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ATmega8515(L)
2512K–AVR–01/10
Preventing EEPROM
Corruption
During periods of low V
CC, the EEPROM data can be corrupted because the supply volt-
age is too low for the CPU and the EEPROM to operate properly. These issues are the
same as for board level systems using EEPROM, and the same design solutions should
be applied.
An EEPROM data corruption can be caused by two situations when the voltage is too
low. First, a regular write sequence to the EEPROM requires a minimum voltage to
operate correctly. Secondly, the CPU itself can execute instructions incorrectly, if the
supply voltage is too low.
EEPROM data corruption can easily be avoided by following this design
recommendation:
Keep the AVR RESET active (low) during periods of insufficient power supply volt-
age. This can be done by enabling the internal Brown-out Detector (BOD). If the
detection level of the internal BOD does not match the needed detection level, an
external low V
CC Reset Protection circuit can be used. If a Reset occurs while a
write operation is in progress, the write operation will be completed provided that the
power supply voltage is sufficient.
I/O Memory
All ATmega8515 I/Os and peripherals are placed in the I/O space. The I/O locations are
accessed by the IN and OUT instructions, transferring data between the 32 general pur-
pose working registers and the I/O space. I/O Registers within the address range $00 -
$1F are directly bit-accessible using the SBI and CBI instructions. In these registers, the
value of single bits can be checked by using the SBIS and SBIC instructions. Refer to
the instruction set section for more details. When using the I/O specific commands IN
and OUT, the I/O addresses $00 - $3F must be used. When addressing I/O Registers as
data space using LD and ST instructions, $20 must be added to these addresses.
For compatibility with future devices, reserved bits should be written to zero if accessed.
Reserved I/O memory addresses should never be written.
Some of the Status Flags are cleared by writing a logical one to them. Note that the CBI
and SBI instructions will operate on all bits in the I/O Register, writing a one back into
any flag read as set, thus clearing the flag. The CBI and SBI instructions work with reg-
isters $00 to $1F only.
The I/O and Peripherals Control Registers are explained in later sections.