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8051

Introduction

Chapter 1
Types of Memory

Chapter 2
Special Function Registers

Chapter 3
Basic Registers

Chapter 4
Addressing Modes

Chapter 5
Program Flow

Chapter 6
Low Level Information

Chapter 7
Timers

Chapter 8
Serial Port Operations

Chapter 9
Interrupts

Additional Features in 8052

8052 Instruction Set

8051 Microcontroller
Common Bugs in Interrupts

Author : Craig Steiner

Source : 8052.com

Common Problems with Interrupts

Interrupts are a very powerful tool available to the 8051 developer, but when used incorrectly they can be a source of a huge number of debugging hours. Errors in interrupt routines are often very difficult to diagnose and correct.

If you are using interrupts and your program is crashing or does not seem to be performing as you would expect, always review the following interrupt-related issues:

  • Register Protection: Make sure you are protecting all your registers, as explained above. If you forget to protect a register that your main program is using, very strange results may occur. In our example above we saw how failure to protect registers caused the main program to apparently calculate that 25h + 10h = 51h. If you witness problems with registers changing values unexpectedly or operations producing "incorrect" values, it is very likely that you’ve forgotten to protect registers. ALWAYS PROTECT YOUR REGISTERS.
  • Forgetting to restore protected values: Another common error is to push registers onto the stack to protect them, and then forget to pop them off the stack before exiting the interrupt. For example, you may push ACC, B, and PSW onto the stack in order to protect them and subsequently pop only ACC and PSW off the stack before exiting. In this case, since you forgot to restore the value of "B", an extra value remains on the stack. When you execute the RETI instruction the 8051 will use that value as the return address instead of the correct value. In this case, your program will almost certainly crash. ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU POP THE SAME NUMBER OF VALUES OFF THE STACK AS YOU PUSHED ONTO IT.
  • Using RET instead of RETI: Remember that interrupts are always terminated with the RETI instruction. It is easy to inadvertently use the RET instruction instead. However, the RET instruction will not end your interrupt. Usually, using a RET instead of a RETI will cause the illusion of your main program running normally, but your interrupt will only be executed once. If it appears that your interrupt mysteriously stops executing, verify that you are exiting with RETI.


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