Serial Communication using 89C51

The first thing we must do when using the 8051s integrated serial port is configure it. This lets us tell the 8051 how many data bits we want, the baud rate we will be using, and how the baud rate will be determined.

First, lets present the "Serial Control" (SCON) SFR and define what each bit of the SFR represents:

Bit	Name	Bit Addres	Explanation of Function
7	SM0	9Fh	Serial port mode bit 0
6	SM1	9Eh	Serial port mode bit 1.
5	SM2	9Dh	Mutliprocessor Communications Enable (explained later)
4	REN	9Ch	Receiver Enable. This bit must be set in order to receive characters.
3	TB8	9Bh	Transmit bit 8. The 9th bit to transmit in mode 2 and 3.
2	RB8	9Ah	Receive bit 8. The 9th bit received in mode 2 and 3.
1	TI	99h	Transmit Flag. Set when a byte has been completely transmitted.
0	RI	98h	Receive Flag. Set when a byte has been completely received.

Additionally, it is necessary to define the function of SM0 and SM1 by an additional table:

SM0	SM1	Serial Mode	Explanation	Baud Rate
0	0	0	8-bit Shift Register	Oscillator / 12
0	1	1	8-bit UART	Set by Timer 1 (*)
1	0	2	9-bit UART	Oscillator / 64 (*)
1	1	3	9-bit UART	Set by Timer 1 (*)

(*) Note: The baud rate indicated in this table is doubled if PCON.7 (SMOD) is set.

The SCON SFR allows us to configure the Serial Port. Thus, well go through each bit and review its function.

The first four bits (bits 4 through 7) are configuration bits.

Bits SM0 and SM1 let us set the serial mode to a value between 0 and 3, inclusive. The four modes are defined in the chart immediately above. As you can see, selecting the Serial Mode selects the mode of operation (8-bit/9-bit, UART or Shift Register) and also determines how the baud rate will be calculated. In modes 0 and 2 the baud rate is fixed based on the oscillators frequency. In modes 1 and 3 the baud rate is variable based on how often Timer 1 overflows. Well talk more about the various Serial Modes in a moment.

The next bit, SM2, is a flag for "Multiprocessor communication." Generally, whenever a byte has been received the 8051 will set the "RI" (Receive Interrupt) flag. This lets the program know that a byte has been received and that it needs to be processed. However, when SM2 is set the "RI" flag will only be triggered if the 9th bit received was a "1". That is to say, if SM2 is set and a byte is received whose 9th bit is clear, the RI flag will never be set. This can be useful in certain advanced serial applications. For now it is safe to say that you will almost always want to clear this bit so that the flag is set upon reception of any character.

The next bit, REN, is "Receiver Enable." This bit is very straightforward: If you want to receive data via the serial port, set this bit. You will almost always want to set this bit.

The last four bits (bits 0 through 3) are operational bits. They are used when actually sending and receiving data--they are not used to configure the serial port.

The TB8 bit is used in modes 2 and 3. In modes 2 and 3, a total of nine data bits are transmitted. The first 8 data bits are the 8 bits of the main value, and the ninth bit is taken from TB8. If TB8 is set and a value is written to the serial port, the datas bits will be written to the serial line followed by a "set" ninth bit. If TB8 is clear the ninth bit will be "clear."

The RB8 also operates in modes 2 and 3 and functions essentially the same way as TB8, but on the reception side. When a byte is received in modes 2 or 3, a total of nine bits are received. In this case, the first eight bits received are the data of the serial byte received and the value of the ninth bit received will be placed in RB8.

TI means "Transmit Interrupt." When a program writes a value to the serial port, a certain amount of time will pass before the individual bits of the byte are "clocked out" the serial port. If the program were to write another byte to the serial port before the first byte was completely output, the data being sent would be garbled. Thus, the 8051 lets the program know that it has "clocked out" the last byte by setting the TI bit. When the TI bit is set, the program may assume that the serial port is "free" and ready to send the next byte.

