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Introduction to 8051 microcontrollers

1.1 Introduction to microcontrollers

A micro-controller can be compared to a small stand alone computer, it is a very
powerful device, which is capable of executing a series of pre-programmed tasks and
interacting with other hardware devices. Being packed in a tiny integrated circuit (IC)
whose size and weight is usually negligible, it is becoming the perfect controller for
robots or any machines requiring some kind of intelligent automation. A single
microcontroller can be sufficient to control a small mobile robot, an automatic
washer machine or a security system. Any microcontroller contains a memory to
store the program to be executed, and a number of input/output lines that can be
used to interact with other devices, like reading the state of a sensor or controlling a
motor.

Nowadays, microcontrollers are so cheap and easily available that it is common to

use them instead of simple logic circuits like counters for the sole purpose of gaining
some design flexibility and saving some space. Some machines and robots will even
rely on a multitude of microcontrollers, each one dedicated to a certain task. Most
recent microcontrollers are 'In System Programmable', meaning that you can modify
the program being executed, without removing the microcontroller from its place.

Today, microcontrollers are an indispensable tool for the robotics hobbyist as well as
for the engineer. Starting in this field can be a little difficult, because you usually
can't understand how everything works inside that integrated circuit, so you have to
study the system gradually, a small part at a time, until you can figure out the whole
image and understand how the system works.
1.2 The 8051 microcontroller architecture
The 8051 is the name of a big family of microcontrollers. The device which we are
going to use along this tutorial is the 'AT89S52' which is a typical 8051
microcontroller manufactured by Atmel™. Note that this part doesn't aim to explain
the functioning of the different components of a 89S52 microcontroller, but rather to
give you a general idea of the organization of the chip and the available features,
which shall be explained in detail along this tutorial.

The block diagram provided by Atmel™ in their datasheet showing the architecture
the 89S52 device can seem very complicated, and since we are going to use the C
high level language to program it, a simpler architecture can be represented as the
figure 1.2.A.

This figures shows the main features and components that the designer can interact
with. You can notice that the 89S52 has 4 different ports, each one having 8
Input/output lines providing a total of 32 I/O lines. Those ports can be used to
output DATA and orders do other devices, or to read the state of a sensor, or a
switch. Most of the ports of the 89S52 have 'dual function' meaning that they can be
used for two different functions: the fist one is to perform input/output operations
and the second one is used to implement special features of the microcontroller like
counting external pulses, interrupting the execution of the program according to
external events, performing serial data transfer or connecting the chip to a computer
to update the software.
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Each port has 8 pins, and will be treated from the software point of view as an 8-bit
variable called 'register', each bit being connected to a different Input/Output pin.

You can also

notice two
different memory
types: RAM and
EEPROM. Shortly,
RAM is used to
store variable
during program
execution, while
the EEPROM
memory is used to
store the program
itself, that's why it
is often referred
to as the 'program
memory'. The
memory
organization will
be discussed in
detail later.

The special
features of the
89S52
microcontroller
are grouped in the
blue box at the
bottom of figure
1.2.A. At this
stage of the Figure 1.2.A

tutorial, it is just
important to note
that the 89S52
incorporates
hardware circuits
that can be used
to prevent the
processor from
executing various
repetitive tasks
and save
processing power
for more complex
calculations.
Those simple
tasks can be
counting the
number of
external pulses on
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a pin, or
generating precise
timing sequences.

It is clear that the CPU (Central Processing Unit) is the heart of the microcontrollers,
It is the CPU that will Read the program from the FLASH memory and execute it by
interacting with the different peripherals discussed above.

Figure 1.2.B shows the pin configuration of

the 89S52, where the function of each pin
is written next to it, and, if it exists, the
dual function is written between brackets.
The pins are written in the same order as in
the block diagram of figure 1.2.A, except
for the VCC and GND pins which I usually
note at the top and the bottom of any
device.

Note that the pin that have dual functions,

can still be used normally as an
input/output pin. Unless you program uses
their dual functions, All the 32 I/O pins of
the microcontroller are configured as
input/output pins.

