PIC16F870_13 Datasheet, PDF (27/172 Pages) Microchip Technology – 28/40-Pin, 8-Bit CMOS FLASH Microcontrollers

3.0 DATA EEPROM AND FLASH
PROGRAM MEMORY
The Data EEPROM and FLASH Program Memory are
readable and writable during normal operation over the
entire VDD range. A bulk erase operation may not be
issued from user code (which includes removing code
protection). The data memory is not directly mapped in
the register file space. Instead, it is indirectly addressed
through the Special Function Registers (SFR).
There are six SFRs used to read and write the program
and data EEPROM memory. These registers are:
• EECON1
• EECON2
• EEDATA
• EEDATH
• EEADR
• EEADRH
The EEPROM data memory allows byte read and write.
When interfacing to the data memory block, EEDATA
holds the 8-bit data for read/write and EEADR holds the
address of the EEPROM location being accessed. The
registers EEDATH and EEADRH are not used for data
EEPROM access. The PIC16F870/871 devices have
64 bytes of data EEPROM with an address range from
0h to 3Fh.
The EEPROM data memory is rated for high erase/
write cycles. The write time is controlled by an on-chip
timer. The write time will vary with voltage and temper-
ature, as well as from chip-to-chip. Please refer to the
specifications for exact limits.
The program memory allows word reads and writes.
Program memory access allows for checksum calcula-
tion and calibration table storage. A byte or word write
automatically erases the location and writes the new
data (erase before write). Writing to program memory
will cease operation until the write is complete. The pro-
gram memory cannot be accessed during the write,
therefore code cannot execute. During the write opera-
tion, the oscillator continues to clock the peripherals,
and therefore, they continue to operate. Interrupt
events will be detected and essentially “queued” until
the write is completed. When the write completes, the
next instruction in the pipeline is executed and the
branch to the interrupt vector address will occur.
When interfacing to the program memory block, the
EEDATH:EEDATA registers form a two-byte word,
which holds the 14-bit data for read/write. The
EEADRH:EEADR registers form a two-byte word,
which holds the 13-bit address of the FLASH location
being accessed. The PIC16F870/871 devices have
2K words of program FLASH with an address range
from 0h to 7FFh. The unused upper bits in both the
EEDATH and EEDATA registers all read as ‘0’s.
PIC16F870/871
The value written to program memory does not need to
be a valid instruction. Therefore, up to 14-bit numbers
can be stored in memory for use as calibration param-
eters, serial numbers, packed 7-bit ASCII, etc. Execut-
ing a program memory location containing data that
forms an invalid instruction results in a NOP.
3.1 EEADR
The address registers can address up to a maximum of
256 bytes of data EEPROM or up to a maximum of
8K words of program FLASH. However, the
PIC16F870/871 have 64 bytes of data EEPROM and
2K words of program FLASH.
When selecting a program address value, the MSByte
of the address is written to the EEADRH register and
the LSByte is written to the EEADR register. When
selecting a data address value, only the LSByte of the
address is written to the EEADR register.
On the PIC16F870/871 devices, the upper two bits of
the EEADR must always be cleared to prevent inadver-
tent access to the wrong location in data EEPROM.
This also applies to the program memory. The upper
five MSbits of EEADRH must always be clear during
program FLASH access.
3.2 EECON1 and EECON2 Registers
The EECON1 register is the control register for config-
uring and initiating the access. The EECON2 register is
not a physically implemented register, but is used
exclusively in the memory write sequence to prevent
inadvertent writes.
There are many bits used to control the read and write
operations to EEPROM data and FLASH program
memory. The EEPGD bit determines if the access will
be a program or data memory access. When clear, any
subsequent operations will work on the EEPROM data
memory. When set, all subsequent operations will
operate in the program memory.
Read operations only use one additional bit, RD, which
initiates the read operation from the desired memory
location. Once this bit is set, the value of the desired
memory location will be available in the data registers.
This bit cannot be cleared by firmware. It is automati-
cally cleared at the end of the read operation. For
EEPROM data memory reads, the data will be avail-
able in the EEDATA register in the very next instruction
cycle after the RD bit is set. For program memory
reads, the data will be loaded into the
EEDATH:EEDATA registers, following the second
instruction after the RD bit is set.
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DS30569C-page 27