The 8-Bit Timer/Counter0

 

 

The 90S8515 was used for this example. Other chips might have a somewhat different timer.

The 8-bit Timer/Counter0 can select its clock source from CK, pre-scaled CK, or an external pin. In addition it can be stopped (no clock).

 

The overflow status flag is found in the Timer/Counter Interrupt Flag Register - TIFR. Control signals are found in the Timer/Counter0 Control Register - TCCR0. The interrupt enable/disable settings for Timer/Counter0 are found in the Timer/Counter Interrupt Mask Register - TIMSK.

 

 

When Timer/Counter0 is externally clocked, the external signal is synchronized with the oscillator frequency of the CPU. To assure proper sampling of the external clock, the minimum time between two external clock transitions must be at least one internal CPU clock period. The external clock signal is sampled on the rising edge of the internal CPU clock.

 

 

 

The 8-bit Timer/Counter0 features both a high resolution and a high accuracy mode with  lower pre-scaling values. Similarly, high pre-scaling values make the Timer/Counter0 useful for lower speed functions or exact timing functions with infrequent actions.