ATmega169P
18.5.3
Transmitter Flags and Interrupts
The USART Transmitter has two flags that indicate its state: USART Data Register Empty
(UDREn) and Transmit Complete (TXCn). Both flags can be used for generating interrupts.
The Data Register Empty (UDREn) Flag indicates whether the transmit buffer is ready to receive
new data. This bit is set when the transmit buffer is empty, and cleared when the transmit buffer
contains data to be transmitted that has not yet been moved into the Shift Register. For compat-
ibility with future devices, always write this bit to zero when writing the UCSRnA Register.
When the Data Register Empty Interrupt Enable (UDRIEn) bit in UCSRnB is written to one, the
USART Data Register Empty Interrupt will be executed as long as UDREn is set (provided that
global interrupts are enabled). UDREn is cleared by writing UDRn. When interrupt-driven data
transmission is used, the Data Register Empty interrupt routine must either write new data to
UDRn in order to clear UDREn or disable the Data Register Empty interrupt, otherwise a new
interrupt will occur once the interrupt routine terminates.
The Transmit Complete (TXCn) Flag bit is set one when the entire frame in the Transmit Shift
Register has been shifted out and there are no new data currently present in the transmit buffer.
The TXCn Flag bit is automatically cleared when a transmit complete interrupt is executed, or it
can be cleared by writing a one to its bit location. The TXCn Flag is useful in half-duplex commu-
nication interfaces (like the RS-485 standard), where a transmitting application must enter
receive mode and free the communication bus immediately after completing the transmission.
When the Transmit Compete Interrupt Enable (TXCIEn) bit in UCSRnB is set, the USART
Transmit Complete Interrupt will be executed when the TXCn Flag becomes set (provided that
global interrupts are enabled). When the transmit complete interrupt is used, the interrupt han-
dling routine does not have to clear the TXCn Flag, this is done automatically when the interrupt
is executed.
18.5.4
18.5.5
Parity Generator
The Parity Generator calculates the parity bit for the serial frame data. When parity bit is enabled
(UPM1n = 1), the transmitter control logic inserts the parity bit between the last data bit and the
first stop bit of the frame that is sent.
Disabling the Transmitter
The disabling of the Transmitter (setting the TXENn to zero) will not become effective until ongo-
ing and pending transmissions are completed, i.e., when the Transmit Shift Register and
Transmit Buffer Register do not contain data to be transmitted. When disabled, the Transmitter
will no longer override the TxD pin.
179
8018A–AVR–03/06
ATMEL [ ATMEL ]
