MC9S08 Resources

MC9S08 Getting Started Supplement

In-System Programming

If you are planning on using the MC9S08QG8/4 chip in an actual hardware project, you should plan on installing an ISP (In-System Programming) connector on your project board. By doing so you can program your MCU without having to remove the chip. Prepare your project circuit board with an 8-pin or 16-pin DIP socket for your MCU as required. Remove the MCU from the DEMO9S08QG8 board. Install a 6-pin header on the board where it is marked BDM PORT.

Install a similar 6-pin header on your project board. Wire this 6-pin header as shown in the table below. Obtain a 6-pin ribbon cable with female connectors to mate with the 6-pin headers and connect the two boards together.

Install your target MC9S08QG8/4 MCU chip onto your project's circuit board.

In-System Programming on the breadboard

In the Physics 4D06 lab, an ISP ribbon cable is provided so that you can do your MCU development on a breadboard. In order to use this feature, remove the MC9S08QG8 from the DEMO9S08QG8 board and install one on your breadboard. Wire the four ISP lines as shown in the photograph.

16-pin ISP connection to MC9S08QG8

Note that the pin numbers on the 16-pin plug are opposite to those on the 6-pin header.

The MCU is normally powered by +3.3V from the USB cable. Power from the breadboard's +5V supply is not required to program the MCU. If you choose to power the MCU from the breadboard's +5V supply, do not connect +5V to the ISP cable, that is, remove the RED wire shown in the photograph.

Note that the supply voltage VDD must not exceed 3.6V. Use a 3.3V or 3.6V voltage regulator, or use a simple voltage divider using one 100-ohm and one 220-ohm resistor to drop the voltage down from the 5V supply as shown below.

Example #1 - Simple ASM program vs C program

The first line tells the compiler to use the predefined MCU register definitions found in the file MC9S08QG8.h. The <> brackets are used to specify that the file is located in the system folder. Use " " instead if you wish to use files kept in your local folder. Look at the project window, find and open MC9S08QG8.h to see how these registers are defined.

The asm{ } block defines a block of assembler code, using standard assembly programming language syntax.

Create the same program in C.

The for (;;) { } creates a C equivalent of an endless loop.

Disassemble this C program and compare the code with the previous ASM program.

Run both of these programs. Draw the waveforms at the output pin (PTB3 = pin 9) and measure the execution times of the statements responsible for generating this waveform. Compare your results with the cycle times given in the instruction tables.

The ASM program shown about requires 11 clock cycles to execute. With an external 8MHz crystal (more about this is yet to come) the system CLK is 4MHz. Thus the execution time = 11 x 0.25us = 2.75us. This example uses the internal RC oscillator. Hence the CLK may not be exactly 4MHz.

Programming Notes

Hexadecimal values are preceded by 0x or $. For example, 0xF3 or $F3.
Binary values are preceded by 0b. For example, 0b11110011.

All literal constants must be preceded by #. For example, #$15, #0x15, #21, #0b00010101 are all the same value.

Note that C is case sensitive. Assembler opcodes (operational instruction codes) are not case sensitve.

C statements are generally terminated with a semi-colon ; - This will be clarified later.

What is the watchdog?

The COP (Computer Operating Properly) watchdog is a fault detection mechanism in case the MCU program runs into trouble and fails to run in its preconceived loop. If a hardware monostable multivibrator times out, a fault is assumed and the MCU performs a system reset. To prevent a timeout, the program must periodically trigger the monostable (less than 256 ms is default setting) using the _RESET_WATCHDOG( ) function or by writing to the SRS register. Note that the COP watchdog is enabled in default setting on startup

Memory I/O Model

The Motorola/Freescale memory/peripheral addressing model treats all peripheral hardware registers the same as memory locations. This makes possible some very convenient and efficient operations. Any instruction that can be performed on a memory location can also be performed on a hardware register. Furthermore, Motorola/Freescale puts the most commonly used hardware registers on Page Zero.

What is Page Zero addressing?

Page-0 refers to all 256 memory locations from $0000 to $00FF. What is special about this is that the upper byte (8 bits) of the 16-bit address is zero. With this assumption, it only requires a single byte to reference an address on Page-0. Hence Page-0 memory reference instructions are one byte shorter and takes one less execution cycle. In the example below, PTBD is a Page-0 address. Hence the MOV instruction can apply here.

In the following example, the SOPT1 hardware register is not frequently used and has been allocated a memory location above Page-0, i.e. it requires an Extended Address, 16-bits long. In this case the MOV instruction cannot be used. Two instructions are required to set this register.

Loop Forever

Another way for creating an endless loop in C is using the while() statement. This C compiler will flag this with a warning even thought this is syntatically and programmatically correct.

MC9S08QG8 Pin Diagram

Connect Vss to GND

Lab Manual Chapter 2

MC9S08 Resources

2006.11.09 - 2012.03.14