Most of the function of the pins of the

89S52 microcontroller will be discussed in
detail, except for the pins required to
control an external memory, which are the
pins number 29, 30 and 31. Since we are
not going to use any external memory, pins
29 and 30 will be ignored through all the
tutorial, and pin 31 (EA) always connected
to VCC (5 Volts) to enable the micro-
controller to use the internal on chip
memory rather than an external one
(connecting the pin 31 to ground would
indicate to the microcontroller that an Figure 1.2.B

external memory is to be used instead of

the internal one).

1.3. Memory organization

A RAM stands for Random Access Memory, it has basically the same purpose of the
RAM in a desktop computer, which is to store some data required during the
execution time of different programs. While an EEPROM, also called FLASH memory
is a more elaborated ROM (Read Only Memory) which is the memory where the
program being executed is stored. Even if that's not exactly true, you can compare
an EEPROM to the Hard-Disk of a desktop computer from a general point of view.
The EEPROM term stands for Electronically Erasable and Programmable Read Only
Memory.
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In microcontrollers, like in any digital system, memory is organized in Registers,

Which is the basic unit of construction of a memory. Each register is composed of a
number of bits (usually 8) where the data can be stored. In the 8051 family of
microcontrollers for example, most registers
are 8-bit register, capable of storing values ranging
from 0 to 255. In order to use bigger values, various Typical register
register can be used simultaneously. Figure 1.3.A D7 D6 D5 D4 D3 D2 D1 D0
shows a typical 8-bit registers, where the notation D0 Figure 1.3.A
to D7 stands for the 8 DATA bits of the register.

As you shall see, the RAM memory of the 89S52, which contains 256 registers, is
divided into to main parts, the GPR part, and the SFR part. GPR stands for 'General
Purpose Register' and are the registers that you can use to store any data during the
execution of your program. SFRs (Special function Register) are registers used to
control the functioning of the microcontroller and to assist the processor through the
various operations being executed. For example, SFRs can be used to control
Input/Output lines, to retrieve data transmitted through the serial port of a desktop
computer, or to configure one of the on-chip counters and timers.

In a memory each register has a specific address which is used

by the processor to read and write from specific memory
location. Figure 1.3.B shows the memory organization of the
256 registers of the RAM of the 89S52 microcontroller. The
address is noted in Hexadecimal format as this notation
simplifies digital logic calculations for the designers, 00
corresponds to the first location and FF which is equal to 256
corresponds to the last location.

A programmer that would use the assembly language, have to

take this memory organization into consideration while
choosing the locations where his variables are stored, as
writing general purpose data into special function registers
could prevent the microcontroller from working correctly, but
since we will use the C language using the KEIL IDE Figure 1.3.B
(integrated development environment), this part will be totally
handled by the compiler.

1.4 Clock concept

The clock concept is found in all modern digital electronics, it is a simple circuit that
will generate pulses of electricity at a very specific frequency. Those pulses will
cadence all the events happening inside a microcontroller, those pulses will also
assure the synchronization of the events between various components inside the
microcontroller. For example, if the CPU is waiting for some result of mathematical
operation from the ALU (Arithmetic and Logic Unit), it will be known - according to
very specific protocol - when and where the resulting data will be delivered to the
CPU. The synchronization of those two devices is maintained because they share the
same clock.

The clock has another very important role which is to enable the microcontroller to
count timing. without a precise clock, it would be impossible to build a 'Real Time
System', or any other device that relies on time measurements. It can be deduced
that the precision of the timing of a microcontroller depends on the frequency of its
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clock.

In the 89S52 microcontroller, the clock can be fixed to different value by connecting
a crystal to the pins 18 and 19. Those crystals are sold with the frequency written on
them in Mega Hertz. The maximum operating frequency of the AT89S52 is 33 Mhz,
however other manufacturers like philips built similar 8051 microcontrollers that can
run at frequencies up to 120 Mhz.
1.5 Life cycle of a microcontroller project
Before passing to the next part of the tutorial, is important to have a general idea of
the steps that are followed to realize a project, from the very beginning when you
get an idea to the very end when you finalize your project.

As you can see in figure

1.5.A, after you settle
on the choice of your
project in the 'brain
storming' part, its
imperative to imagine
how it can be
implemented from the
hardware point of view,
before passing to the
programming phase,
because programming is
much more flexible than
the hardware design. In
other words, you start
by designing the
hardware, then you
work on the
programming while Figure 1.5.A
taking in consideration
the eventual constraints
imposed by the
hardware design.
The hardware design includes all the aspects of the electronic connections between
other devices, like the compatibility of the voltage levels, or the required number of
pins, etc...

