The image above shows a thumbnail of the interactive Java applet embedded into this page. Unfortunately, your browser is not Java-aware or Java is disabled in the browser preferences. To start the applet, please enable Java and reload this page. (You might have to restart the browser.)

Circuit Description

This applet demonstrates how to use the PIC microcontroller for half-duplex software RS-232 data transmission.

Port A4 is selected as the output pin and connected to the simulation model of a VT52-compatible text terminal. You can click on the terminal's symbol in the editor to open or close the terminal window and watch the text output from the microcontroller.

The program used in the demo does not use any of the more advanced terminal features (like cursor movements), but just repeatedly sends a fixed text, including the famous 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.' sentence. Processor pins B2..B0 are configured as inputs and are used to select the output baud rate:

 B2 B1 B0   baud rate
 --------------------
  0  0  0     300       (does not work)
  0  0  1     600       (does not work)
  0  1  0    1200       (does not work)
  0  1  1    2400
  1  0  0    4800
  1  0  1    9600
  1  1  0   19200
  1  1  1   38400

What happens if the baud-rate selected via the B2,B1,B0 pins and the baud-rate selected in the terminal RS-232 configuration dialog do not match?

    TITLE           "Quick-Brown-Fox: RS232 Tester: Half-Duplex"
    SUBTITLE        "based on Microchip AN510 and AN555"

    Processor       16C84
    Radix           DEC
    EXPAND
    include         "p16c84.inc"

;
; 
; A simple RS232 protocol tester that sends out a (fixed) sequence of 
; ASCII/Latin-1 chars to the _TXPin of the Pic at selectable baud rate.
; At 4MHz input clock, baud rates up to 38.400 are possible.
; Select the desired baud rate with pins PB2..0, and 1 or 2 stop bits with PB3.
;
; Also a demonstration for the Pic16C84/Pic16F84 microprocessor and VT52/VT100
; simulation models in the HADES simulation environment, see the HADES homepage
; at http://tech-www.informatik.uni-hamburg.de/applets/hades/
; 
; (C) 1999, F.N.Hendrich, hendrich@informatik.uni-hamburg.de
; based on AN510 and AN555 by Arizona Microchip
; 
; 03.09.99 - minor documentation cleanups
;


_ResetVector	set	0x00
_IntVector	set	0x04
_CharTable      set     0x60

_TXPort		equ 	PORTA
_TXPin          equ     4		; the RS232 output pin
_TXReg		equ	0x20		; the RS232 transmit register
_DelayConst	equ	0x21		; delay constant for selected baud rate
_DelayCntr	equ	0x22		; delay counter reg	
_CharPtr	equ	0x23		; index into the output char array
_BitCount	equ	0x24		; count tx bits 

;
; some predefined constants for the usual baud rates at 4MHz input clock.
; Use the following formula to calculate constants for other baud rates 
; (see AN510):
; _delayBaud  equ   xx   ; where 13+3*xx = _ClkOut / BaudRate
;                        ; that is,   xx = ((_ClkOut / BaudRate - 13) / 3) 
;
; The following values are for _ClkIn = 40000000;
;

_ClkIn        equ 4000000
_ClkOut       set (_ClkIn >> 2)

_delay00300   set ( ((_ClkOut /   300) -13) / 3)
_delay00600   set ( ((_ClkOut /   600) -13) / 3)
_delay01200   set ( ((_ClkOut /  1200) -13) / 3)
_delay02400   set ( ((_ClkOut /  2400) -13) / 3)
_delay04800   set ( ((_ClkOut /  4800) -13) / 3)
_delay09600   set ( ((_ClkOut /  9600) -13) / 3)
_delay19200   set ( ((_ClkOut / 19200) -13) / 3)

; too imprecise due to rounding, try to set manually:
;_delay38400   set ( ((_ClkOut / 38400) -13) / 3)
_delay38400	set 3

_DataBits       set     8               ; 8 bit data
_StopBits       set     1               ; 1 stop bit

                                        ; parity is NOT enabled by default,
                                        ; change _txmit routine if necessary




;*****************************************************************************
;*****************************************************************************
;*****************************************************************************
;
; code starts here
;

	ORG     _ResetVector
	goto    Start


;
; we should NEVER arrive here, because interrupts (and WD-timer) should 
; be disabled...
;

	ORG     _IntVector
        goto    Interrupt
                                        


Start:
	movlw	0x00
	movf	INTCON,1		; disable all interrupts

	call    InitPorts
	call    TransmitCharLoop	; this never returns...
	goto	Start



Interrupt:
	goto	Interrupt


;
; BaudDelayTable:
; return the delay constants for the baud rates 300, 600, 1200, 2400, 4800,
; 9600, 19200, 31250, 38400, ...
;
BaudDelayTable:
	addwf    PCL,F
	retlw	_delay00300
	retlw	_delay00600
	retlw	_delay01200
	retlw	_delay02400
	retlw	_delay04800
	retlw	_delay09600
	retlw	_delay19200
	retlw	_delay38400

	

;  
; InitPorts:
; initialize the _TXPin pin as output and all other ports of the Pic controller
; as inputs. Also, we set the _TXPin to the high state (RS232 inactive).
;
						
InitPorts:
	bsf	STATUS, RP0	; access port direction regs
	movlw	0xFF
	movwf	TRISA		; both ports input
	movwf	TRISB
	bcf	TRISA, _TXPin	; but _TXPin is output
	bcf	TRISA, 0	; debugging: enable Pin A0 as trigger output
	bcf	STATUS, RP0	; access data regs 
	return





