ECTE333 – Tutorial 1

C Programming for AVR Microcontrollers

School of Electrical, Computer and Telecommunications Engineering

University of Wollongong
Australia
ECTE333’s schedule
Lecture (2h) Tutorial (1h) Lab (2h)
L1:Introduction to AVR Microcontrollers
L2: C Programming, Digital IO Tutorial 1 Lab 1
L3: Serial Communication
Tutorial 2 Lab 2
L4: Interrupts, Timers
Tutorial 3 Lab 3
L5: Pulse Width Modulators
Tutorial 4 Lab 4
L6: Analogue-to-Digital Converters
Tutorial 5 Lab 5
L7: Microcontroller Applications
Lab 6
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Study Advice

ECTE333 Appendix is available on

e-learning:
ECTE333-Exam-Appendix.pdf

It is included in the exam paper.

You should learn to use this

appendix when solving the
tutorial problems.

6 pages of tables, formulae, descriptions

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Lab 1 – Tasks 4 and 5

Write C program for ATmega16 to read 4×3 keypad and show on 7-segment display
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Tutorial 1’s overview

1. C Development Environment

2. Atmel AVR Specifics

3. C Language Elements

4. Bit-wise Operators

5. Digital IO Ports

6. C Functions and Flow-Control Constructs

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Q1 - C Development Environment
State the steps and the tool to develop a C program for the Atmel AVR
microcontroller.

Tool: Atmel Studio 7

Step 1: Create Atmel Studio project

 project name
 project type C
 select simulator and device

Step 2: Enter a C program.

Step 3: Compile the C program to produce a HEX file.

Step 4: Download and test HEX file on Atmel AVR microcontroller.

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Q2 - Atmel AVR - Specifics

a) What is the role of the header file <avr/io.h> in a C program for the
Atmel AVR?

<avr/io.h> contains the C definitions for all registers and flags of the AVR
microcontroller.

Depending on the device selected for the project, <avr/io.h> will redirect
to a specific header file.

For ATmega16, the specific header file is <iom16.h>

(see Lab Notes Appendix D).

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Q2 - Atmel AVR - Specifics

b) Write C code that uses inline assembly coding to create a delay of one CPU
clock cycle.

To insert assembly code into a C program, use the asm directive.

To create a delay of one clock cycle, use the assembly instruction nop:
asm volatile("nop");

Keyword volatile forces the compiler to keep the order of C instructions.

It also signals that a variable may be changed outside its current function.

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Q3 - C Language Elements

a) Name the C keyword to quit a function immediately.

return;

b) Name the C keyword to terminate a loop immediately.

break;

c) Name the C keyword for forcing the next iteration of a loop to start
immediately.

continue;

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Q3 - C Language Elements
d) State the roles of the keywords ‘break’ and ‘default’ in the C ‘switch-case’
construct.

Keyword ‘break’ terminates the ‘switch-case’ instruction after each case.

Keyword ‘default’ indicates the instructions to run when no case is matched.

switch (a){
case ‘0’:
PORTA = 0b00111111;
break;
case ‘1’ : Lab 1 example
…
case ‘9’: 7-segment display
PORTA = 0b01101111; (video)
break;
default:
PORTA = 0b00000000;
}
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Q3 - C Language Elements
e) Differentiate the two C operators & and &&.

& is the bit-wise AND, used on integer data types: x & 0b00000010.
&& is the logical AND, used with logical variables: if ((x>0) && (x<10)){…}

f) Differentiate the two C operators ~ and !=.

~ is the bit-wise inversion, used on any integer data type.

!= is the comparison operator for NOT EQUAL, e.g. if (a!=b){…}

g) Differentiate the two C operators = and ==.

= is the assignment operator: PORTA = 0b00111111;

== is the comparison operator for EQUAL: if (a == b){…}

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators

a) Determine the number of bits and the value ranges for C variables.

char is 8-bit, int is 16-bit, long int is 32-bit (for Atmel AVR 8-bit).
Modifier ‘unsigned’ has a range of 0, 1, …, 2n-1, where n is the number of bits.
The size of char, int, long int may depend on the CPU and compiler.

Notes: To improve code portability, we can also use fixed-width data types.
#include <inttypes.h> // header file for integer data types
int8_t a; // 8-bit signed
int16_t b; // 16-bit signed
int32_t c; // 32-bit signed
uint8_t d; // 8-bit unsigned
uint16_t e; // 16-bit unsigned

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators

b to f) Summary of bit-wise operators

Operator Bit-wise OR Bit-wise AND Bit-wise XOR

C symbol | & ^

x OP 0 = … x 0 x

x OP 1 = … 1 x x

. set a bit position to 1 . clear a bit position to 0 . invert a bit position

Usage . keep other bits unchanged . keep other bits unchanged . keep other bits unchanged

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators

b) Write C code to set bits 0, 2, 4 and 6 of variable a to binary ONE, while

keeping all other bits unchanged.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 bit position
a x x x x x x x x

mask 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

{a} bit-wise OR {mask} x 1 x 1 x 1 x 1 output

a = a | 0b01010101;
Both methods of writing are acceptable.
a |= 0b01010101;

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators
c) Write C code to clear bits 1, 3, 5 and 7 of variable a to binary ZERO, while
keeping all other bits unchanged.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 bit position
a x x x x x x x x

mask 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 1

{a} bit-wise AND {mask} 0 x 0 x 0 x 0 x output

a = a & 0b01010101;
Both methods of writing are acceptable.
a &= 0b01010101;

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators

d) Write C code to check if bit 2 of variable a is equal to binary ZERO.

