Low-Level Hardware Drivers in C++

Abstract

Microcontroller applications usually require low-level drivers for peripheral devices such as I/O ports, interrupts, timers, communication interfaces like UART, CAN (ISO, ISO 11898–1:2003: Road Vehicles – Controller Area Network (CAN) – Part 1: data link layer and physical signaling, International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, 2003), SPI^TM, etc. This chapter presents several efficient methods for programming peripheral hardware drivers in C++. Low-level drivers are inherently dependent on the microcontroller and its peripherals. Even though the low-level hardware drivers in this chapter are primarily designed for our target with the 8-bit microcontroller, an effort has been made to keep them as portable as possible. In this way, they can be adapted to other microcontrollers. The final two sections in this chapter present complete, non-trivial examples. The first (chapter09_07) controls a seven-segment display (Horowitz and Hill, The art of electronics, 2nd edn., Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1989). The second (chapter09_08) produces colorful light by animating an RGB LED.