Datasheet

10.7. Reset and Interrupt Handling
The Atmel AVR provides several different interrupt sources. These interrupts and the separate Reset
Vector each have a separate Program Vector in the Program memory space. All interrupts are assigned
individual enable bits which must be written logic one together with the Global Interrupt Enable bit in the
Status Register in order to enable the interrupt. Depending on the Program Counter value, interrupts may
be automatically disabled when Boot Lock Bits BLB02 or BLB12 are programmed. This feature improves
software security. See the section Memory Programming for details.
The lowest addresses in the Program memory space are by default defined as the Reset and Interrupt
Vectors. The complete list of Vectors is shown in Interrupts . The list also determines the priority levels of
the different interrupts. The lower the address the higher is the priority level. RESET has the highest
priority, and next is INT0 – the External Interrupt Request 0. The Interrupt Vectors can be moved to the
start of the boot Flash section by setting the Interrupt Vector Select (IVSEL) bit in the General Interrupt
Control Register (GICR). Refer to Interrupts for more information. The Reset Vector can also be moved to
the start of the boot Flash section by programming the BOOTRST Fuse, see Boot Loader Support –
Read-While-Write Self-Programming.
When an interrupt occurs, the Global Interrupt Enable I-bit is cleared and all interrupts are disabled. The
user software can write logic one to the I-bit to enable nested interrupts. All enabled interrupts can then
interrupt the current interrupt routine. The I-bit is automatically set when a Return from Interrupt
instruction – RETI – is executed.
There are basically two types of interrupts. The first type is triggered by an event that sets the Interrupt
Flag. For these interrupts, the Program Counter is vectored to the actual Interrupt Vector in order to
execute the interrupt handling routine, and hardware clears the corresponding Interrupt Flag. Interrupt
Flags can also be cleared by writing a logic one to the flag bit position(s) to be cleared. If an interrupt
condition occurs while the corresponding interrupt enable bit is cleared, the Interrupt Flag will be set and
remembered until the interrupt is enabled, or the flag is cleared by software. Similarly, if one or more
interrupt conditions occur while the global interrupt enable bit is cleared, the corresponding Interrupt
Flag(s) will be set and remembered until the global interrupt enable bit is set, and will then be executed by
order of priority.
The second type of interrupts will trigger as long as the interrupt condition is present. These interrupts do
not necessarily have Interrupt Flags. If the interrupt condition disappears before the interrupt is enabled,
the interrupt will not be triggered.
When the AVR exits from an interrupt, it will always return to the main program and execute one more
instruction before any pending interrupt is served.
Note that the Status Register is not automatically stored when entering an interrupt routine, nor restored
when returning from an interrupt routine. This must be handled by software.
When using the CLI instruction to disable interrupts, the interrupts will be immediately disabled. No
interrupt will be executed after the CLI instruction, even if it occurs simultaneously with the CLI instruction.
The following example shows how this can be used to avoid interrupts during the timed EEPROM write
sequence.
Assembly Code Example
in r16, SREG ; store SREG value
cli ; disable interrupts during timed sequence
sbi EECR, EEMWE ; start EEPROM write
sbi EECR, EEWE
out SREG, r16 ; restore SREG value (I-bit)
Atmel ATmega32A [DATASHEET]
Atmel-8155I-ATmega32A_Datasheet_Complete-08/2016
27