Chapter 5

Serial Port Operation

(I. Scott MacKenzie)

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Introduction
• 8051 includes an on-chip serial port that can
operate in four modes over a wide range of
frequencies.
• Essential function of serial port is to perform
parallel-to-serial conversion for output data, and
serial-to-parallel conversion for input data.
• Transmission bit is P3.1 on pin 11 (TXD) and
reception bit is P3.0 on pin 10 (RXD).
• Features full duplex (simultaneous reception and
transmission).
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Introduction (Contd.)
• Two SFRs (SBUF & SCON) provide software access to
serial port.
– Writing to SBUF loads data to be transmitted and
reading SBUF accesses received data.
– SCON is a bit addressable register containing status
bits and control bits. Control bits set the operating
mode and status bits indicate the end of a character
transmission or reception. The status bits are tested in
software or programmed to cause an interrupt.
• Serial port frequency of operation (baud rate) can be fixed
or variable.
– Fixed is derived from on-chip oscillator and variable is
supplied by Timer 1 which must be programmed
accordingly. 3
By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 SCON : Serial Port CONtrol Register (098H)
SMO SM1 SM2 REN TB8 RB8 TI RI

- SM0, SM1 : Serial Port Mode bits

Mode Baud Rate
00 = Mode 0 : Shift register I/O Fixed (oscillator frequency/12)
01 = Mode 1 : 8-bit UART Variable (set by timer)
10 = Mode 2 : 9-bit UART Fixed (osc frq/32 or osc frq/64 )
11 = Mode 3 : 9-bit UART Variable (set by timer)
- SM2 : Serial Port Mode bit
Mode 0 : Not used.
Mode 1 : If SM2 = 0 : Normal Operation.
If SM2 = 1 : Ignore bytes with no stop bit.
Modes 2 & 3 : If SM2 = 0 : Set RI (receive interrupt) on all bytes.
If SM2 = 1 : Set RI only on bytes where 9th bit is 1.
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 SCON (contd.)
- REN: Receiver enable. Must be set to receive characters.
- TB8: Transmit bit 8. Ninth bit transmitted (in modes 2
and 3); set/cleared by software.
- RB8: Receive bit 8. Ninth bit received (in modes 2 and 3):
Mode 0 : Not used.
Mode 1 : Stop bit.
Mode 2, 3 : Ninth data bit.
- TI: Transmit interrupt flag. Set at end of character
transmission; cleared by software.
- RI: Receive interrupt flag. Set at end of character
reception; cleared by software.
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Serial Interface
- Full duplex UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver
/Transmitter is a device that receives and transmits serial
data with each data character preceded by a start bit “0”
and followed by a stop bit “1”). Sometimes a parity bit is
inserted between the last data bit and the stop bit.
- The essential operation of a UART is to perform parallel-
to-serial conversion for output data, and serial-to-
parallel conversion for input data.
- 10 or 11 bit frames.
- Interrupt driven.
- Registers:
SCON - Serial port control register.
SBUF - Read received data.
- Write data to be transmitted. 6
By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Serial Port Block Diagram
TXD RXD
(P3.1) (P3.0)
(LSB First) (LSB First)
SBUF
Q D Shift Register
(write only)
CLK CLK

Baud rate clock Baud rate clock

(transmit) (receive)

SBUF
(read only)

8051 Internal Bus

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 Serial Interface Modes of Operation (Mode 0)
Mode 0: 8-Bit Shift Register Mode. Terms RXD & TXD are
misleading in this mode. RXD line is used for both input
and output. TXD line serves as the clock.
• Eight bits are transmitted and received with the LSB first.
Baud Rate is fixed at 1/12 of on-chip oscillator frequency.
• Transmission is initiated by any instruction that writes data
to SBUF. Data are shifted out on RXD line with clock
pulses sent out by the TXD line. Each transmitted bit is
valid on the RXD pin for one machine cycle.
E.g., MOV SBUF, A
• Reception is initiated when the REN is 1 and the RI is 0.
REN is set at the beginning of the program, and then clear
RI to begin a data input operation. The clocking of data
into serial port occurs on the positive edge of TXD. 8
By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Serial Interface Modes of Operation (Mode 1)
Mode 1: Serial port operates as an 8-bit UART with a
variable baud rate.10-bits are transmitted on TXD or
received on RXD. Start bit (always 0), 8 data bits (LSB
first), and a stop bit (always 1). For a receive operation,
the stop bit goes into RB8 in SCON. Baud Rate Clock is
variable using Timer 1 overflow or external count input.
• Transmission is initiated by writing data to SBUF.
Shifted data are outputted on the TXD line beginning
with the start bit. The transmit interrupt flag (TI) is set
as soon as the stop bit appears on TXD.
• Reception is initiated by a 1-to-0 transition on RXD.
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Serial Interface Modes of Operation (Mode 2)
Mode 2: Serial port operates as a 9-bit UART with a
fixed baud rate. 11-bits are transmitted or received.
Start bit (always 0), 8 data bits (LSB first), a
programmable 9th bit, and a stop bit (always 1).
• On transmission, the 9th bit whatever has been put in
TB8 in SCON (may be a parity bit).
• On reception, the 9th bit is placed in RB8 in SCON.
• Baud Rate is programmable to either 1/32 or 1/64 of
the on-chip oscillator frequency.

