Functional Description
MC68HC908QC16 MC68HC908QC8 MC68HC908QC4 Data Sheet, Rev. 5
Freescale Semiconductor
173
The maximum frequency of the SPSCK for an SPI configured as a slave is the bus clock speed (which is
twice as fast as the fastest master SPSCK clock that can be generated). The frequency of the SPSCK for
an SPI configured as a slave does not have to correspond to any SPI baud rate. The baud rate only
controls the speed of the SPSCK generated by an SPI configured as a master. Therefore, the frequency
of the SPSCK for an SPI configured as a slave can be any frequency less than or equal to the bus speed.
When the master SPI starts a transmission, the data in the slave shift register begins shifting out on the
MISO pin. The slave can load its shift register with a new byte for the next transmission by writing to its
transmit data register. The slave must write to its transmit data register at least one bus cycle before the
master starts the next transmission. Otherwise, the byte already in the slave shift register shifts out on the
MISO pin. Data written to the slave shift register during a transmission remains in a buffer until the end of
the transmission.
When the clock phase bit (CPHA) is set, the first edge of SPSCK starts a transmission. When CPHA is
NOTE
SPSCK must be in the proper idle state before the slave is enabled to
prevent SPSCK from appearing as a clock edge.
15.3.3 Transmission Formats
During an SPI transmission, data is simultaneously transmitted (shifted out serially) and received (shifted
in serially). A serial clock synchronizes shifting and sampling on the two serial data lines. A slave select
line allows selection of an individual slave SPI device; slave devices that are not selected do not interfere
with SPI bus activities. On a master SPI device, the slave select line can optionally be used to indicate
multiple-master bus contention.
15.3.3.1 Clock Phase and Polarity Controls
Software can select any of four combinations of serial clock (SPSCK) phase and polarity using two bits
in the SPI control register (SPCR). The clock polarity is specified by the CPOL control bit, which selects
an active high or low clock and has no significant effect on the transmission format.
The clock phase (CPHA) control bit selects one of two fundamentally different transmission formats. The
clock phase and polarity should be identical for the master SPI device and the communicating slave
device. In some cases, the phase and polarity are changed between transmissions to allow a master
device to communicate with peripheral slaves having different requirements.
NOTE
Before writing to the CPOL bit or the CPHA bit, disable the SPI by clearing
the SPI enable bit (SPE).
15.3.3.2 Transmission Format When CPHA = 0
Figure 15-4 shows an SPI transmission in which CPHA = 0. The figure should not be used as a
replacement for data sheet parametric information.
Two waveforms are shown for SPSCK: one for CPOL = 0 and another for CPOL = 1. The diagram may
be interpreted as a master or slave timing diagram because the serial clock (SPSCK), master in/slave out
(MISO), and master out/slave in (MOSI) pins are directly connected between the master and the slave.
The MISO signal is the output from the slave, and the MOSI signal is the output from the master. The SS
line is the slave select input to the slave. The slave SPI drives its MISO output only when its slave select