After you're done with a first version of your program, you can transfer it to the
microcontroller mounted on the board that you realized already, resulting in a first
prototype. The transfer of the code is done using a special device called 'burner' or
'programmer' that connect to the computer, reads the HEX file generated by the
compiler, and sends it to the 'program memory' of the microcontroller. The prototype
will be used to test your project, correct eventual errors and enhance its
performance, tacking in account the famous rule that states that any project never
works the first time, at least it does not work as you expected!

Your project will always stay in the prototyping cycle, even if you decide that it is
functioning correctly, simply because perfect machines or inventions do not exist, so
there is always some room for little changes and updates.
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From the C program to the machine language

The C source code is very high level language, meaning that it is far from being at
the base level of the machine language that can be executed by a processor. This
machine language is basically just zero's and one's and is written in Hexadecimal
format, that why they are called HEX files.

There are several types

of HEX files; we are
going to produce
machine code in the
INTEL HEX-80 format,
since this is the output
of the KEIL IDE that we
are going to use. Figure
2.1.A shows that to
convert a C program to
machine language, it
takes several steps
depending on the tool
you are using, however,
the main idea is to
produce a HEX file at
the end. This HEX file
will be then used by the
'burner' to write every figure 2.1.A
byte of data at the
appropriate place in the
EEPROM of the 89S52.

2.2. Variables and constants

Variables
One of the most basic concepts of programming is to handle variables. knowing the
exact type and size of a variable is a very important issue for microcontroller
programmers, because the RAM is usually limited is size. There are two main design
considerations to be taken in account when choosing the variables types: the
occupied space in ram and the processing speed. Logically, a variable that occupies a
big number of registers in RAM will be more slowly processed than a small variable
that fits on a single register.

For you to chose the right variable type for each one of your applications, you will
have to refer to the following table:

Data Type Bits Bytes Value Range

bit 1 -- 0 to 1
signed char 8 1 -128 to +127
unsigned char 8 1 0 to 255
signed int 16 2 -32768 to +32767
unsigned int 16 2 0 to 65535
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signed long 32 4 -2147483648 to 2147483647

unsigned long 32 4 0 to 4294967295
±1.175494E-38 to
float 32 4
±3.402823E+38

This table shows the number of bits and bytes occupied by each types of variables,
noting that each byte will fit into a register. You will notice that most variables can
be either 'signed' or unsigned 'unsigned', and the major difference between the tow
types is the range, but both will occupy the same exact space in memory.

The names of the variables shown in the table are the same that are going to be
used in the program for variables declarations. Note that in C programming
language, any variable have to be declared to be used. Declaring a variable, will
attribute a specific location in the RAM or FLASH memory to that variable. The size of
that location will depend on the type of the variable that have been declared.

To understand the difference between those types, consider the following example
source code where we start by declaring three 'unsigned char' variables, and one
'signed char' and then perform some simple operations:

unsigned char a,b,c;

signed char d;
a = 100;
b = 200;
c = a - b;
d = a - b;

In that program the values of 'c' will be equal to '155'! and not '-100' as you though,
because the variable 'c' is an unsigned type, and when a the value to be stored in a
variable is bigger than the maximum value range of this variable, it overflows and
rolls back to the other limit. Back to our example, the program is trying to store '-
100' in 'c', but since 'c' is unsigned, its range of values is from '0 to 255' so, trying to
store a value below zero, will cause the the variable to overflow, and the compiler
will subtract the '-100' from the other limit plus 1, from '255 + 1' giving '156'. We
add 1 to the range because the overflow and roll back operation from 0 to 255
counts for the subtraction of one bit. On the other hand, the value of 'd' will be equal
to '-100' as expected, because it is a 'signed' variable. Generally, we try to avoid
storing value that are out of range, because sometime, even if the compiler doesn't
halt on that error, the results can be sometimes totally un-expected.

Note that in the C programming language, any code line is ended with a semicolon
';', except for the lines ending with brackets '{' '}'.

