MSP430 Launchpad

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
When programming the MSP430 on the launchpad, I am trying to setup delays and am looking at the blinking light LED as an example. If I have a for loop that counts to say 1 million, will it take 1 second with a 1Mhz clock?

Im trying to understand the relationship between iterations and clock cycles.
 

MrChips

Joined Oct 2, 2009
30,621
No. You have to examine the number of clock cycles required for each and every instruction within the software loop.

It is much better to use the hardware timer for timing loops.
 

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
do all msp430's have built in RTC? The TI website says nothing about having them... it seems like the entire family has it but im not really sure.
 

panic mode

Joined Oct 10, 2011
2,703
if one loop takes 20 clock cycles and you use 1MHz clock, then 1MHz/20=50000 loops per second so in this example you would make loop of 50000. you can increase length of the loop by adding more instructions (NOPs for example).

each instruction takes certain number of clocks, in general some instructions take longer time to execute (more clocks) than others. moreover this varies from platform to platform.

your intuition is correct, longer loops will keep the mcu busy longer and if you use this as a way to create timing for your indicators, they will flash slower with greater counter range. but it does not mean that loop of 1000000 on 1MHz will take 1s. it depends on what is inside the loop and how efficient loop is.
 

kubeek

Joined Sep 20, 2005
5,793
I think that all msp430s have a low frequency oscillator, which can be easily turned into RTC.
As for the timing, the msp has on average 4-5 clock cycles per instruction, so counting to a million should take more than 10 sec, my guess is 15.
 

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
Strange... so im pretty sure im doing this right.. but on the launchpad for the msp430 by TI, both leds on the board don't blink at the same time! i wonder why?
#include <msp430g2211.h>

unsigned int i = 0; // Initialize variables. This will keep count of how many cycles between LED toggles


void main(void)
{
WDTCTL = WDTPW + WDTHOLD; // Stop watchdog timer. This line of code is needed at the beginning of most MSP430 projects.
// This line of code turns off the watchdog timer, which can reset the device after a certain period of time.

P1DIR |= 0x41; // P1DIR is a register that configures the direction (DIR) of a port pin as an output or an input. 00100001 = 0x41


// To set a specific pin as output or input, we write a '1' or '0' on the appropriate bit of the register.


// P1DIR = <PIN7><PIN6><PIN5><PIN4><PIN3><PIN2><PIN1><PIN0>


// Since we want to blink the on-board red LED, we want to set the direction of Port 1, Pin 0 (P1.0) as an output

// We do that by writing a 1 on the PIN0 bit of the P1DIR register
// P1DIR = <PIN7><PIN6><PIN5><PIN4><PIN3><PIN2><PIN1><PIN0>
// P1DIR = 0000 0001
// P1DIR = 0x01 <-- this is the hexadecimal conversion of 0000 0001



for (;;) // This empty for-loop will cause the lines of code within to loop infinitely
{



//P1OUT ^= 0x01; // Toggle P1.0 using exclusive-OR operation (^=)
P1OUT ^= 0x01;

// P1OUT is another register which holds the status of the LED.
// '1' specifies that it's ON or HIGH, while '0' specifies that it's OFF or LOW
// Since our LED is tied to P1.0, we will toggle the 0 bit of the P1OUT register



for(i=0; i< 20000; i++); // Delay between LED toggles. This for-loop will run until the condition is met.
//In this case, it will loop until the variable i increments to 20000.
}
}
 

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
hey if i set P1DIR |= 0x1E; and P1OUT ^= 0x1E; in a infinite loop.... shouldn't all the outputs go high and low at the same time?


The pin after the begginnig of the range (00011110, third LSB) is blinking opposite to 2nd LSB. All others are blinking in unison.
 

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
#include <msp430g2211.h>

unsigned int i = 1; // Initialize variables. This will keep count of how many cycles between LED toggles

void main(void)
{
WDTCTL = WDTPW + WDTHOLD; // Stop watchdog timer. This line of code is needed at the beginning of most MSP430 projects.
// This line of code turns off the watchdog timer, which can reset the device after a certain period of time.

P1DIR = 0XFF; //TURNS ALL PORT 1 PINS P1.0 THROUGH P1.7 TO BE OUTPUTS
P1OUT = 0; // SETS ALL OUTPUTS TO 0

for(i=1; i<2; i++)
{
P1OUT = 0x41;
_delay_cycles(30000000);
}

P1OUT = 0;
}


Works much better now :)
 

THE_RB

Joined Feb 11, 2008
5,438
Doesn't your C compiler have a function to delay in mS?

You should be able to use Delay_mS(500) or Delay_mS(1000) etc.
 

MMcLaren

Joined Feb 14, 2010
859
When programming the MSP430 on the launchpad, I am trying to setup delays and am looking at the blinking light LED as an example. If I have a for loop that counts to say 1 million, will it take 1 second with a 1Mhz clock?

Im trying to understand the relationship between iterations and clock cycles.
First, please tell us which compiler you're using? Are you using CCS (Code Composer Studio) v4 or v5?
 

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
sorry yes i am using code composer version 5 and it does have a function for delay....

Got it all workingg .... what I really want to do next is set UART up on P1.1 (Tx) to transmit serially to a display... hopefully i can get this working
 

Thread Starter

tenacity2986

Joined Oct 31, 2012
9
Is there a way to reverse the reset pin? Currently when you depress the reset, it grounds the pin, and upon release brings it high resettting...

I need the chip to reset when it sees ground, and do nothing when it sees an open circuit at reset (floating) ... those are the only two states i have... maybe a transistor would be cheaper NPN style :)
 

MMcLaren

Joined Feb 14, 2010
859
The reset pin on the Launchpad is "active low". That is, the MSP430 chip is held in reset as long as the pin is held low. Are you saying you want to reverse that?
 
Top