• If TRUE, assign to variable d the ASCII code of character ‘9’.
• If FALSE, assign to variable d a value of zero.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Code:
a x x x x x x x x
if ((a & 0b00000100) == 0)
mask 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 d = ‘9’;
else
a & mask 0 0 0 0 0 x 0 0
d = 0;

Shorter version:
d = ((a & 0b00000100) ==0)?’9’:0;

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators

e) Write C code to check if bit 3 of variable a is equal to binary ONE.

• If so, assign to variable e the hexadecimal value of C3.
• If not, assign to variable d the binary value of 0111 0110.

Code:
if ((a & 0b00001000) != 0)
e = 0xC3;
else
d = 0b0111 0110;

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Q4 – Bit-wise Operators
f) Write C code to invert bit 0 of variable a while keeping all other bits
unchanged.

7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 bit position
a x x x x x x x x

mask 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

{a} bit-wise XOR {mask} x x x x x x x x output

a = a ^ 0b00000001;
Both methods of writing are acceptable.
a ^= 0b00000001;

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Q5 – Digital IO Ports

a) Describe 3 registers associated with each digital IO port of the ATmega16.

There are 4 ports, so x can be A, B, C or D.

Data Direction Register (DDRx): data

output pin
external
To set specific pins of an digital IO port for input pin devices
- output (1) or micro-
- input (0). controller

Input Pins Address (PINx): to read data from input port.

Data Register (PORTx): to write data to output port.

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Q5 – Digital IO Ports
b) Write a C code example to read/write to a digital IO port (use 4×3 keypad).

send 0 check if this bit is 0

Key ‘8’ is connected to Column 2 and

Row 3.

To check if key ‘8’ is pressed:

o send a binary 0 to Column 2 (bit 5),

o wait a few clock cycles, and
o check the binary value of Row 3 (bit 1).
o If Row 3 value is 0, key ‘8’ is pressed;
otherwise key ‘8’ is not pressed.

Bit number 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0
Assigned to na Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Row 1 Row 2 Row 3 Row 4

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Q5 – Digital IO Ports
Reading the keypad (simple, long version)

unsigned char x; // temporary variable

unsigned char key; // ASCII code of the key pressed
DDRB = 0b11110000; // configure port B: pins 4-7 for output, 0-3 for input

// To check if key ‘8’ is pressed

PORTB = 0b11011111; // write 0 to bit 5 of port B – Column 2

// Create a short delay (see Tutorial 1 – Q2) …

asm volatile(“nop”);

x = PINB; // read from port B

if ((x & 0b00000010) = = 0){ // check bit 1 – Row 3
key = ‘8’;
}
// … check other keys similarly …

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Q6 – C Functions and Flow Control Constructs
Write and test a C function for the Atmel AVR to check if an 8-bit
integer input n is a prime number.
unsigned char is_prime(unsigned char n){
unsigned char result, i; // result = 1 if n is a prime, 0 otherwise
switch (n){
case 0:
case 1:
result = 0; // when n = 0, 1
break;
case 2:
result = 1; // when n = 2: it is a prime
break;
default: // when n > 2
result = 1; // initial return value
for (i = 2; i < n; i++){
if (n % i == 0){
result = 0;
break;
}
}
}
return result; // return result
}
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Q6 – C Functions and Flow Control Constructs

// prime.c : main program to test the is_prime function

#include <avr/io.h> // AVR header file

unsigned char is_prime(unsigned char n){

…
}

int main(void){
unsigned char n, result;
n = 13; // any integer input
result = is_prime(n); // call function

DDRB = 0xFF; // set PORTB for output

PORTB = (result)?0x00:0xFF; // turn on LEDs if prime, off otherwise

while (1) {}; // infinite loop

return 1;
}

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Lectures 1&2 / Lab 1 / Tutorial 1: Extra practice

Write and test a C program for STK500 board that repeatedly

 lets the user enter a digit by pressing a button on the 4x3 keyboard.
 turns on the corresponding LED.

For example, if user presses key ‘2’ then LED2 will be on.

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Lectures 1&2 / Lab 1 / Tutorial 1: Extra practice

Consider a C variable defined as follows:

unsigned char a;

Write C code to invert bits 0, 1, and 2 of a, while keeping all other bits unchanged.

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