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Serial Interface Modes of Operation (Mode 3)
Mode 3: Serial port operates as a 9-bit UART
with a variable baud rate. 11-bits are transmitted
or received. Baud Rate is programmable and
provided by the Timer 1 overflow or external
input.

Summary:
Baud rate: Fixed in modes 0 & 2, variable in modes 1 & 3
Data Bits: Eight in mode 1, nine in modes 2 & 3

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Initialization
• Receiver Enable Bit (REN): must be set by software to
enable the reception of characters at the beginning of a
program when the serial port, timers, etc. are initialized.
The instructions are
SETB REN or MOV SCON, #xxx1xxxxB
• The 9th Bit: transmitted must be loaded into TB8 by
software and received is placed in RB8.
• Adding a Parity Bit: is a common use of 9th bit. E.g., if
communication requires 8 data bits plus even parity
MOV C, P ; Put even parity bit in C flag
MOV TB8, C ; This becomes the 9th data bit in TB8
MOV SBUF, A ; Move 8 bits from ACC to SBUF
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Initialization (Contd.)
• E.g., if communication requires 8 data bits plus odd parity
MOV C, P ; Put even parity bit in C flag
CPL C ; Convert to odd parity
MOV TB8, C ; This becomes the 9th data bit in TB8
MOV SBUF, A ; Move 8 bits from ACC to SBUF

• Parity can be used in mode 1 also if the 7 data bits are

used. E.g., 7-bit ASCII code with even parity can be
transmitted as follows:
CLR ACC.7 ; Ensure MSB is clear to get correct Parity
MOV C, P ; Put even parity bit in C flag
MOV ACC.7, C ; Copy even parity bit into MSB
MOV SBUF, A ; Send character
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Interrupt Flags (RI &TI)
• RI & TI in SCON play an important role in serial
communications. Both bits are set by hardware but must
be cleared by software.
– RI is set at the end of character reception and indicates
“receive buffer full”.
– This condition is tested in software or programmed to
cause an interrupt.
– If software wishes to input a character from the device
connected to the serial port, it must wait until RI is set,
then clear RI and read the character from SBUF.
WAIT: JNB RI, WAIT ; Check RI until set
CLR RI ; Clear the flag
MOV A, SBUF ; Read character
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Interrupt Flags (RI &TI) contd.
– TI is set at the end of character transmission and
indicates “transmit buffer empty”.
– If software wishes to send a character to the device
connected to the serial port, it must wait until TI is set
(means previous character was sent, wait until
transmission is finished before sending the next
character), then clear TI and send the character.
WAIT: JNB TI, WAIT ; Check TI until set
CLR TI ; Clear the flag
MOV SBUF, A ; Send character

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Multiprocessor Communication
• Serial Communication Modes 2 and 3 allow one
"Master" 8051 to control several “Slaves” 8051.
• The serial port can be programmed to generate an
interrupt (RI) if the 9th data bit = 1 by setting the SM2
bit in SCON.
• The TXD outputs of the slaves are tied together and to
the RXD input of the master. The RXD inputs of the
slaves are tied together and to the TXD output of the
master.
• Each slave is assigned an address. Address bytes
transmitted by the master have the 9th bit = 1 & data
bytes have it = 0.
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Multiprocessor Communication (Contd.)
• When the master transmits an address byte, all the
slaves are interrupted. The slaves then check to see if
they are being addressed or not.
• The addressed slave will clear its SM2 bit and
prepare to receive the data bytes that follows and the
slaves that weren’t addressed leave their SM2 bits
set and go about their business, ignoring the
incoming data bytes. They will be interrupted again
when the next address byte is transmitted by the
master processor.

