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Serial Communication

Serial communication with SPiCboards. More...

Files

file  com.h
 

Macros

#define BAUD_RATE
 
#define sb_com_wait(FACTOR)
 

Enumerations

enum  COM_ERROR_STATUS { ERROR_NO_STOP_BIT, ERROR_PARITY, ERROR_BUFFER_FULL, ERROR_INVALID_POINTER }
 Error states used in mask. More...
 

Functions

void sb_com_sendByte (uint8_t data)
 Send a single byte (8-bit) plus one start-, parity and stop bit. More...
 
uint8_t sb_com_receiveByte (uint8_t *data)
 Receive one byte with start, parity and stop bit each. More...
 

Detailed Description

Serial communication with SPiCboards.

spicboard3_com_small.jpg

The SPiCboard3 can perform serial communication using the three PINs on its upper right corner (TX at PD1, GND and RX at PD0 ). To establish a connection you have to connect its RX with TX of another board, both GND pins and TX with RX, like shown on the image above.

For the transmission this library uses the transmission setting 8-E-1, in which we send (in addition to the start bit) 8 data bits, one even parity bit and one stop bit.

Example: Transmission of the (decimal) value 23

com.png
  • PD0 is configured as input (RX)
  • PD1 is configured as output (TX)
  • The idle voltage is 5V, a logical high (this is a historic legacy from telegraphy, in which the line is held high to show that the line and transmitter are not damaged).
  • the transmission begins with the start bit, which changes the level from logical high (idle) to logical low.
  • the time interval T for transmitting one symbol is defined by the BAUD_RATE : $ T = \frac{1s}{BAUD\_RATE} $
  • the payload byte is sent bitwise, starting with the least significant bit
  • the parity bit ensures that an even number of logical highs has been sent (including parity - calculated using XOR ) - it can be used to detect transmission errors.
  • the stopbit finishes the transmission and leaves the line in a logical high
Note
The libspicboard implementation uses the 16bit timer 4.
For educational purposes the transmission is implemented completely in software - for more advanced serial communcation you can use USART, described in Section 25 of the ATMega328PB Datasheet.
See also
Extended Serial Communication

Macro Definition Documentation

◆ BAUD_RATE

#define BAUD_RATE

Default baud rate (symbols per second) is 1200

◆ sb_com_wait

#define sb_com_wait (   FACTOR)

Active wait loop for the transmission interval time T (determined by the baud rate) multiplied by FACTOR

Enumeration Type Documentation

◆ COM_ERROR_STATUS

enum COM_ERROR_STATUS

Error states used in mask.

Enumerator
ERROR_NO_STOP_BIT 

no stop bit received

ERROR_PARITY 

parity bit wrong

ERROR_BUFFER_FULL 

receive buffer full

ERROR_INVALID_POINTER 

data pointer invalid

Function Documentation

◆ sb_com_receiveByte()

uint8_t sb_com_receiveByte ( uint8_t *  data)

Receive one byte with start, parity and stop bit each.

We try to sample in the middle of each symbol, therefore we have to wait about $ 1.5T $ after receiving the start bit before reading the first data bit. Every subsequent symbol is sampled after a $ T $ delay.

com_recv.png

Transmission errors are recorded and returned. They should not be ignored, because they usually indicate invalid data - there is no resend mechanism implemented in this library!

Parameters
datapointer to allocated space for the received byte
Return values
0no error
>0bit mask describing the error:
  • 1. bit: no stop bit received (ERROR_NO_STOP_BIT )
  • 2. bit: parity bit wrong (ERROR_PARITY )
  • 3. bit: receive buffer full (ERROR_BUFFER_FULL )
  • 4. bit: data pointer invalid (ERROR_INVALID_POINTER )

◆ sb_com_sendByte()

void sb_com_sendByte ( uint8_t  data)

Send a single byte (8-bit) plus one start-, parity and stop bit.

Note
Shall not be called inside a ISR!
Parameters
datathe byte to send