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 compatibility 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 rou-
tine 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 communication 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 handling routine does not have to clear the TXCn Flag, this is done
automatically when the interrupt is executed.
Parity Generator
The Parity Generator calculates the parity bit for the serial frame data. When parity bit is
enabled (UPMn1 = 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 TXEN to zero) will not become effective
until ongoing and pending transmissions are completed, i.e., when the Transmit Shift
Register and Transmit Buffer Register do not contain data to be transmitted. When dis-
abled, the Transmitter will no longer override the TxDn pin.
170
ATmega48/88/168
2545D–AVR–07/04
ATMEL [ ATMEL ]
