Online HelpPC 2.10 Quick Reference Utility Copyright 1991 David Jurgens
8253/8254 PIT - Programmable Interval Timer
Port 40h, 8253 Counter 0 Time of Day Clock (normally mode 3)
Port 41h, 8253 Counter 1 RAM Refresh Counter (normally mode 2)
Port 42h, 8253 Counter 2 Cassette and Speaker Functions
Port 43h, 8253 Mode Control Register, data format:
│7│6│5│4│3│2│1│0│ Mode Control Register
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └──── 0=16 binary counter, 1=4 decade BCD counter
│ │ │ │ └─┴─┴───── counter mode bits
│ │ └─┴────────── read/write/latch format bits
└─┴───────────── counter select bits (also 8254 read back command)
Bits
76 Counter Select Bits
00 select counter 0
01 select counter 1
10 select counter 2
11 read back command (8254 only, illegal on 8253, see below)
Bits
54 Read/Write/Latch Format Bits
00 latch present counter value
01 read/write of MSB only
10 read/write of LSB only
11 read/write LSB, followed by write of MSB
Bits
321 Counter Mode Bits
000 mode 0, interrupt on terminal count; countdown, interrupt,
then wait for a new mode or count; loading a new count in the
middle of a count stops the countdown
001 mode 1, programmable one-shot; countdown with optional
restart; reloading the counter will not affect the countdown
until after the following trigger
010 mode 2, rate generator; generate one pulse after 'count' CLK
cycles; output remains high until after the new countdown has
begun; reloading the count mid-period does not take affect
until after the period
011 mode 3, square wave rate generator; generate one pulse after
'count' CLK cycles; output remains high until 1/2 of the next
countdown; it does this by decrementing by 2 until zero, at
which time it lowers the output signal, reloads the counter
and counts down again until interrupting at 0; reloading the
count mid-period does not take affect until after the period
100 mode 4, software triggered strobe; countdown with output high
until counter zero; at zero output goes low for one CLK
period; countdown is triggered by loading counter; reloading
counter takes effect on next CLK pulse
101 mode 5, hardware triggered strobe; countdown after triggering
with output high until counter zero; at zero output goes low
for one CLK period
Read Back Command Format (8254 only)
│7│6│5│4│3│2│1│0│ Read Back Command (written to Mode Control Reg)
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─── must be zero
│ │ │ │ │ │ └──── select counter 0
│ │ │ │ │ └───── select counter 1
│ │ │ │ └────── select counter 2
│ │ │ └─────── 0 = latch status of selected counters
│ │ └──────── 0 = latch count of selected counters
└─┴───────── 11 = read back command
Read Back Command Status (8254 only, read from counter register)
│7│6│5│4│3│2│1│0│ Read Back Command Status
│ │ │ │ │ │ │ └─── 0=16 binary counter, 1=4 decade BCD counter
│ │ │ │ └─┴─┴──── counter mode bits (see Mode Control Reg above)
│ │ └─┴───────── read/write/latch format (see Mode Control Reg)
│ └──────────── 1=null count (no count set), 0=count available
└───────────── state of OUT pin (1=high, 0=low)
- the 8253 is used on the PC & XT, while the 8254 is used on the AT+
- all counters are decrementing and fully independent
- the PIT is tied to 3 clock lines all generating 1.19318 MHz.
- the value of 1.19318MHz is derived from (4.77/4 MHz) and has it's
roots based on NTSC frequencies
- counters are 16 bit quantities which are decremented and then
tested against zero. Valid range is (0-65535). To get a value
of 65536 clocks you must specify 0 as the default count since
65536 is a 17 bit value.
- reading by latching the count doesn't disturb the countdown but
reading the port directly does; except when using the 8254 Read
Back Command
- counter 0 is the time of day interrupt and is generated
approximately 18.2 times per sec. The value 18.2 is derived from
the frequency 1.10318/65536 (the normal default count).
- counter 1 is normally set to 18 (dec.) and signals the 8237 to do
a RAM refresh approximately every 15µs
- counter 2 is normally used to generate tones from the speaker
but can be used as a regular counter when used in conjunction
with the 8255
- newly loaded counters don't take effect until after a an output
pulse or input CLK cycle depending on the mode
- the 8253 has a max input clock rate of 2.6MHz, the 8254 has max
input clock rate of 10MHz
Programming considerations:
1. load Mode Control Register
2. let bus settle (jmp $+2)
3. write counter value
4. if counter 0 is modified, an INT 8 handler must be written to
call the original INT 8 handler every 18.2 seconds. When it
does call the original INT 8 handler it must NOT send and EOI
to the 8259 for the timer interrupt, since the original INT 8
handler will send the EOI also.
Example code:
countdown equ 8000h ; approx 36 interrupts per second
cli
mov al,00110110b ; bit 7,6 = (00) timer counter 0
; bit 5,4 = (11) write LSB then MSB
; bit 3-1 = (011) generate square wave
; bit 0 = (0) binary counter
out 43h,al ; prep PIT, counter 0, square wave&init count
jmp $+2
mov cx,countdown ; default is 0x0000 (65536) (18.2 per sec)
; interrupts when counter decrements to 0
mov al,cl ; send LSB of timer count
out 40h,al
jmp $+2
mov al,ch ; send MSB of timer count
out 40h,al
jmp $+2
sti
[helppc.bosbyte.nl] timer