274

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ATmega48/88/168

Note: 1. “1” means unprogrammed, “0” means programmed

26.6 Entering the Boot Loader Program

Entering the Boot Loader takes place by a jump or call from the application program. This may

be initiated by a trigger such as a command received via USART, or SPI interface. Alternatively,

the Boot Reset Fuse can be programmed so that the Reset Vector is pointing to the Boot Flash

start address after a reset. In this case, the Boot Loader is started after a reset. After the applica-

tion code is loaded, the program can start executing the application code. Note that the fuses

cannot be changed by the MCU itself. This means that once the Boot Reset Fuse is pro-

grammed, the Reset Vector will always point to the Boot Loader Reset and the fuse can only be

changed through the serial or parallel programming interface.

Table 26-2. Boot Lock Bit0 Protection Modes (Application Section)

(1)

BLB0 Mode BLB02 BLB01 Protection

111

No restrictions for SPM or LPM accessing the Application

section.

2 1 0 SPM is not allowed to write to the Application section.

300

SPM is not allowed to write to the Application section, and LPM

executing from the Boot Loader section is not allowed to read

from the Application section. If Interrupt Vectors are placed in

the Boot Loader section, interrupts are disabled while executing

from the Application section.

401

LPM executing from the Boot Loader section is not allowed to

read from the Application section. If Interrupt Vectors are placed

in the Boot Loader section, interrupts are disabled while

executing from the Application section.

Table 26-3. Boot Lock Bit1 Protection Modes (Boot Loader Section)

(1)

BLB1 Mode BLB12 BLB11 Protection

111

No restrictions for SPM or LPM accessing the Boot Loader

section.

2 1 0 SPM is not allowed to write to the Boot Loader section.

300

SPM is not allowed to write to the Boot Loader section, and LPM

executing from the Application section is not allowed to read

from the Boot Loader section. If Interrupt Vectors are placed in

the Application section, interrupts are disabled while executing

from the Boot Loader section.

401

LPM executing from the Application section is not allowed to

read from the Boot Loader section. If Interrupt Vectors are

placed in the Application section, interrupts are disabled while

executing from the Boot Loader section.

275

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Note: 1. “1” means unprogrammed, “0” means programmed

26.7 Addressing the Flash During Self-Programming

The Z-pointer is used to address the SPM commands.

Since the Flash is organized in pages (see Table 27-9 on page 290), the Program Counter can

be treated as having two different sections. One section, consisting of the least significant bits, is

addressing the words within a page, while the most significant bits are addressing the pages.

This is1 shown in Figure 26-3. Note that the Page Erase and Page Write operations are

addressed independently. Therefore it is of major importance that the Boot Loader software

addresses the same page in both the Page Erase and Page Write operation. Once a program-

ming operation is initiated, the address is latched and the Z-pointer can be used for other

operations.

The only SPM operation that does not use the Z-pointer is Setting the Boot Loader Lock bits.

The content of the Z-pointer is ignored and will have no effect on the operation. The LPM

instruction does also use the Z-pointer to store the address. Since this instruction addresses the

Flash byte-by-byte, also the LSB (bit Z0) of the Z-pointer is used.

Table 26-4. Boot Reset Fuse

(1)

BOOTRST Reset Address

1 Reset Vector = Application Reset (address 0x0000)

0 Reset Vector = Boot Loader Reset (see Table 26-6 on page 282)

Bit 151413121110 9 8

ZH (R31) Z15 Z14 Z13 Z12 Z11 Z10 Z9 Z8

ZL (R30) Z7Z6Z5Z4Z3Z2Z1Z0

76543210

276

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ATmega48/88/168

Figure 26-3. Addressing the Flash During SPM

(1)

Note: 1. The different variables used in Figure 26-3 are listed in Table 26-8 on page 282.

26.8 Self-Programming the Flash

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 rewritten. 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. See “Simple Assembly Code Example for a Boot Loader” on page 280 for an assembly

code example.

PROGRAM MEMORY

0115

Z - REGISTER

BIT

ZPAGEMSB

WORD ADDRESS

WITHIN A PAGE

PAGE ADDRESS

WITHIN THE FLASH

ZPCMSB

INSTRUCTION WORD

PAG E

PCWORD[PAGEMSB:0]:

PAGEEND

PAG E

PCWORDPCPAGE

PCMSB

PAGEMSB

PROGRAM

COUNTER

Part #	ATMEGA48-20AU
Description	MCU 8BIT ATMEGA RISC 4KB FLASH 3.3V/5V 32TQFP - Trays
Category	IC
Availability	Out of Stock
Qty	0

ATMEGA48-20AU

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