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ATmega48/88/168
25. Self-Programming the Flash, ATmega48
25.1 Overview
In ATmega48, there is no Read-While-Write support, and no separate Boot Loader Section. The
SPM instruction can be executed from the entire Flash.
The device provides a Self-Programming mechanism for downloading and uploading program
code by the MCU itself. The Self-Programming can use any available data interface and associ-
ated protocol to read code and write (program) that code into the Program memory.
The Program memory is updated in a page by page fashion. Before programming a page with
the data stored in the temporary page buffer, the page must be erased. The temporary page
buffer is filled one word at a time using SPM and the buffer can be filled either before the Page
Erase command or between a Page Erase and a Page Write operation:
Alternative 1, fill the buffer before a Page Erase
• Fill temporary page buffer
• Perform a Page Erase
• Perform a Page Write
Alternative 2, fill the buffer after Page Erase
• Perform a Page Erase
• Fill temporary page buffer
• Perform a Page Write
If only a part of the page needs to be changed, the rest of the page must be stored (for example
in the temporary page buffer) before the erase, and then be re-written. When using alternative 1,
the Boot Loader provides an effective Read-Modify-Write feature which allows the user software
to first read the page, do the necessary changes, and then write back the modified data. If alter-
native 2 is used, it is not possible to read the old data while loading since the page is already
erased. The temporary page buffer can be accessed in a random sequence. It is essential that
the page address used in both the Page Erase and Page Write operation is addressing the same
page.
25.1.1 Performing Page Erase by SPM
To execute Page Erase, set up the address in the Z-pointer, write “00000011” to SPMCSR and
execute SPM within four clock cycles after writing SPMCSR. The data in R1 and R0 is ignored.
The page address must be written to PCPAGE in the Z-register. Other bits in the Z-pointer will
be ignored during this operation.
• The CPU is halted during the Page Erase operation.
25.1.2 Filling the Temporary Buffer (Page Loading)
To write an instruction word, set up the address in the Z-pointer and data in R1:R0, write
“00000001” to SPMCSR and execute SPM within four clock cycles after writing SPMCSR. The
content of PCWORD in the Z-register is used to address the data in the temporary buffer. The
temporary buffer will auto-erase after a Page Write operation or by writing the RWWSRE bit in
SPMCSR. It is also erased after a system reset. Note that it is not possible to write more than
one time to each address without erasing the temporary buffer.
