5 prescaling and conversion timing – Rainbow Electronics ATtiny43U User Manual
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bits for a list of the trigger sources). When a positive edge occurs on the selected trigger signal,
the ADC prescaler is reset and a conversion is started. This provides a method of starting con-
versions at fixed intervals. If the trigger signal still is set when the conversion completes, a new
conversion will not be started. If another positive edge occurs on the trigger signal during con-
version, the edge will be ignored. Note that an Interrupt Flag will be set even if the specific
interrupt is disabled or the Global Interrupt Enable bit in SREG is cleared. A conversion can thus
be triggered without causing an interrupt. However, the Interrupt Flag must be cleared in order to
trigger a new conversion at the next interrupt event.
Figure 16-2. ADC Auto Trigger Logic
Using the ADC Interrupt Flag as a trigger source makes the ADC start a new conversion as soon
as the ongoing conversion has finished. The ADC then operates in Free Running mode, con-
stantly sampling and updating the ADC Data Register. The first conversion must be started by
writing a logical one to the ADSC bit in ADCSRA. In this mode the ADC will perform successive
conversions independently of whether the ADC Interrupt Flag, ADIF is cleared or not.
If Auto Triggering is enabled, single conversions can be started by writing ADSC in ADCSRA to
one. ADSC can also be used to determine if a conversion is in progress. The ADSC bit will be
read as one during a conversion, independently of how the conversion was started.
16.5
Prescaling and Conversion Timing
By default, the successive approximation circuitry requires an input clock frequency between 50
kHz and 200 kHz to get maximum resolution. If a lower resolution than 10 bits is needed, the
input clock frequency to the ADC can be higher than 200 kHz to get a higher sample rate. It is
not recommended to use a higher input clock frequency than 1 MHz.
The ADC module contains a prescaler, as illustrated in
, which gener-
ates an acceptable ADC clock frequency from any CPU frequency above 100 kHz. The
prescaling is set by the ADPS bits in ADCSRA. The prescaler starts counting from the moment
the ADC is switched on by setting the ADEN bit in ADCSRA. The prescaler keeps running for as
long as the ADEN bit is set, and is continuously reset when ADEN is low.
ADSC
ADIF
SOURCE 1
SOURCE n
ADTS[2:0]
CONVERSION
LOGIC
PRESCALER
START
CLK
ADC
.
.
.
.
EDGE
DETECTOR
ADATE