;
; GetDesiredBaudRate:
; read the input pins portb<2:0> and decode the selected baud rate
; from 300 to 38400 bauds. The delay constant corresponding to the
; baud rate is put into the _DelayConst register.
; Set Portb<3> to 0 for 1 stop bits, to 1 for 2 stop bits.
;
GetDesiredBaudRate:
	movf	PORTB,0		; move PORTB to W
	andlw	0x07		; mask lower three bits
	call	BaudDelayTable
	movwf	_DelayConst
	return



;
; TransmitCharLoop:
; assuming that all baud rate constants and the serial port is initialized,
; this method enters an infinite loop that samples the baud rate selector
; inputs, then transmits the (fixed) output chars sequences at the selected
; baud rate.
;
;
TransmitCharLoop:

	call	GetDesiredBaudRate	; read and decode baud rate

	movlw	0
	movwf	_CharPtr		; initialize String index pointer

SendNextChar:
	call 	GetDesiredBaudRate

	incf	_CharPtr,F		; increment String index pointer
	movf	_CharPtr,W		; and move pointer to W
	call	QuickBrownFoxTable	; puts the next String char into W

	addlw	0			; add 0 to W (to set the zero flag)
	btfsc	STATUS,Z		; check ZERO flag
	goto	TransmitCharLoop	; if ZERO, next outer iteration 

	call	SendOneChar		; not ZERO, send the one char in W
        goto    SendNextChar



;
; SendOneChar:
; the actual RS232 transmission routine, half-duplex, no-flow-control.
; See AN510 for an explanation
;
SendOneChar:
	movwf	_TXReg			; move W (char to send) to _TXReg

	bsf	PORTA,0			; debug sync impulse on port A0
	bcf	PORTA,0

	movlw	0x08
	movwf	_BitCount		; send 8 bits

	bcf	_TXPort,_TXPin		; set _TXPin for start bit

	nop
	nop
	nop
	nop
	call	BitDelay

SendNextBit:
	bcf     STATUS,C
	rrf     _TXReg,1		; rotate TXReg

	btfsc   STATUS,C
	goto	_setTX

_clearTX:
	nop				; to get equal set/clear times
	bcf	_TXPort,_TXPin
	goto	_readyTX

_setTX:
	bsf	_TXPort,_TXPin
	goto	_readyTX
	
_readyTX:
	call    BitDelay		
	decfsz  _BitCount,1		; decrement bit counter (8..0)
	goto    SendNextBit

	nop
	nop
	nop
	nop
	nop

	bsf     _TXPort,_TXPin		; send stop bit
	call    BitDelay		; always 1 stop bit

	btfsc	PORTB,3			; send second stop bit?
	call 	BitDelay		; yes

	return



BitDelay:
	movf	_DelayConst,0		; move baud delay constant to W
	movwf	_DelayCntr 		; initialize delay counter

DelayLoop:
	decfsz	_DelayCntr,1		; decrement delay counter
	goto	DelayLoop
	return


;
; the array with the fixed transmission String.
; Currently, we use the standard English and German demo strings,
; "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
; "Victor jagt zw÷lf Boxk„mpfer ’ber den grožen Sylter Deich"
;
; If you know of other demo strings, please drop me an e-mail (see file header)
;



         org _CharTable

QuickBrownFoxTable:
        addwf PCL,F
        retlw ' ' 
        retlw 'T'
        retlw 'h'
        retlw 'e'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'q'
        retlw 'u'
        retlw 'i'
        retlw 'c'
        retlw 'k'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'b'
        retlw 'r'
        retlw 'o'
        retlw 'w'
        retlw 'n'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'f'
        retlw 'o'
        retlw 'x'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'j'
        retlw 'u'
        retlw 'm'
        retlw 'p'
        retlw 's'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'o'
        retlw 'v'
        retlw 'e'
        retlw 'r'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 't'
        retlw 'h'
        retlw 'e'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'l'
        retlw 'a'
        retlw 'z'
        retlw 'y'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'd'
        retlw 'o'
        retlw 'g'
        retlw '.'
        retlw ' '


SyltTable:
;        addwf PCL,F
        retlw 'V'
        retlw 'i'
        retlw 'c'
        retlw 't'
        retlw 'o'
        retlw 'r'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'j'
        retlw 'a'
        retlw 'g'
        retlw 't'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'z'
        retlw 'w'
        retlw 0xf6  ; ö
        retlw 'l'
        retlw 'f'
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'B'
        retlw 'o' 
        retlw 'x' 
        retlw 'k' 
        retlw 0xe4  ; ä 
        retlw 'm' 
        retlw 'p' 
        retlw 'f' 
        retlw 'e' 
        retlw 'r' 
        retlw ' ' 
        retlw 0xfc   ; ü
        retlw 'b'
        retlw 'e'
        retlw 'r'
        retlw ' ' 
        retlw 'd'
        retlw 'e'
        retlw 'n'
        retlw ' ' 
        retlw 'g'
        retlw 'r'
        retlw 'o'
        retlw 0xdf   ; ß
        retlw 'e'
        retlw 'n' 
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'S'
        retlw 'y' 
        retlw 'l' 
        retlw 't' 
        retlw 'e'
        retlw 'r' 
        retlw ' '
        retlw 'D'
        retlw 'e'
        retlw 'i'
        retlw 'c'
        retlw 'h' 
        retlw '.'
        retlw ' ' 
        retlw 0


	END