Like in any programming language, the concept of a variables 'array' can also be
used for microcontrollers programming. an array is like a table or a group of
variables of the same type, each one can be called by a specific number, for example
an array can be declared this way:

char display[10];

this will create a group of 10 variables. Each one of them is accessible by its number,
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example:

display[0] = 100;
display[3] = 60;
display[1] = display[0] - display[3];

where 'display[1]' will be equal to '40'. Note that 'display' contains 10 different
variables, numbered from 0 to 9. In that previous example, according to the variable
declaration, there is not such variable location as 'display[10]', and using it will cause
an error in the compiler.

Constants
Sometimes, you want to store a very large amount of constant values, that wouldn't
fit in the RAM or simply would take too much space. you can store this DATA in the
FLASH memory reserved for the code, but it wont be editable, once the program is
burned on your chip. The advantage of this technique is that it can be used to store a
huge amount of variables, noting that the FLASH memory of the 89S52 is 8K bytes,
32 times bigger than the RAM memory. It is, however, your responsibility to
distribute this memory between your program and your DATA.

To specify that a variable is to be stored in the FLASH memory, we use exactly the
same variable types names but we add the prefix 'code' before it. Example:

code unsigned char message[500];

This line would cause this huge array to be stored in the FLASH memory. This can be
interesting for displaying messages on an LCD screen.

To access the pins and the ports through programming, there are a number of pre-
defined variables (defined in the header file, as you shall see later) that dramatically
simplifies that task. There are 4 ports, Port 0 to Port 3, each one of them can be
accessed using the char variables P0, P1, P2 and P3 respectively. In those char
types variables, each one of the 8 bits represents a pin on the port. Additionally, you
can access a single pin of a port using the bit type variables PX_0 to PX_7, where X
takes a value between 0 and 3, depending on the port being accessed. For example
P1_3 is the pin number 3 of port 1.

You can also define your own names, using the '#define' directive. Note that this is
compiler directive, meaning that the compiler will use this directive to read and
understand the code, but it is not a statement or command that can be translated to
machine language. For example, you could define the following:

#define LED1 P1_0

With the definition above, the compiler will replace every occurrence of LED1 by
P1_0. This makes your code much more easier to read, especially when the new
names you give make more sense.

You could also define a numeric constant value like this:

#define led_on_time 184

Then, each time you write led_on_time, it will be replaced by 184. Note that this is
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not a variable and accordingly, you cannot write something like:

led_on_time = 100; //That's wrong, you cannot change a constant's value in code.

The utility of using defined constants, appears when you want to adjust some delays
in your code, or some constant variables that are re-used many times within the
code: With a predefined constant, you only change it's value once, and it's applied to
the whole code. that's for sure apart from the fact that a word like led_on_time is
much more comprehensive than simply '184'!

Along this tutorial you will see how port names, and special function registers are
used exactly as variables, to control input/output operations and other features of
the microcontroller like timers, counters and interrupts.

2.3. Mathematical & logic operations

Now that you know how to declare variables, it is time to know how to handle them
in your program using mathematical and logic operations.

Mathematical operations:
The most basic concept about mathematical operations in programming languages,
is the '=' operator which is used to store the content of the expression at its right,
into the variable at its left. For example the following code will store the value of 'b'
into 'a' :

a = b;

And subsequently, the following expression in totally invalid:

5 = b;

Since 5 in a constant, trying to store the content of 'b' in it will cause an error.

You can then perform all kind of mathematical operations, using the operators
'+','-','*' and '/'. You can also use brackets '( )' when needed. Example:

a =(5*b)+((a/b)*(a+b));

If you include 'math.h' header file, you will be able to use more advanced functions
in your equations like Sin, Cos and Tan trigonometric functions, absolute values and
logarithmic calculations like in the following example:

a =(c*cos(b))+sin(b);

To be able to successfully use those functions in your programs, you have to know
the type of variables that those functions take as parameter and return as a result.
For example a Cosine function takes an angle in radians whose value is a float
number between -65535 and 65535 and it will return a float value as a result. You
can usually know those data types from the 'math.h' file itself, for example, the
cosine function, like all the others is declared in the top of the math header file, and
you can read the line:

extern float cos (float val);

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from this line you can deduce that the 'cos' function returns a float data type, and
takes as a parameter a float too. (the parameter is always between brackets.). Using
the same technique, you can easily know how to deal with the rest of the functions
of the math header file. the following table shows a short description of those
functions:

