ATMEGA32 AND GRAPHICAL LCD BASED PORTABLE OSCILLOSCOPE

INTRODUCTION-:
This is one of great project based on AVR microcontroller. It use ATmega32 as processor and LCD 12864 pixels for display. If you need to measure low frequency i thought this project, AVR oscilloscope, will be usefull. Maksimum frequency for AVR oscilloscope is 5 kHz (square signal), other signals (sine or triangle) the frequency is lower ( almost 1 kHz) for having clear view of the signal. Voltage input range is 24V AC / 30V DC. This project use C language and CODEVISION as compiler. So, it will be more easy to understand than assembly.

A BRIEF INTRODUCTION TO ATMEGA32 MICROCONTROLLER-:

When we have to learn about a new computer we have to familiarize about the machine capability we are using, and we can do it by studying the internal hardware design (devices architecture), and also to know about the size, number and the size of the registers. A microcontroller is a single chip that contains the processor (the CPU), non-volatile memory for the program (ROM or flash), volatile memory for input and output (RAM), a clock and an I/O control unit. Also called a "computer on a chip," billions of microcontroller units (MCUs) are embedded each year in a myriad of products from toys to appliances to automobiles. For example, a single vehicle can use 70 or more microcontrollers. The following picture describes a general block diagram of microcontroller.

ATMEGA32: The ATMEGA32 is a low-power, highperformance advance RISC 8-bit microcontroller with 32K bytes of in-system programmable Flash memory. The onchip Flash allows the program memory to be reprogrammed in-system or by a conventional nonvolatile memory pro-grammer. By combining a versatile 8-bit CPU with in-system programmable Flash on a monolithic chip, the Atmel ATMEGA32 is a powerful microcontroller, which provides a highly flexible and cost-effective solution to many, embedded control applications. The ATMEGA32 provides the following standard features: 32K bytes of Flash, 1024 byte of EEPROM & 2KB INTERNAL S RAM ,32 I/O lines, Watchdog timer, two data pointers, two 16-bit timer/counters, a six-vector two-level interrupt architecture, a full duplex serial port, on-chip oscillator,8-channel 10 bit ADC and clock circuitry. In addition, the ATMEGA32 is designed with static logic for operation down to zero frequency and supports two software selectable power saving modes. The Idle Mode stops the CPU while allowing the RAM, timer/counters, serial port, and interrupt system to continue functioning. The Power-down mode saves the

RAM con-tents but freezes the oscillator, disabling all other chip functions until the next interrupt

LCD INTRODUCTION-:
LCD modules are probably the most popular displays today, ranging from simple numerical displays with few single-color digits to large, graphical, high-resolution, full-color computer monitors. A medium-resolution, single-color graphical LCD module is required in an oscilloscope display for a spectrum analyzer. Of course, a simple solution was sought for the described spectrumanalyzer project. Medium-resolution graphical LCD modules may have different interfaces. The simplest LCD modules have no built-in controller. These modules only have shift registers associated with the columns and rows of the display. The user has to provide a continuous data flow to refresh and multiplex the display content. This requires a powerful microprocessor with lots of memory or in other words a complicated circuit with many chips. LCD modules with a built-in controller providing the

refresh and multiplex of the display are much simpler to use. The most popular alphanumeric controller is certainly the Hitachi HD44780, that even has some very limited graphical capabilities. Older graphical LCD modules use the Toshiba T6963 controller with an external 8kbyte RAM (usually 6264). These modules also require a negative-voltage supply for the LCD and a high-voltage AC source for the electro-luminescent backlight. Recent graphical LCD modules use the Samsung KS0107 and KS0108 chips. The KS0107 is the clock generator, scans 64 rows and may drive multiple KS0108 chips. The KS0108 drives the columns and includes storage for up to 64x64 dots. The microprocessor simply writes into the RAM inside the KS0108 chips. These modules usually include one or two 7660 chips to generate the required negative Vee LCD supply of -5V or -10V on-board the LCD module. Finally LEDs are used for the backlight so that the module can be operated from a single +5V supply.

A 128x64 graphical LCD module is used in the described LCD oscilloscope. This module includes one KS0107 and two KS0108 chips. All three controller chips are usually bonded directly to the printed-circuit board and covered with drops of black resin.

BLOCKDIAGRAM-:

References-:
[1] Matjaz Vidmar: "A Wideband, Varactor-tuned Microstrip VCO", pages 80-86/6-99, Microwave Journal. [2] Matjaz Vidmar: "Spectrum analyser 0...1750MHz", pages 2-30/1-99, VHF-Communications. [3] Matjaz Vidmar: "Spektrum-Analyzer von 0 bis 1750MHz, Teil 1: Aufbau der Baugruppen", pages 1830/4-99, "Spektrum-Analyzer von 0 bis 1750MHz, Teil 2: Anzeigebaugruppen und Abgleich", pages 18-29/1-00, AMSAT-DL Journal.