Finally, the RI bit means "Receive Interrupt." It funcions similarly to the "TI" bit, but it indicates that a byte has been received. That is to say, whenever the 8051 has received a complete byte it will trigger the RI bit to let the program know that it needs to read the value quickly, before another byte is read.

Setting the Serial Port Baud Rate

Once the Serial Port Mode has been configured, as explained above, the program must configure the serial ports baud rate. This only applies to Serial Port modes 1 and 3. The Baud Rate is determined based on the oscillators frequency when in mode 0 and 2. In mode 0, the baud rate is always the oscillator frequency divided by 12. This means if youre crystal is 11.059Mhz, mode 0 baud rate will always be 921,583 baud. In mode 2 the baud rate is always the oscillator frequency divided by 64, so a 11.059Mhz crystal speed will yield a baud rate of 172,797.

In modes 1 and 3, the baud rate is determined by how frequently timer 1 overflows. The more frequently timer 1 overflows, the higher the baud rate. There are many ways one can cause timer 1 to overflow at a rate that determines a baud rate, but the most common method is to put timer 1 in 8-bit auto-reload mode (timer mode 2) and set a reload value (TH1) that causes Timer 1 to overflow at a frequency appropriate to generate a baud rate.

To determine the value that must be placed in TH1 to generate a given baud rate, we may use the following equation (assuming PCON.7 is clear).

TH1 = 256 - ((Crystal / 384) / Baud)

If PCON.7 is set then the baud rate is effectively doubled, thus the equation becomes:

TH1 = 256 - ((Crystal / 192) / Baud)

For example, if we have an 11.059Mhz crystal and we want to configure the serial port to 19,200 baud we try plugging it in the first equation:

TH1 = 256 - ((Crystal / 384) / Baud)
TH1 = 256 - ((11059000 / 384) / 19200 )
TH1 = 256 - ((28,799) / 19200)
TH1 = 256 - 1.5 = 254.5

As you can see, to obtain 19,200 baud on a 11.059Mhz crystal wed have to set TH1 to 254.5. If we set it to 254 we will have achieved 14,400 baud and if we set it to 255 we will have achieved 28,800 baud. Thus were stuck...

But not quite... to achieve 19,200 baud we simply need to set PCON.7 (SMOD). When we do this we double the baud rate and utilize the second equation mentioned above. Thus we have:

TH1 = 256 - ((Crystal / 192) / Baud)
TH1 = 256 - ((11059000 / 192) / 19200)
TH1 = 256 - ((57699) / 19200)
TH1 = 256 - 3 = 253 = 0xFD

Here we are able to calculate a nice, even TH1 value. Therefore, to obtain 19,200 baud with an 11.059MHz crystal we must:

1. Configure Serial Port mode 1 or 3.
2. Configure Timer 1 to timer mode 2 (8-bit auto-reload).
3. Set TH1 to 253 to reflect the correct frequency for 19,200 baud.
4. Set PCON.7 (SMOD) to double the baud rate.

Circuit Diagram:

Program:

#include <reg51.h>


void main()
{
 unsigned char Message[15]={"This is test.. "};
 char i;
 //Initialize 
 TH1=0xFD;   //Set timer 1 for BAUD=9600
 TMOD=0x20;   //Set Timer 1 in Mode 2 8-bit Auto reload          
 SCON=0x50;   //Set serial reception enable and Mode 1 8-bit UART
 TR1=1;     //Start Timer 1

 //Serial Transmission of message
  for (i=0;i<15;i++)
  {
   SBUF =Message[i];  //Send one by one each byte to serial
   while(TI==0);      //Wait for Transmition complition
   TI=0;     //Clear Transmit Intterupt flag
  }

 //Serial Reception
  while(1)
  {
   while(RI==0);   //Wait unitl RI low
    P1=SBUF;  
   RI=0;
  }


}

This program is tested at 11.0592MHz Crystal