Function Description
char cabs (char val); Return an the absolute value of a char variable.
int abs (int val); Return an the absolute value of a int variable.
long labs (long val); Return an the absolute value of a long variable.
float fabs (float val); Return an the absolute value of a float variable.
float sqrt (float val); Returns the square root of a float variable.
Returns the value of the Euler number 'e' to the power
float exp (float val);
of val
float log (float val); Returns the natural logarithm of val
float log10 (float val); Returns the common logarithm of val
float sin (float val);
float cos (float val);
float tan (float val);
float asin (float val); A set of standard trigonometric functions. They all take
float acos (float val); angles measured in radians whose value have to be
float atan (float val); between -65535 and 65535.
float sinh (float val);
float cosh (float val);
float tanh (float val);
This function calculates the arc tan of the ratio y / x,
using the signs of both x and y to determine the
float atan2 (float y, float x);
quadrant of the angle and return a number ranging
from -pi to pi.
Calculates the smallest integer that is bigger than val.
float ceil (float val);
Example: ceil(4.3) = 5.
Calculates the largest integer that is smaller than val.
float floor (float val);
Example: ceil(4.8) = 4.
Returns the remainder of x / y. For example:
float fmod (float x, float y);
fmod(15.0,4.0) = 3.
float pow (float x, float y); Returns x to the power y.

Logical operations:
You can also perform logic operations with variables, like AND, OR and NOT
operations, using the following operators:
Operator Description
! NOT (bit level) Example: P1_0 = !P1_0;
~ NOT (byte level) Example: P1 = ~P1;
& AND
| OR

Note that those logic operation are performed on the bit level of the registers. To
understand the effect of such operation on registers, it's easier to look at the bits of
a variable (which is composed of one or more register). For example, a NOT
operation will invert all the bit of a register. Those logic operators can be used in
many ways to merge different bits of different registers together.
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For example, consider the variable 'P1', which is of type 'char', and hence stored in
an 8-bit register. Actually P1 is an SFR, whose 8 bits represents the 8 I/O pins of
Port 1. It is required in that example to clear the 4 lower bits of that register without
changing the state of the 4 other which may be used by other equipment. This can
be done using logical operators according to the following code:

P1 = P1 & 0xF0; (Adding '0x' before a number indicates that it is a hexadecimal

one)

Here, the value of P1 is ANDed with the variable 0xF0, which in the binary base is
'11110000'. Recalling the two following relations:

1 AND X = X
0 AND X = 0
(where 'X' can be any binary value)

You can deduce that the 4 higher bits of P1 will remain unchanged, while the 4 lower
bits will be cleared to 0.

By the way, note that you could also perform the same operation using a decimal
variable instead of a hexadecimal one, for example, the following code will have
exactly the same effect than the previous one (because 240 = F0 in HEX):

P1 = P1 & 240;

A similar types of operations that can be performed on a port, is to to set some of its
bits to 1 without affecting the others. For example, to set the first and last bit of P1,
without affecting the other, the following source code can be used:

P1 = P1 | 0x81;

Here, P1 is ORed with the value 0x81, which is '10000001' in binary. Recalling the
two following relations:

1 OR X = 1
0 OR X = X
(where 'X' can be any binary value)

You can deduce that the first and last pins of P1 will be turned on, without affecting
the state of the other pins of port 1. Those are just a few example of the
manipulations that can be done to registers using logical operators. Logic operators
can also be used to define very specific conditions, as you shall see in the next
section.

The last types of logic operation studied in this tutorial is the shifting. It can be
useful the shift the bit of a register the right or to the left in various situations. this
can be done using the following two operators:
Operator Description
>> Shift to the right
<< Shift to the left

The syntax is is quite intuitive, for example:

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P1 = 0x01; // After that operation, in binary, P1 = 0000 0001

P1 = (P1 << 8) // After that operation, in binary P1 = 1000 0000

You can clearly notice that the content of P1 have been shifted 8 steps to the left.

2.4. Conditions and loops

In most programs, it is required at a certain time, to differentiate between different
situations, to make decision according to specific input, or to direct the flow of the
code depending on some criteria. All the above situation describe an indispensable
aspect of programming: 'conditions'. In other words, this feature allows to execute a
block of code only under certain conditions, and otherwise execute another code
block or continue with the flow of the program.

