2004 Microchip Technology Inc.
DS30491C-page 125
PIC18F6585/8585/6680/8680
10.0
I/O PORTS
Depending on the device selected, there are either seven
or nine I/O ports available on PIC18F6X8X/8X8X
devices. Some of their pins are multiplexed with one or
more alternate functions from the other peripheral fea-
tures on the device. In general, when a peripheral is
enabled, that pin may not be used as a general purpose
I/O pin.
Each port has three registers for its operation. These
registers are:
TRIS register (data direction register)
PORT register (reads the levels on the pins of the
device)
LAT register (output latch)
The Data Latch register (LAT) is useful for read-modify-
write operations on the value that the I/O pins are
driving.
A simplified version of a generic I/O port and its
FIGURE 10-1:
SIMPLIFIED BLOCK
DIAGRAM OF
PORT/LAT/TRIS
OPERATION
10.1
PORTA, TRISA and LATA
Registers
PORTA is a 7-bit wide, bidirectional port. The corre-
sponding data direction register is TRISA. Setting a
TRISA bit (= 1) will make the corresponding PORTA pin
an input (i.e., put the corresponding output driver in a
high-impedance mode). Clearing a TRISA bit (= 0) will
make the corresponding PORTA pin an output (i.e., put
the contents of the output latch on the selected pin).
Reading the PORTA register reads the status of the
pins, whereas writing to it will write to the port latch.
The Data Latch register (LATA) is also memory
mapped. Read-modify-write operations on the LATA
register read and write the latched output value for
PORTA.
The RA4 pin is multiplexed with the Timer0 module
clock input to become the RA4/T0CKI pin. The
RA4/T0CKI pin is a Schmitt Trigger input and an open-
drain output. All other RA port pins have TTL input
levels and full CMOS output drivers.
The RA6 pin is only enabled as a general I/O pin in
ECIO and RCIO Oscillator modes.
The other PORTA pins are multiplexed with analog
inputs and the analog VREF+ and VREF- inputs. The
operation of each pin is selected by clearing/setting the
control bits in the ADCON1 register (A/D Control
Register 1).
The TRISA register controls the direction of the RA pins
even when they are being used as analog inputs. The
user must ensure the bits in the TRISA register are
maintained set when using them as analog inputs.
EXAMPLE 10-1:
INITIALIZING PORTA
Q
D
CK
WR LAT +
Data Latch
I/O pin
RD Port
WR Port
TRIS
RD LAT
Data Bus
Note:
On a Power-on Reset, RA5 and RA3:RA0
are configured as analog inputs and read
as ‘0’. RA6 and RA4 are configured as
digital inputs.
CLRF
PORTA
; Initialize PORTA by
; clearing output
; data latches
CLRF
LATA
; Alternate method
; to clear output
; data latches
MOVLW
0Fh
; Configure A/D
MOVWF
ADCON1
; for digital inputs
MOVLW
0CFh
; Value used to
; initialize data
; direction
MOVWF
TRISA
; Set RA<3:0> as inputs
; RA<5:4> as outputs