84
ATmega8A [DATASHEET]
8159E–AVR–02/2013
The general I/O port function is overridden by the Output Compare (OC1x) from the waveform generator if either of
the COM1x1:0 bits are set. However, the OC1x pin direction (input or output) is still controlled by the Data Direction
Register (DDR) for the port pin. The Data Direction Register bit for the OC1x pin (DDR_OC1x) must be set as out-
put before the OC1x value is visible on the pin. The port override function is generally independent of the
details.
The design of the Output Compare Pin logic allows initialization of the OC1x state before the output is enabled.
The COM1x1:0 bits have no effect on the Input Capture unit.
17.8.1
Compare Output Mode and Waveform Generation
The waveform generator uses the COM1x1:0 bits differently in normal, CTC, and PWM modes. For all modes, set-
ting the COM1x1:0 = 0 tells the waveform generator that no action on the OC1x Register is to be performed on the
PWM mode refer to
Table 17-3 on page 93, and for phase correct and phase and frequency correct PWM refer to
A change of the COM1x1:0 bits state will have effect at the first Compare Match after the bits are written. For non-
PWM modes, the action can be forced to have immediate effect by using the FOC1x strobe bits.
17.9
Modes of Operation
The mode of operation (i.e., the behavior of the Timer/Counter and the Output Compare pins) is defined by the
combination of the Waveform Generation mode (WGM13:0) and Compare Output mode (COM1x1:0) bits. The
Compare Output mode bits do not affect the counting sequence, while the Waveform Generation mode bits do.
The COM1x1:0 bits control whether the PWM output generated should be inverted or not (inverted or non-inverted
PWM). For non-PWM modes the COM1x1:0 bits control whether the output should be set, cleared or toggle at a
17.9.1
Normal Mode
The simplest mode of operation is the Normal mode (WGM13:0 = 0). In this mode the counting direction is always
up (incrementing), and no counter clear is performed. The counter simply overruns when it passes its maximum
16-bit value (MAX = 0xFFFF) and then restarts from the BOTTOM (0x0000). In normal operation the Timer/Coun-
ter Overflow Flag (TOV1) will be set in the same timer clock cycle as the TCNT1 becomes zero. The TOV1 Flag in
this case behaves like a 17th bit, except that it is only set, not cleared. However, combined with the timer overflow
interrupt that automatically clears the TOV1 Flag, the timer resolution can be increased by software. There are no
special cases to consider in the Normal mode, a new counter value can be written anytime.
The Input Capture unit is easy to use in Normal mode. However, observe that the maximum interval between the
external events must not exceed the resolution of the counter. If the interval between events are too long, the timer
overflow interrupt or the prescaler must be used to extend the resolution for the capture unit.
The Output Compare units can be used to generate interrupts at some given time. Using the Output Compare to
generate waveforms in Normal mode is not recommended, since this will occupy too much of the CPU time.
17.9.2
Clear Timer on Compare Match (CTC) Mode
In Clear Timer on Compare or CTC mode (WGM13:0 = 4 or 12), the OCR1A or ICR1 Register are used to manipu-
late the counter resolution. In CTC mode the counter is cleared to zero when the counter value (TCNT1) matches
either the OCR1A (WGM13:0 = 4) or the ICR1 (WGM13:0 = 12). The OCR1A or ICR1 define the top value for the