functions of Port B” on page
58 and “System Clock and Clock Options” on page 25.
Port C (PC5..PC0)
Port C is an 7-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit). The
Port C output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source
capability. As inputs, Port C pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up
resistors are activated. The Port C pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active,
even if the clock is not running.
PC6/RESET
If the RSTDISBL Fuse is programmed, PC6 is used as an I/O pin. Note that the electrical characteristics of PC6 differ from those of the other pins of Port C.
If the RSTDISBL Fuse is unprogrammed, PC6 is used as a Reset input. A low level on this pin
for longer than the minimum pulse length will generate a Reset, even if the clock is not running.
The minimum pulse length is given in Table 15 on page 38. Shorter pulses are not guaranteed to
generate a Reset.
The various special features of Port C are elaborated on page 61.
Port D (PD7..PD0)
Port D is an 8-bit bi-directional I/O port with internal pull-up resistors (selected for each bit). The
Port D output buffers have symmetrical drive characteristics with both high sink and source
capability. As inputs, Port D pins that are externally pulled low will source current if the pull-up
resistors are activated. The Port D pins are tri-stated when a reset condition becomes active,
even if the clock is not running.
Port D also serves the functions of various special features of the ATmega8 as listed on page
63.
RESET
Reset input. A low level on this pin for longer than the minimum pulse length will generate a
reset, even if the clock is not running. The minimum pulse length is given in Table 15 on page
38. Shorter pulses are not guaranteed to generate a reset.
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AVCC
AVCC is the supply voltage pin for the A/D Converter, Port C (3..0), and ADC (7..6). It should be
externally connected to VCC, even if the ADC is not used. If the ADC is used, it should be connected to VCC through a low-pass filter. Note that Port C (5..4) use digital supply voltage, VCC.
AREF
AREF is the analog reference pin for the A/D Converter.
ADC7..6 (TQFP and
QFN/MLF Package
Only)
In the TQFP and QFN/MLF package, ADC7..6 serve as analog inputs to the A/D converter.
These pins are powered from the analog supply and serve as 10-bit ADC channels.
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Resources
A comprehensive set of development tools, application notes and datasheets are available for
download on http://www.atmel.com/avr.
Note:
Data Retention
1.
Reliability Qualification results show that the projected data retention failure rate is much less
than 1 PPM over 20 years at 85°C or 100 years at 25°C.
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ATmega8(L)
About Code
Examples
This datasheet contains simple code examples that briefly show how to use various parts of the
device. These code examples assume that the part specific header file is included before compilation. Be aware that not all C compiler vendors include bit definitions in the header files and
interrupt handling in C is compiler dependent. Please confirm with the C compiler documentation
for more details.
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ATmega8(L)
Atmel AVR CPU
Core
Introduction
This section discusses the Atmel®AVR® core architecture in general. The main function of the
CPU core is to ensure correct program execution. The CPU must therefore be able to access
memories, perform calculations, control peripherals, and handle interrupts.
Architectural
Overview
Figure 2. Block Diagram of the AVR MCU Architecture
Data Bus 8-bit
Flash
Program
Memory
Program
Counter
Status
and Control
32 x 8
General
Purpose
Registrers
Control Lines
Direct Addressing
Instruction
Decoder
Indirect Addressing
Instruction
Register
Interrupt
Unit
SPI
Unit
Watchdog
Timer
ALU
Analog
Comparator
i/O Module1
Data
SRAM
i/O Module 2
i/O Module n
EEPROM
I/O Lines
In order to maximize performance and parallelism, the AVR uses a Harvard architecture – with
separate memories and buses for program and data. Instructions in the Program memory are
executed with a single level pipelining. While one instruction is being executed, the next instruction is pre-fetched from the Program memory. This concept enables instructions to be executed
in every clock cycle. The Program memory is In-System Reprogrammable Flash memory.
The fast-access Register File contains 32 × 8-bit general purpose working registers with a single
clock cycle access time. This allows single-cycle Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU) operation. In a typical ALU operation, two operands are output from the Register File, the operation is executed,
and the result is stored back in the Register File – in one clock cycle.
Six of the 32 registers can be used as three 16-bit indirect address register pointers for Data
Space addressing – enabling efficient address calculations. One of the these address pointers
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ATmega8(L)
can also be used as an address pointer for look up tables in Flash Program memory. These
added function registers are the 16-bit X-register, Y-register, and Z-register, described later in
this section.