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Baud Rates
• Baud rate is also affected by a bit in the PCON register.
PCON.7 is SMOD bit. If SMOD = 1, baud rate will be
doubled in modes 1, 2 and 3.
• Mode 2 baud rate is the 1/64th the oscillator frequency
(SMOD = 0) and can be doubled to 1/32nd the oscillator
frequency (SMOD = 1).
• PCON is not bit-addressable, setting SMOD without
altering the other bits requires a “read-modify-write”
operation as follows:
MOV A, PCON ; Get current value of PCON
SETB ACC.7 ; Set SMOD
MOV PCON, A ; Write value back to PCON
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Using Timer 1 as Baud Rate Clock
• Usually the timer is used in auto-reload mode and TH1 is loaded
with a proper reload value.
• Formula for the baud rate in modes 1 and 3 is
Baud Rate = Timer 1 Overflow Rate / 32
e.g., For 1200 baud
1200 = Timer 1 Overflow Rate / 32
Timer 1 Overflow Rate = 1200 * 32 = 38400 Hz
• Timer must overflow at a rate of 38.4 kHz and the timer is clocked
at a rate of 1 MHz (1000 kHz), overflow required every 1000/38.4
= 26.04 clocks, so
MOV TH1, # -26
• Due to rounding, there is a slight error in the resulting baud rate.
Up to 5% is tolerable using asynchronous communications. Exact
baud rates are possible using an 11.059 MHz crystal (Table 5-3).
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Baud Rate Summary
Baud Crystal SMOD TH1 Actual Error
Rate Frequency Reload Baud
Value Rate
1200 12.000MHz 0 -26(E6H) 1202 0.16%
2400 12.000MHz 0 -13(F3H) 2404 0.16%
9600 12.000MHz 1 -7(F9H) 8923 7%
1200 11.059MHz 0 -24(E8H) 1200 0%
2400 11.059MHz 0 -12(F4H) 2400 0%
9600 11.059MHz 0 -3(FDH) 9600 0%
19200 11.059MHz 1 -3(FDH) 19200 0%
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Initializing the Serial Port
To initialize the serial port to operate as an 8-bit UART at
2400 baud.
ORG 0000H
MOV SCON,#52H ;serial port mode 1
MOV TMOD,#20H ;timer 1, mode 2
MOV TH1, # -13 ;reload count for 2400 baud
SETB TR1 ;start timer 1
END

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Initializing the Serial Port
SCON: SMO SM1 SM2 REN TB8 RB8 TI RI
0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 (52H)
• (SM0/SM1=0/1) sets serial port into 8-bit UART, (REN=1) enables the serial port to
receive characters, (TI=1) allows transmission of the first character by indicating that
the transmit buffer is empty.
TMOD: GATE C/T M1 M0 GATE C/T M1 M0
0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 (20H)
• (M1 M0=1 0) puts Timer 1 into auto-reload mode.
TCON: TF1 TR1 TF0 TR0 IE1 IT1 IE0 IT0
0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 (40H)
• (TR1=1) turns ON Timer 1.
TH1: Tb7 b6 b5 b4 b3 b2 b1 b0
1 1 1 1 0 0 1 1 (F3H)
• Loads the re-load value –13 or F3H in the TH1 register.

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 RS232
• PC: COM1, COM2 (MODEM & RS232)
• RS232 is set by Electronics Industries Association
(EIA) in 1960.
• 1963: RS232A
• 1965: RS232B
• 1969: RS232C
• RS232 is a serial I/O interfacing standard; however,
since the standard was set long before the advent of the
TTL logic family, its input and output voltage levels
are not TTL compatible.
• TTL is Transistor-Transistor Logic family (Bipolar
transistor) in 1968.
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Line Driver: MAX232/233
• TTL: +5V => Logic 1, 0V => Logic 0
• RS232: -3V => Logic 1, +3V => Logic 0
• So RS232 is not compatible to TTL. For this
reason, to connect any RS232 to a microcontroller
system, we must use “Voltage Converters” such
as MAX232 or MAX233 to convert the TTL logic
levels to the RS232 voltage levels, and vice
versa.
• MAX232/233 IC chips is referred to as “Line
Driver”.

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 RS232 Connector: DB-25 & DB-9
DB: Data Bus Connector
Pins: RxD, TxD, GND will be connected only.
RS232: Pin2 RxD, Pin3 TxD, Pin5 GND
Female Male
DB-25
5 1

DB-9
9 6

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 26
By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 27
By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Serial Port Connections
8051 DB9 (RS232 Connector)
Max233 (Female) (Male)
5 GND
TxD 11 2 5 2 RxD
T1in T1out

RxD R1out R1in TxD 3 TxD

10 3 4 3 2 RxD
GND
5

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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Output ACSII Code Set Using Interrupt
;Ex 6-3 dump ASCII codes to serial port
ORG 0000H
LJMP Main
ORG 0023H ;serial port vector
LJMP SPISR
ORG 0030H ;main entry point
Main: MOV TMOD,#20H ;Timer 1 mode 2
MOV TH1,#-26 ;use 1200 baud
SETB TR1 ;start T1
MOV SCON,#42H ;mode1, set TI to force first
;interrupt; send 1st char.
MOV A,#20H ;send ASCII space first
MOV IE,#90H ;enable SP interrupt
SJMP $ ;do nothing
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan
 Output ACSII Code Set Using Interrupt
SPISR: CJNE A,#7FH,Skip ;if ASCII code = 7FH
MOV A,#20H ;wrap back to 20H
Skip: MOV SBUF,A ;start transmission
INC A
CLR TI ;clear TI flag
RETI

The CPU speed is much higher than 1200 baud serial

transmission.
Therefore, SJMP executes a very large percentage of the time.
Time for one char = (1/1200 baud)(8+1+1) = 8333.3 µs compared
to 1 µs machine cycle!
We could replace SJMP instruction with other useful
instructions doing other things.
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By: Masud-ul-Hasan