Datasheet

Table Of Contents
227
ATmega640/V-1280/V-1281/V-2560/V-2561/V [DATASHEET]
2549Q–AVR–02/2014
23. USART in SPI Mode
The Universal Synchronous and Asynchronous serial Receiver and Transmitter (USART) can be set to a master
SPI compliant mode of operation. The Master SPI Mode (MSPIM) has the following features:
Full Duplex, Three-wire Synchronous Data Transfer
Master Operation
Supports all four SPI Modes of Operation (Mode 0, 1, 2, and 3)
LSB First or MSB First Data Transfer (Configurable Data Order)
Queued Operation (Double Buffered)
High Resolution Baud Rate Generator
High Speed Operation (fXCKmax = fCK/2)
Flexible Interrupt Generation
23.1 Overview
Setting both UMSELn1:0 bits to one enables the USART in MSPIM logic. In this mode of operation the SPI master
control logic takes direct control over the USART resources. These resources include the transmitter and receiver
shift register and buffers, and the baud rate generator. The parity generator and checker, the data and clock recov-
ery logic, and the RX and TX control logic is disabled. The USART RX and TX control logic is replaced by a
common SPI transfer control logic. However, the pin control logic and interrupt generation logic is identical in both
modes of operation.
The I/O register locations are the same in both modes. However, some of the functionality of the control registers
changes when using MSPIM.
23.2 USART MSPIM vs. SPI
The AVR USART in MSPIM mode is fully compatible with the AVR SPI regarding:
Master mode timing diagram
The UCPOLn bit functionality is identical to the SPI CPOL bit
The UCPHAn bit functionality is identical to the SPI CPHA bit
The UDORDn bit functionality is identical to the SPI DORD bit
However, since the USART in MSPIM mode reuses the USART resources, the use of the USART in MSPIM mode
is somewhat different compared to the SPI. In addition to differences of the control register bits, and that only mas-
ter operation is supported by the USART in MSPIM mode, the following features differ between the two modules:
The USART in MSPIM mode includes (double) buffering of the transmitter. The SPI has no buffer
The USART in MSPIM mode receiver includes an additional buffer level
The SPI WCOL (Write Collision) bit is not included in USART in MSPIM mode
The SPI double speed mode (SPI2X) bit is not included. However, the same effect is achieved by setting
UBRRn accordingly
Interrupt timing is not compatible
Pin control differs due to the master only operation of the USART in MSPIM mode
A comparison of the USART in MSPIM mode and the SPI pins is shown in Table 23-4 on page 235.
23.2.1 Clock Generation
The Clock Generation logic generates the base clock for the Transmitter and Receiver. For USART MSPIM mode
of operation only internal clock generation (that is, master operation) is supported. The Data Direction Register for
the XCKn pin (DDR_XCKn) must therefore be set to one (that is, as output) for the USART in MSPIM to operate