The most famous way to do that is to use the 'if' statement, according to the
following syntax.

if (expression) {
...
code to be executed
...
}

It is important to see how the code is organized in this part. The 'expression' is the
condition that shall be valid for the 'code block' to be executed. the code block is all
delimited by the two brackets '{' and '}'. In other words, all the code between those
two brackets will be executed if and only if the expression is valid. The expression
can be any combination of mathematical and logical expressions, as you can see in
the following example:

if ( (P1 == 0) & (a <= 128) ){

...
code to be executed
...
}

Notice the use of the two equal signs (==) between two variables or constants, In C
language, this means that you are asking whether P1 equals 0 or not. writing this
expression with only one equal sign, would cause the the compiler to store 0 in P1.
This issue is a source of logical error for many beginners in C language, this error
wont generate any alert from the compiler and is very hard to identify in a big
program, so pay attention, it can save you lot of debugging time. Otherwise it is
clear that in that previous example, the code block is only executed if both the two
expressions are true. Here is a list of all the operators you can use to write an
expression describing a certain condition:

Operator Description
== Equal to
<, > Smaller than, bigger than.
<=, >= Smaller than or equal to, bigger than or equal to.
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!= Not equal to

The 'If' code block can get a little more sophisticated by introducing the 'else' and
'else if' statement. Observe the following example source code:

if (expression_1) {
...
code block 1
...
}else if(expression_2) {
...
code block 2
...
}else if(expression_3) {
...
code block 3
...
}else{
...
code block 4
...
}

Here, There are four different code blocks, only one shall be executed if and only if
the corresponding condition is true. The last code block will only be executed if none
of the previous expression is valid. Note that you can have as many 'else if' blocks as
you need, each one with its corresponding condition, BUT you can only have one
'else' block, which is completely logical. However you can chose not to have and
'else' block at all if you want.

There are some other alternatives to the 'if...else' code block, that can provide faster
execution speeds, but also have some limitations and restrictions like the
'Select...case' code block. For now, it is enough to understand the 'if...else' code
block, whose performance is quite fair and have a wide range of applications.

Another very important tool in the programming languages is the loop. In C

language like in many others, loops are usually restricted to certain number of loops
like in the 'for' code block or restricted to a certain condition like the 'while' block.

Let's start with the 'for' code block, which is a highly controllable and configurable
loop. consider the following example source code:

for(i=0;i<10;i++){

P0 = i;

Here the code between the the two brackets '{' '}' will be be executed a certain
number of times, each time with the counting variable 'i' increasing by 1 according to
the statement 'i++'. The code will keep looping as long as the condition 'i<10' is
true. Usually the counting value 'i' is reused in the body of the loop, which makes the
particularity of this loop. The 'for' loop functioning can be recapitulated by the
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following syntax:

for(start;condition;step){
...
code block
...
}

Where start represents the start value assigned to the count value before the loop
begins. The condition is the expression that is is to remain true for the loop to
continue; as long as this conditions is satisfied, the code will keep looping. Finally,
step is the increase or decrease of the counting variable, it can be any statement
that changes its value, whether by an addition or subtraction.

The second type of loop that we are going to study is the 'while' loop. the syntax of
this one is simpler than the previous one, as you can observe in the following
example source code, that is equivalent to the previous method:

while(i < 10){

P0 = i;
i = i +1;
}

Here there is only one parameter to be defined, which is the condition to keep this
loop alive, which is 'i < 10' in our example. Then, it is the responsibility of the
programmer to design the software carefully to provide an exit for that loop, or to
make it an infinite loop. Both techniques are commonly used in microcontroller
programs, as you shall see later on along this tutorial.

2.5. Functions
Functions are way of organizing your code, reducing its size, and increasing its
overall performance, by grouping relatively small parts of code to be reused many
times in the same program. A new function can be created according to the following
syntax:

Function_name(parameter_1, Parameter_2, Parameter_3){

...
function body
...
return value (optional)
...
}

This is the general form of a function. The number of parameters of the function can
be more than the three parameters of the examples above, as it can be zero, all
depends on the type and use of the function. The function's body is usually a sub
program that implies the parameters to produce the required result. some functions
will also generate an output, like the cos() function, through the 'return' command,
which will output the value next to it. Usually the 'return' command is used at the
end of the function.