The ALU supports arithmetic and logic operations between registers or between a constant and
a register. Single register operations can also be executed in the ALU. After an arithmetic operation, the Status Register is updated to reflect information about the result of the operation.
The Program flow is provided by conditional and unconditional jump and call instructions, able to
directly address the whole address space. Most AVR instructions have a single 16-bit word format. Every Program memory address contains a 16-bit or 32-bit instruction.
Program Flash memory space is divided in two sections, the Boot program section and the
Application program section. Both sections have dedicated Lock Bits for write and read/write
protection. The SPM instruction that writes into the Application Flash memory section must
reside in the Boot program section.
During interrupts and subroutine calls, the return address Program Counter (PC) is stored on the
Stack. The Stack is effectively allocated in the general data SRAM, and consequently the Stack
size is only limited by the total SRAM size and the usage of the SRAM. All user programs must
initialize the SP in the reset routine (before subroutines or interrupts are executed). The Stack
Pointer SP is read/write accessible in the I/O space. The data SRAM can easily be accessed
through the five different addressing modes supported in the AVR architecture.
The memory spaces in the AVR architecture are all linear and regular memory maps.
A flexible interrupt module has its control registers in the I/O space with an additional global
interrupt enable bit in the Status Register. All interrupts have a separate Interrupt Vector in the
Interrupt Vector table. The interrupts have priority in accordance with their Interrupt Vector position. The lower the Interrupt Vector address, the higher the priority.
The I/O memory space contains 64 addresses for CPU peripheral functions as Control Registers, SPI, and other I/O functions. The I/O Memory can be accessed directly, or as the Data
Space locations following those of the Register File, 0x20 - 0x5F.
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Arithmetic Logic
Unit – ALU
The high-performance Atmel®AVR® ALU operates in direct connection with all the 32 general
purpose working registers. Within a single clock cycle, arithmetic operations between general
purpose registers or between a register and an immediate are executed. The ALU operations
are divided into three main categories – arithmetic, logical, and bit-functions. Some implementations of the architecture also provide a powerful multiplier supporting both signed/unsigned
multiplication and fractional format. For a detailed description, see “Instruction Set Summary” on
page 311.
Status Register
The Status Register contains information about the result of the most recently executed arithmetic instruction. This information can be used for altering program flow in order to perform
conditional operations. Note that the Status Register is updated after all ALU operations, as
specified in the Instruction Set Reference. This will in many cases remove the need for using the
dedicated compare instructions, resulting in faster and more compact code.
The Status Register is not automatically stored when entering an interrupt routine and restored
when returning from an interrupt. This must be handled by software.
The AVR Status Register – SREG – is defined as:
Bit
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
I
T
H
S
V
N
Z
C
Read/Write
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
Initial Value
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
SREG
• Bit 7 – I: Global Interrupt Enable
The Global Interrupt Enable bit must be set for the interrupts to be enabled. The individual interrupt enable control is then performed in separate control registers. If the Global Interrupt Enable
Register is cleared, none of the interrupts are enabled independent of the individual interrupt
enable settings. The I-bit is cleared by hardware after an interrupt has occurred, and is set by
the RETI instruction to enable subsequent interrupts. The I-bit can also be set and cleared by
the application with the SEI and CLI instructions, as described in the Instruction Set Reference.
• Bit 6 – T: Bit Copy Storage
The Bit Copy instructions BLD (Bit LoaD) and BST (Bit STore) use the T-bit as source or destination for the operated bit. A bit from a register in the Register File can be copied into T by the
BST instruction, and a bit in T can be copied into a bit in a register in the Register File by the
BLD instruction.
• Bit 5 – H: Half Carry Flag
The Half Carry Flag H indicates a Half Carry in some arithmetic operations. Half Carry is useful
in BCD arithmetic. See the “Instruction Set Description” for detailed information.
• Bit 4 – S: Sign Bit, S = N V
The S-bit is always an exclusive or between the Negative Flag N and the Two’s Complement
Overflow Flag V. See the “Instruction Set Description” for detailed information.
• Bit 3 – V: Two’s Complement Overflow Flag
The Two’s Complement Overflow Flag V supports two’s complement arithmetics. See the
“Instruction Set Description” for detailed information.
