Programmable peripheral interface (8255)

Architecture of 8255

The parallel input-output port chip 8255 is also called as programmable peripheral input-
output port.

It has 24 input/output lines which may be individually programmed in two groups. The two
groups of I/O pins are named as Group A and Group B. Each of these two groups contains a
subgroup of eight I/O lines called as 8-bit port.

The port A lines are identified by symbols PA0-PA7 while the port C lines are identified as
PC4-PC7. Similarly, Group B contains an 8-bit port B, containing lines PB0-PB7 and a 4-bit port C with
lower bits PC0- PC3. The port C upper and port C lower can be used in combination as an 8-bit port
C. Both the port C are assigned the same address. All of these ports can function independently either
as input or as output ports. This can be achieved by programming the bits of an internal register of
8255 called as control word register (CWR). This buffer receives or transmits data upon the execution
of input or output instructions by the microprocessor. The control words or status information is also
transferred through the buffer.

The signal descriptions of 8255 are briefly presented as follows:

ü PC7-PC4: Upper nibble of port C lines. They may act as either output latches or input buffers
lines. This port also can be used for generation of handshake lines in mode 1 or mode 2.

ü PC3-PC0: These are the lower port C lines, other details are the same as PC7-PC4 lines.

ü PB0-PB7: These are the eight port B lines which are used as latched output lines or buffered
input lines in the same way as port A.

ü RD: This is the input line driven by the microprocessor and should be low to indicate read
operation to 8255.

ü WR: This is an input line driven by the microprocessor. A low on this line indicates write operation.

ü CS: This is a chip select line. If this line goes low, it enables the 8255 to respond to RD and
WR signals, otherwise RD and WR signal are neglected.

ü A1-A0: These are the address input lines and are driven by the microprocessor. These lines A1-
A0 with RD, WR and CS from the following operations for 8255. These address lines are used for
addressing any one of the four registers, i.e. three ports and a control word register as given in
table below. In case of 8086 systems, if the 8255 is to be interfaced with lower order data bus, the
A0 and A1 pins of 8255 are connected with A1 and A2 respectively.

ü D0-D7: These are the data bus lines those carry data or control word to/from the microprocessor.

ü RESET: A logic high on this line clears the control word register of 8255. All ports are set as
input ports by default after reset.

Operational Modes of 8255

There are two main operational modes of 8255:

ü Input/output mode
ü Bit set/reset mode
1 Input / Output Mode

There are three types of the input/output mode. They are as follows:

Mode 0

In this mode, the ports can be used for simple input/output operations without handshaking.
The input output features in mode 0 are as follows:

ü O/p are latched.

When we wish to use port A or port B for handshake (strobed) input or output operation, we
initialize that port in mode 1 (port A and port B can be initialized to operate in different modes, ie, for
eg., port A can operate in mode 0 and port B in mode 1). Some of the pins of port C function as
handshake lines.

The mode 1 which supports handshaking has following features:

1. Two ports i.e. port A and B can be used as 8-bit I/O port. 2. Each port uses three lines of port c as
handshake signal and remaining two signals can be function as I/O port. 3. Interrupt logic is
supported. 4. Input and Output data are latched.
Mode 2

Only group A can be initialized in this mode. Port A can be used for bidirectional handshake
data transfer. This means that data can be input or output on the same eight lines (PA0 - PA7). Pins
PC3 - PC7 are used as handshake lines for port A. The remaining pins of port C (PC0 - PC2) can be
used as input/output lines if group B is initialized in mode 0. In this mode, the 8255 may be used to
extend the system bus to a slave microprocessor or to transfer data bytes to and from a floppy disk
controller.

Bit Set/Reset (BSR) mode

In this mode only port b can be used (as an output port). Each line of port C (PC0 - PC7) can
be set/reset by suitably loading the command word register. No effect occurs in input-output mode.
The individual bits of port c can be set or reset by sending the signal OUT instruction to the control
register.

Control Word Format

Input/output mode format

ü The figure shows the control word format in the input/output mode. This mode is selected by
making D7 = '1'

ü D0, D1, D3, D4 are for lower port C, port B, upper port C and port A respectively. When D0 or
D1 or D3 or D4 are "SET", the corresponding ports act as input ports. For eg, if D0 = D4 = '1', then
lower port C and port A act as input ports. If these bits are "RESET", then the corresponding ports
act as output ports. For eg, if D1 = D3 = '0', then port B and upper port C act as output ports.

ü D2 is used for mode selection for group B (Port B and Lower Port C). When D2 = '0', mode 0
is selected and when D2 = '1', mode 1 is selected.

ü D5, D6 are used for mode selection for group A (Upper Port C and Port A). The format is as follows:

BSR mode format

ü The figure shows the control word format in BSR mode. This mode is selected by making D7='0'.

ü D0 is used for bit set/reset. When D0= '1', the port C bit selected (selection of a port C bit is shown in
the next point) is SET, when D0 = '0', the port C bit is RESET.

ü D1, D2, D3 are used to select a particular port C bit whose value may be altered using D0 bit
as mentioned above.

D4,D5, AND D6 are not used.