A very common use of functions without return value is to create delays in a

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software, consider the following function:

delay(unsigned int y){

unsigned int i;
for(i=0;i<y;i++){
;
}
}

In this last piece of code a function named 'delay' is created, with an unsigned
integer 'y' as a parameter, and implying a locally defined unsigned int 'i'. the function
will repeat a loop for a couple hundreds or thousand of times to generate precise
delays in a program. A function like this can be called from anywhere in the program
according to the following syntax:

delay(30000);

this line of code would cause the program to pause for approximately one second on
a 12 MHz clock on a 8051 microcontroller.

A common example of a function with a return value, is a function that will calculate
the angle in radian of a given angle in degrees, as all the trigonometric functions that
are included by default take angles in radians. This function can be as the following:

deg_to_rad(float deg){
float rad;
rad = (deg * 3.14)/180;
retrun rad;
}

This function named 'deg_to_rad' will take as a parameter an angle in degrees and
output an angle in radians. It can be called in your program according to this syntax:

angle = deg_to_rad(102,18);

where angle should be already defined as a float, and where will be stored the value
returned by the function, which is the angle in radians equivalent to 102.18°

Another important note about functions in the 'main' function. Any C program must
contain a function named 'main' which is the place where the program's execution
will start. more precisely, for microcontrollers, it were the execution will start after a
reset operation, or when a microcontroller circuit is turned ON. The 'main' function
has no parameters, and is written like this:

main(){
...
code of the main functions
...
}

2.6. Organization of a C program

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All C programs have this common organization scheme, sometimes it's followed,
sometimes it's not, however, it is imperative for this category of programming that
this organization scheme be followed in order to be able to develop your applications
successfully. Any application can be divided into the following parts, noting that is
should be written in this order:

a. Headers Includes and constants definitions

In this part, header files (.h) are included into your source code. those headers files
can be system headers to declare the name of SFRs, to define new constants, or to
include mathematical functions like trigonometric functions, root square calculations
or numbers approximations. Header files can also contain your own functions that
would be shared by various programs.

b. Variables declarations
More precisely, this part is dedicated to 'Global Variables' declarations. Variables
declared in this place can be used anywhere in the code. Usually in microcontroller
programs, variables are declared as global variables instead of local variables, unless
your are running short of RAM memory and want to save some space, so we use
local variables, whose values will be lost each time you switch from a function to
another. To summarize, global variables as easier to use and implement than local
variables, but they consume more memory space.

d. functions' body
Here you group all your functions. Those functions can be simple ones that can be
called from another place in your program, as they can be called from an 'interrupt
vector'. In other words, the sub-programs to be executed when an interrupt occurs is
also written in this place.

e. Initialization
The particularity of this part is that it is executed only one time when the
microcontroller was just subjected to a 'RESET' or when power is just switched ON,
then the processor continue executing the rest of the program but never executes
this part again. This particularity makes it the perfect place in a program to initialize
the values of some constants, or to define the mode of operation of the timers,
counters, interrupts, and other features of the microcontroller.

f. Infinite loop
An infinite loop in a microcontroller program is what is going to keep it alive, because
a processor have to be allays running for the system to function, exactly like a heart
have to be always beating for a person to live. Usually this part is the core of any
program, and its from here that all the other functions are called and executed.

2.7. Simple C program for 89S52

Here is a very simple but complete example program to blink a LED. Actually it is the
source code of the example project that we are going to construct in the next part of the
tutorial, but for now it is important to concentrate on the programming to summarize the
notions discussed above.
#include <REGX52.h>
#include <math.h>

delay(unsigned int y){

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unsigned int i;
for(i=0;i<y;i++){;}
}

main(){
while(1){
delay(30000);
P1_0 = 0;
delay(30000);
P1_0 = 1;
}
}

After including basic headers for the SFR definitions of the 8952 microcontroller
(REGX52.h) and for mathematical functions (math.h), a function named 'delay' is
created, which is simple a function to create a delay controlled via the parameter 'y'. Then
comes the main function, with an infinite loop (the condition for that loop to remain will
always be satisfied as it is '1'). Inside that loop, the pin number 0 of port 1 is constantly
turned ON and OFF with a delay of approximately one second. As you will see in the
next part, A simple circuit can be constructed and a LED can be connected to the pin
P1_0 to see how software and hardware adjustments can affect the behavior of you
circuits.

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