Datasheet
ATmega164A/PA/324A/PA/644A/PA/1284/P
2018 Microchip Technology Inc. Data Sheet Complete DS40002070A-page 157
registers have their individual temporary register, which means that e.g. writing to TCNT2 does not disturb
an OCR2x write in progress. To detect that a transfer to the destination register has taken place, the
Asynchronous Status Register – ASSR has been implemented
When entering Power-save or ADC Noise Reduction mode after having written to TCNT2, OCR2x, or
TCCR2x, the user must wait until the written register has been updated if Timer/Counter2 is used to wake
up the device. Otherwise, the MCU will enter sleep mode before the changes are effective. This is
particularly important if any of the Output Compare2 interrupt is used to wake up the device, since the
Output Compare function is disabled during writing to OCR2x or TCNT2. If the write cycle is not finished,
and the MCU enters sleep mode before the corresponding OCR2xUB bit returns to zero, the device will
never receive a compare match interrupt, and the MCU will not wake up
If Timer/Counter2 is used to wake the device up from Power-save or ADC Noise Reduction mode,
precautions must be taken if the user wants to re-enter one of these modes: The interrupt logic needs one
TOSC1 cycle to be reset. If the time between wake-up and re-entering sleep mode is less than one
TOSC1 cycle, the interrupt will not occur, and the device will fail to wake up. If the user is in doubt whether
the time before re-entering Power-save or ADC Noise Reduction mode is sufficient, the following
algorithm can be used to ensure that one TOSC1 cycle has elapsed:
1. Write a value to TCCR2x, TCNT2, or OCR2x.
2. Wait until the corresponding Update Busy Flag in ASSR returns to zero.
3. Enter Power-save or ADC Noise Reduction mode.
When the asynchronous operation is selected, the 32.768kHz Oscillator for Timer/Counter2 is always
running, except in Power-down and Standby modes. After a Power-up Reset or wake-up from Power-
down or Standby mode, the user should be aware of the fact that this Oscillator might take as long as one
second to stabilize. The user is advised to wait for at least one second before using Timer/Counter2 after
power-up or wake-up from Power-down or Standby mode. The contents of all Timer/Counter2 Registers
must be considered lost after a wake-up from Power-down or Standby mode due to unstable clock signal
upon start-up, no matter whether the Oscillator is in use or a clock signal is applied to the TOSC1 pin
Description of wake up from Power-save or ADC Noise Reduction mode when the timer is clocked
asynchronously: When the interrupt condition is met, the wake up process is started on the following cycle
of the timer clock, that is, the timer is always advanced by at least one before the processor can read the
counter value. After wake-up, the MCU is halted for four cycles, it executes the interrupt routine, and
resumes execution from the instruction following SLEEP
Reading of the TCNT2 Register shortly after wake-up from Power-save may give an incorrect result.
Since TCNT2 is clocked on the asynchronous TOSC clock, reading TCNT2 must be done through a
register synchronized to the internal I/O clock domain. Synchronization takes place for every rising
TOSC1 edge. When waking up from Power-save mode, and the I/O clock (clk
I/O
) again becomes active,
TCNT2 will read as the previous value (before entering sleep) until the next rising TOSC1 edge. The
phase of the TOSC clock after waking up from Power-save mode is essentially unpredictable, as it
depends on the wake-up time. The recommended procedure for reading TCNT2 is thus as follows:
1. Write any value to either of the registers OCR2x or TCCR2x.
2. Wait for the corresponding Update Busy Flag to be cleared.
3. Read TCNT2.
During asynchronous operation, the synchronization of the Interrupt Flags for the asynchronous timer
takes 3 processor cycles plus one timer cycle. The timer is therefore advanced by at least one before the
processor can read the timer value causing the setting of the Interrupt Flag. The Output Compare pin is
changed on the timer clock and is not synchronized to the processor clock