PIC12C5XX
DS40139A-page 20
Advance Information
1996 Microchip Technology Inc.
5.4
I/O Programming Considerations
5.4.1
BI-DIRECTIONAL I/O PORTS
Some instructions operate internally as read followed
by write operations. The
BCF
and
BSF
instructions, for
example, read the entire port into the CPU, execute
the bit operation and re-write the result. Caution must
be used when these instructions are applied to a port
where one or more pins are used as input/outputs. For
example, a
BSF
operation on bit5 of GPIO will cause
all eight bits of GPIO to be read into the CPU, bit5 to
be set and the GPIO value to be written to the output
latches. If another bit of GPIO is used as a bi-
directional I/O pin (say bit0) and it is defined as an
input at this time, the input signal present on the pin
itself would be read into the CPU and rewritten to the
data latch of this particular pin, overwriting the
previous content. As long as the pin stays in the input
mode, no problem occurs. However, if bit0 is switched
into output mode later on, the content of the data latch
may now be unknown.
Example 5-1 shows the effect of two sequential read-
modify-write instructions (e.g.,
BCF, BSF
, etc.) on an
I/O port.
A pin actively outputting a high or a low should not be
driven from external devices at the same time in order
to change the level on this pin (“wired-or”, “wired-
and”). The resulting high output currents may damage
the chip.
EXAMPLE 5-1:
READ-MODIFY-WRITE
INSTRUCTIONS ON AN
I/O PORT
;Initial GPIO Settings
; GPIO<5:3> Inputs
; GPIO<2:0> Outputs
;GPIO<6> have external pull-ups and are
;not connected to other circuitry
;
; GPIO latch GPIO pins
; ---------- ----------
BCF GPIO, 5 ;--01 -ppp --11 pppp
BCF GPIO, 4 ;--10 -ppp --11 pppp
MOVLW 007h ;
TRIS GPIO ;--10 -ppp --11 pppp
;
;Note that the user may have expected the pin
;values to be --00 pppp. The 2nd BCF caused
;GP4 to be latched as the pin value (High).
5.4.2
SUCCESSIVE OPERATIONS ON I/O
PORTS
The actual write to an I/O port happens at the end of
an instruction cycle, whereas for reading, the data
must be valid at the beginning of the instruction cycle
(Figure 5-2). Therefore, care must be exercised if a
write followed by a read operation is carried out on the
same I/O port. The sequence of instructions should
allow the pin voltage to stabilize (load dependent)
before the next instruction, which causes that file to be
read into the CPU, is executed. Otherwise, the
previous state of that pin may be read into the CPU
rather than the new state. When in doubt, it is better to
separate these instructions with a
NOP
or another
instruction not accessing this I/O port.
FIGURE 5-2:
SUCCESSIVE I/O OPERATION
PC
PC + 1
PC + 2
PC + 3
Q1
Q2
Q3 Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3 Q4 Q1
Q2
Q3 Q4
Q1
Q2
Q3 Q4
Instruction
fetched
GP5:GP0
MOVWF GPIO
NOP
Port pin
sampled here
NOP
MOVF GPIO,W
Instruction
executed
MOVWF GPIO
(Write to
GPIO)
NOP
MOVF GPIO,W
(Read
GPIO)
This example shows a write to GPIO followed
by a read from GPIO.
Data setup time = (0.25 T
CY
– T
PD
)
where: T
CY
= instruction cycle.
T
PD
= propagation delay
Therefore, at higher clock frequencies, a
write followed by a read may be problematic.
Port pin
written here