
125
XMEGA A [MANUAL]
8077I–AVR–11/2012
12.
Interrupts and Programmable Multilevel Interrupt Controller
12.1
Features
Short and predictable interrupt response time
Separate interrupt configuration and vector address for each interrupt
Programmable multilevel interrupt controller
– Interrupt prioritizing according to level and vector address
– Three selectable interrupt levels for all interrupts: low, medium and high
– Selectable, round-robin priority scheme within low-level interrupts
– Non-maskable interrupts for critical functions
Interrupt vectors optionally placed in the application section or the boot loader section
12.2
Overview
Interrupts signal a change of state in peripherals, and this can be used to alter program execution. Peripherals can have
one or more interrupts, and all are individually enabled and configured. When an interrupt is enabled and configured, it
will generate an interrupt request when the interrupt condition is present. The programmable multilevel interrupt
controller (PMIC) controls the handling and prioritizing of interrupt requests. When an interrupt request is acknowledged
by the PMIC, the program counter is set to point to the interrupt vector, and the interrupt handler can be executed.
All peripherals can select between three different priority levels for their interrupts: low, medium, and high. Interrupts are
prioritized according to their level and their interrupt vector address. Medium-level interrupts will interrupt low-level
interrupt handlers. High-level interrupts will interrupt both medium- and low-level interrupt handlers. Within each level, the
interrupt priority is decided from the interrupt vector address, where the lowest interrupt vector address has the highest
interrupt priority. Low-level interrupts have an optional round-robin scheduling scheme to ensure that all interrupts are
serviced within a certain amount of time.
Non-maskable interrupts (NMI) are also supported, and can be used for system critical functions.
Figure 12-1. Interrupt controller overview
12.3
Operation
Interrupts must be globally enabled for any interrupts to be generated. This is done by setting the global interrupt enable
( I ) bit in the CPU status register. The I bit will not be cleared when an interrupt is acknowledged. Each interrupt level
must also be enabled before interrupts with the corresponding level can be generated.
When an interrupt is enabled and the interrupt condition is present, the PMIC will receive the interrupt request. Based on
the interrupt level and interrupt priority of any ongoing interrupts, the interrupt is either acknowledged or kept pending
until it has priority. When the interrupt request is acknowledged, the program counter is updated to point to the interrupt
Peripheral 1
Interrupt Controller
INT REQ
INT LEVEL
INT REQ
INT LEVEL
CPU INT REQ
CTRL
LEVEL Enable
CPU.SREG
Global
Interrupt
Enable
Priority
decoder
STATUS
INTPRI
INT ACK
Peripheral n
INT LEVEL
INT REQ
INT ACK
CPU
CPU INT ACK
CPU ”RETI”
Sleep
Controller
Wake-up