Chapter 01
Page 5
Features of Atmega328P Microcontroller(μC) in SIMPLE words continued ...
- Six different Analog to Digital Convertors (ADC) which converts an analog voltage to equivalent digital values between 0 to 1023.
- It has support for serial communication, it has its own serial transmit and receive pins. USART (Universal Synchronous Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter)
- It also supports other communication protocols like Master/Slave SPI Serial Interface
- It also supports other communication protocols like Byte-oriented TWI Two-wire Serial Interface (Philips I2C compatible). It can be used, so that multiple microcontrollers can communicate with each other.
- It contains a "Watchdog Timer", which can detect if the micro-controller gets "Hanged". The software developer can instruct the microcontroller to RESET automatcially in case it is "hanged".
- There is an On-chip Analog Comparator which can compare two analog voltages
- Power-on Reset: As soon as the microcontroller is powered on it Resets. As per the software developer’s point of view, The C-language program will start from main() function whenever its powered on.
- In some countries there is a concept of "Brown-out". Example: If all people in the city switches on Heater or Air Conditioners or other heavy load and it almost exceed the limit of the electricity distribution lines, it becomes a problem for the electricity board/companies. Previously the only option was to switch off electricity in the city, but this causes a black-out. When electric load is too much on the distribution instead of switching OFF the electricity, a low voltage is supplied, so at-least electric bulbs can be lit. The term brownout comes from the dimming experienced by lighting when the voltage sags. The micro-controller may be a part of an electric-oven, microwave or Air-conditioner. The micro-controller can detect it and take actions as per the software program, for example it can bring the electric appliance in the sleep mode or completely switch it off.
- It has very good power saving options, they can be used if the microcontroller based device is powered ON but not in use, just like the Laptop can "sleep" when it is not used.
- Out of its 28pins, maximum 23 Pins can work as input or output pins. Also the user can select which particular pins will act as output pins and which will act as input pins.
- It can work on 1.8 to 5.5 Voltage range.
If it is operated from 0 - 4MHz then 1.8V - 5.5V is required for proper operation
If it is operated from 0 - 10MHz then 2.7 - 5.5V is required for proper operation
If it is operated from 0 - 20MHz then 4.5 - 5.5V is required for proper operation
When it is operated at low speed 0 to 4MHz a minimum of 1.8Voltage must be supplied to the power pins. A maximum of 5.5 Volt can be applied.
- Micro-controllers can operate in the temperature range of -40 to 85 degree C