92
7734Q–AVR–02/12
AT90PWM81/161
Signal description (internal signals):
Count
Increment TCNT1 by 1.
Clear
Clear TCNT1 (set all bits to zero).
clk
T1
Timer/Counter clock.
TOP
Signalize that TCNT1 has reached maximum value.
BOTTOM
Signalize that TCNT1 has reached minimum value (zero).
The 16-bit counter is mapped into two 8-bit I/O memory locations: Counter High (TCNT1H) con-
taining the upper eight bits of the counter, and Counter Low (TCNT1L) containing the lower eight
bits. The TCNT1H Register can only be indirectly accessed by the CPU. When the CPU does an
access to the TCNT1H I/O location, the CPU accesses the high byte temporary register (TEMP).
The temporary register is updated with the TCNT1H value when the TCNT1L is read, and
TCNT1H is updated with the temporary register value when TCNT1L is written. This allows the
CPU to read or write the entire 16-bit counter value within one clock cycle via the 8-bit data bus.
It is important to notice that there are special cases of writing to the TCNT1 Register when the
counter is counting that will give unpredictable results. The special cases are described in the
sections where they are of importance.
Depending on the mode of operation used, the counter is cleared, incremented, or decremented
at each timer clock (clk
T1). The clkT1 can be generated from an external or internal clock source,
selected by the Clock Select bits (CS12:0). When no clock source is selected (CS12:0 = 0) the
timer is stopped. However, the TCNT1 value can be accessed by the CPU, independent of
whether clk
T1 is present or not. A CPU write overrides (has priority over) all counter clear or
count operations.
The counting sequence is determined by the setting of the Waveform Generation mode bit
(WGM13) located in the Timer/Counter Control Registers B ( TCCR1B).
The Timer/Counter Overflow Flag (TOV1) is set according to the mode of operation selected by
the WGM13 bit. TOV1 can be used for generating a CPU interrupt.
11.5
Input Capture Unit
The Timer/Counter incorporates an Input Capture unit that can capture external events and give
them a time-stamp indicating time of occurrence. The external signal indicating an event, or mul-
tiple events, can be applied via the ICP1 pin or alternatively, via the analog-comparator unit. The
time-stamps can then be used to calculate frequency, duty-cycle, and other features of the sig-
nal applied. Alternatively the time-stamps can be used for creating a log of the events.
elements of the block diagram that are not directly a part of the Input Capture unit are gray
shaded. The small “n” in register and bit names indicates the Timer/Counter number.