• Bit 2 – N: Negative Flag
The Negative Flag N indicates a negative result in an arithmetic or logic operation. See the
“Instruction Set Description” for detailed information.
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• Bit 1 – Z: Zero Flag
The Zero Flag Z indicates a zero result in an arithmetic or logic operation. See the “Instruction
Set Description” for detailed information.
• Bit 0 – C: Carry Flag
The Carry Flag C indicates a Carry in an arithmetic or logic operation. See the “Instruction Set
Description” for detailed information.
General Purpose
Register File
The Register File is optimized for the AVR Enhanced RISC instruction set. In order to achieve
the required performance and flexibility, the following input/output schemes are supported by the
Register File:
•
One 8-bit output operand and one 8-bit result input
•
Two 8-bit output operands and one 8-bit result input
•
Two 8-bit output operands and one 16-bit result input
•
One 16-bit output operand and one 16-bit result input
Figure 3 shows the structure of the 32 general purpose working registers in the CPU.
Figure 3. AVR CPU General Purpose Working Registers
7
0
Addr.
R0
0x00
R1
0x01
R2
0x02
…
R13
0x0D
General
R14
0x0E
Purpose
R15
0x0F
Working
R16
0x10
Registers
R17
0x11
…
R26
0x1A
X-register Low Byte
R27
0x1B
X-register High Byte
R28
0x1C
Y-register Low Byte
R29
0x1D
Y-register High Byte
R30
0x1E
Z-register Low Byte
R31
0x1F
Z-register High Byte
Most of the instructions operating on the Register File have direct access to all registers, and
most of them are single cycle instructions.
As shown in Figure 3, each register is also assigned a Data memory address, mapping them
directly into the first 32 locations of the user Data Space. Although not being physically implemented as SRAM locations, this memory organization provides great flexibility in access of the
registers, as the X-pointer, Y-pointer, and Z-pointer Registers can be set to index any register in
the file.
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The X-register, Yregister and Z-register
The registers R26..R31 have some added functions to their general purpose usage. These registers are 16-bit address pointers for indirect addressing of the Data Space. The three indirect
address registers X, Y and Z are defined as described in Figure 4.
Figure 4. The X-register, Y-register and Z-Register
15
X-register
XH
XL
7
0
R27 (0x1B)
YH
YL
7
0
R29 (0x1D)
Z-register
0
R26 (0x1A)
15
Y-register
0
7
0
7
0
R28 (0x1C)
15
ZH
7
0
ZL
7
R31 (0x1F)
0
0
R30 (0x1E)
In the different addressing modes these address registers have functions as fixed displacement,
automatic increment, and automatic decrement (see the Instruction Set Reference for details).
Stack Pointer
The Stack is mainly used for storing temporary data, for storing local variables and for storing
return addresses after interrupts and subroutine calls. The Stack Pointer Register always points
to the top of the Stack. Note that the Stack is implemented as growing from higher memory locations to lower memory locations. This implies that a Stack PUSH command decreases the Stack
Pointer.
The Stack Pointer points to the data SRAM Stack area where the Subroutine and Interrupt
Stacks are located. This Stack space in the data SRAM must be defined by the program before
any subroutine calls are executed or interrupts are enabled. The Stack Pointer must be set to
point above 0x60. The Stack Pointer is decremented by one when data is pushed onto the Stack
with the PUSH instruction, and it is decremented by two when the return address is pushed onto
the Stack with subroutine call or interrupt. The Stack Pointer is incremented by one when data is
popped from the Stack with the POP instruction, and it is incremented by two when address is
popped from the Stack with return from subroutine RET or return from interrupt RETI.
The AVR Stack Pointer is implemented as two 8-bit registers in the I/O space. The number of
bits actually used is implementation dependent. Note that the data space in some implementations of the AVR architecture is so small that only SPL is needed. In this case, the SPH Register
will not be present.
Bit
Read/Write
Initial Value
Instruction
Execution Timing
15
14
13
12
11
10
9
8
SP15
SP14
SP13
SP12
SP11
SP10
SP9
SP8
SPH
SP7
SP6
SP5
SP4
SP3
SP2
SP1
SP0
SPL
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
0
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
R/W
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
This section describes the general access timing concepts for instruction execution. The
Atmel®AVR® CPU is driven by the CPU clock clkCPU, directly generated from the selected clock
source for the chip. No internal clock division is used.
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Figure 5 shows the parallel instruction fetches and instruction executions enabled by the Harvard architecture and the fast-access Register File concept. This is the basic pipelining concept
to obtain up to 1MIPS per MHz with the corresponding unique results for functions per cost,
functions per clocks, and functions per power-unit.
Figure 5. The Parallel Instruction Fetches and Instruction Executions
T1
T2
T3
T4
clkCPU
1st Instruction Fetch
1st Instruction Execute
2nd Instruction Fetch
2nd Instruction Execute
3rd Instruction Fetch
3rd Instruction Execute
4th Instruction Fetch
Figure 6 shows the internal timing concept for the Register File. In a single clock cycle an ALU
operation using two register operands is executed, and the result is stored back to the destination register.
Figure 6. Single Cycle ALU Operation
T1
T2
T3
T4
clkCPU
Total Execution Time
Register Operands Fetch
ALU Operation Execute
Result Write Back
Reset and
Interrupt Handling
The Atmel®AVR® provides several different interrupt sources. These interrupts and the separate
Reset Vector each have a separate Program Vector in the Program memory space. All interrupts are assigned individual enable bits which must be written logic one together with the
Global Interrupt Enable bit in the Status Register in order to enable the interrupt. Depending on
the Program Counter value, interrupts may be automatically disabled when Boot Lock Bits
BLB02 or BLB12 are programmed. This feature improves software security. See the section
“Memory Programming” on page 215 for details.
The lowest addresses in the Program memory space are by default defined as the Reset and
Interrupt Vectors. The complete list of Vectors is shown in “Interrupts” on page 46. The list also
determines the priority levels of the different interrupts. The lower the address the higher is the
priority level. RESET has the highest priority, and next is INT0 – the External Interrupt Request
0. The Interrupt Vectors can be moved to the start of the boot Flash section by setting the Interrupt Vector Select (IVSEL) bit in the General Interrupt Control Register (GICR). Refer to
“Interrupts” on page 46 for more information. The Reset Vector can also be moved to the start of
the boot Flash section by programming the BOOTRST Fuse, see “Boot Loader Support – ReadWhile-Write Self-Programming” on page 202.
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2486AA–AVR–02/2013
ATmega8(L)
When an interrupt occurs, the Global Interrupt Enable I-bit is cleared and all interrupts are disabled. The user software can write logic one to the I-bit to enable nested interrupts. All enabled
interrupts can then interrupt the current interrupt routine. The I-bit is automatically set when a
Return from Interrupt instruction – RETI – is executed.
There are basically two types of interrupts. The first type is triggered by an event that sets the
Interrupt Flag. For these interrupts, the Program Counter is vectored to the actual Interrupt Vector in order to execute the interrupt handling routine, and hardware clears the corresponding
Interrupt Flag. Interrupt Flags can also be cleared by writing a logic one to the flag bit position(s)
to be cleared. If an interrupt condition occurs while the corresponding interrupt enable bit is
cleared, the Interrupt Flag will be set and remembered until the interrupt is enabled, or the flag is
cleared by software. Similarly, if one or more interrupt conditions occur while the global interrupt
enable bit is cleared, the corresponding Interrupt Flag(s) will be set and remembered until the
global interrupt enable bit is set, and will then be executed by order of priority.
The second type of interrupts will trigger as long as the interrupt condition is present. These
interrupts do not necessarily have Interrupt Flags. If the interrupt condition disappears before the
interrupt is enabled, the interrupt will not be triggered.
When the AVR exits from an interrupt, it will always return to the main program and execute one
more instruction before any pending interrupt is served.
Note that the Status Register is not automatically stored when entering an interrupt routine, nor
restored when returning from an interrupt routine. This must be handled by software.
When using the CLI instruction to disable interrupts, the interrupts will be immediately disabled.
No interrupt will be executed after the CLI instruction, even if it occurs simultaneously with the
CLI instruction. The following example shows how this can be used to avoid interrupts during the
timed EEPROM write sequence.
Assembly Code Example
in r16, SREG
cli
; store SREG value
; disable interrupts during timed sequence
sbi EECR, EEMWE
; start EEPROM write
sbi EECR, EEWE
out SREG, r16
; restore SREG value (I-bit)
C Code Example
char cSREG;
cSREG = SREG; /* store SREG value */
/* disable interrupts during timed sequence */
_CLI();
EECR |= (1